Moved for the second time, and now it lands three days before the doors open: BoC Fintech 7.0's Open Day is 24 November

The Open Day for the BoC Fintech Hackathon 7.0 has moved again. The hackathon's own site, bochackathon.net, now gives the session as Tuesday 24 November 2026 at 17:30, held remotely by teleconference. The date appears twice on the page and the two agree: the prose block states that "the Open Day will be held remotely, using teleconferencing tools, on Tuesday November 24th, 2026 at 17:30," and the published timeline lists "Open Day 24th November 2026" alongside the hackathon dates.

That supersedes the 3 November slot reported here on 22 October, which had itself replaced a 30 September date carried in earlier material. There is no longer any mention of 3 November anywhere on the organisers' pages.

The practical consequence is the gap. The Open Day is the session where the challenge briefs and technical specifications get walked through and the weekend's running order is confirmed. On the 3 November schedule that left teams better than three weeks to assemble, pick a track and prepare. On the 24 November schedule it leaves three days — the hackathon runs 27 to 29 November. Anyone planning to use the Open Day to decide what to build, or to find teammates, is now doing both inside a long weekend.

The session has its own registration route, separate from the main application: bochackathon.net/open-day. It is open to prospective participants and also to anyone wanting to take part as a mentor, data provider or communication sponsor — which makes the compressed timetable a problem for the supply side too, since mentors and data providers now sign on barely ahead of the build.

Nothing else has shifted. The hackathon is still 27–29 November 2026, in person at the IDEA Innovation Center, Likourgou 36, Nicosia, with work taken to minimum viable product stage. The prize pool is unchanged at €16,000: €7,000, €4,000 and €2,000 for the top three, plus €2,000 for best use of the Jinius APIs and €1,000 from the Municipality of Nicosia for the best Smart City solution. The site adds that "more awards will be announced soon." Thirteen non-binding challenge themes are listed, led by AI for Good and Fintech for Smart Cities.

One thing to watch if you have not applied yet. No application deadline has been published — not in the intro, the timeline, the FAQ, or the Bank of Cyprus announcement. And the site is currently inconsistent about whether applications are even open: the top-navigation APPLY link points at a page whose address reads temporary-not-available, while the in-page "I want to Participate" button and the FAQ both point at the live apply page. With the Open Day now sitting three days before the start, the sign-up route is worth checking directly rather than assumed.