FutureScape

Innovating the Future Through Tech for Change

In 2026, the CORE Futures Lab hosted the inaugural FutureScape CORE Hackathon in partnership with the National Education Opportunity Network (NEON). The national student innovation experience brought together young people from across the United States to design technology-based solutions to pressing challenges affecting individuals, families, and communities.

Working in teams, students designed proposed apps, platforms, and digital tools connected to topics such as data privacy, digital safety, youth mental health, consumer protection, online scams, and algorithmic fairness. The program encouraged students to think beyond the immediate future by considering how their innovations could influence society over the next 50 years — examining who might benefit, what unintended consequences could emerge, and how technology could be designed with equity, ethics, accessibility, and accountability at its center.

Participating Schools

• Virtual Innovators Academy — Bronx, New York

• Valley View High School — California

• SEO Scholars — California

• The International Academy of Flint — Flint, Michigan

Developing the Next Generation of Technology Leaders

The hackathon was designed to help students see themselves as more than consumers of technology. Participants became designers, researchers, policy thinkers, and social impact innovators — strengthening skills in design thinking, teamwork, ethical reasoning, research, public speaking, and systems-level thinking.

The event demonstrated that students do not need advanced coding experience to contribute meaningful ideas to the future of technology. They need opportunities to investigate real problems, imagine better systems, and share their solutions with an audience.

2026 Winners

1st Place & Viewer's Choice — The Inequity Obliterators

MyFRIES — An app extension that helps users apply the principles of consent (Freely Given, Reversible, Informed, Enthusiastic, Specific) to their data. It scans Terms of Service agreements, tracks data use, and provides plain-language notifications rated by a Stoplight System (red/yellow/green). When possible, it helps users opt out of data manipulations or request data removal.

2nd Place — Sprite

Restoring Digital Wellbeing — A cross-platform regulatory layer that shifts social media goals from time-spent to meaningful interaction. Using biometric sensors and Nudge Theory, the system replaces infinite scrolls with "chapter breaks" and mood check-ins, operating as a mandatory "Digital Health Standard" enforced by the FTC/FCC.

3rd Place — Starred Scholars

Accessible Terms & Conditions — A tool offering multilingual translations of terms and conditions, kid-friendly summaries, and a risk timeline highlighting low-to-high potential privacy risks.

The Unbiased Opinion

Evolve: Mental Health Platform — A support platform featuring free-write journaling, mood logging, teacher-operated classes, weekly wellness check-ins, hotlines, and monitored forums.

Looking Ahead

FutureScape is grounded in the belief that the technologies designed today will shape the opportunities, relationships, and institutions of tomorrow. The 2026 hackathon marked the beginning of a growing national platform for student innovation, ethical technology design, and future-focused problem solving.

Imagine the future. Build the solution. Change the world.