On 27 June, the AmaliTech Training Centre held a hackathon for learners on its AWS re/Start programme. The aim was to move cloud computing from theory into practice: identify a real problem, build a solution using AWS, and work across teams to do it.

Nine teams took part, drawn from different instructor-led classes so that learners had to collaborate with people they had not trained alongside. They built for health, agriculture, finance and bookkeeping, and most incorporated AI assistants to make their solutions usable by non-technical people.

The solutions

A three-member panel judged each team on innovation, technical implementation, teamwork, and the relevance of the solution to the problem it addressed. The judges were Nana Yaw Nhyira Butah, Product Manager; Isaiah Clifford Opoku, Software Engineer; and Prince Ankamah, Platform Engineer.

Sankofa HealthVoice won with 75.8 percent. Their platform collects medical feedback from patients in multiple local languages, so that patients can describe their experience in the language they speak and health providers can act on what they hear.

FarmSense AI placed second with 65.6 percent. Their tool uses AI to help farmers monitor climate conditions, detect pests, and identify the right treatment to control them.

MediChain placed third with 58.0 percent. Their cloud-based health records system allows doctors to access a patient's history across facilities, including allergies and previous treatment, so that diagnosis is informed by a full record rather than a partial one.

The other teams were ProfilePilot, Shop Assist, Nkwa, MediQueue AI, IngestFlow and QueueSmart. All three winning teams received cash prizes and branded AWS and AmaliTech collaterals.

Why AmaliTech runs hackathons

AWS re/Start equips learners with cloud computing skills and an industry-recognised certification. But employers hiring for cloud roles are not only assessing what a candidate knows. They are assessing how that person works: whether they can take an unclear problem, decide what to build, coordinate with a team, and defend their decisions.

This matters to us because of how we work. We train people in Ghana and Rwanda and then employ them on projects for international clients. If someone finishes our programme able to pass an exam but unable to handle a brief that changes halfway through, that becomes our problem too. Which is why we put learners in a room with a vague problem, a deadline, and people they have never worked with, and see what happens.

Congratulations to Sankofa HealthVoice, FarmSense AI and MediChain, and to all nine teams who took part.