Star Metro - QNX Launches Global Developer Hackathon with $50,000 in Prizes to Accelerate Innovation in Mission-Critical Systems

WATERLOO, ON / ACCESS Newswire / November 2, 2026 / QNX, a division of BlackBerry Limited (NYSE:BB)(TSX:BB) whose foundational software underpins safety-critical medical devices, robots and more than 275 million cars has announced the launch of its first ever global hackathon, a six-week virtual event kicking off from today. The hackathon will bring together thousands of developers from around the world to build, prototype, and scale applications on the QNX® Software Development Platform (SDP) 8.0, accelerating innovation across mission-critical embedded systems. It is part of QNX's broader strategy to grow a global community of QNX developers through its QNX Everywhere initiative, which enables free, non-commercial use of QNX technology.

Participants will compete for range of prizes, including a share of $50,000 across multiple categories, including:

• Grand Prize
• Best Robotics & Medical
• Best Automotive & Mobility
• Best Low-level Software
• Best Developer Tooling & Host Tools
• Best Open-Source Contribution & Ports
• Best Codelab/Tutorial
• Best use of QNX-specific Technologies
• Community Choice

Deadline for entries is December 15, 2026, and winners will be announced in February 2027. The panel of expert QNX judges will rate submissions based on a host of criteria, including technological implementation, design, potential impact and quality of idea. Further details on each category, judges and judging criteria are available at qnx.devpost.com.

QNX's Role in the Future of Embedded Systems Development

"The future of embedded development is about giving software developers the tools and experience they expect, while delivering the safety, reliability and determinism embedded systems demand," said Grant Courville, SVP of Products and Strategy at QNX. "This hackathon is about empowering developers to innovate using production-grade technology from day one, while expanding the ecosystem that will shape next-generation automotive, industrial, and physical AI solutions at large. The extended duration of the hackathon - significantly longer than traditional 24- to 48-hour events will allow developers to innovate on QNX over an extended period of time, and we all look forward to the results of this exciting event."

Balancing Safety and Scalability in a Rapidly Evolving Landscape

As software-defined systems rapidly reshape industries, organizations are facing growing pressure to deliver highly reliable, secure, and real-time performance without sacrificing development agility. While some environments dominate general-purpose development, they can fall short in safety-critical and deterministic systems, creating a gap between developer familiarity and production-grade requirements.

QNX addresses this gap by combining a POSIX-compliant, Linux-like development experience with the proven reliability, safety certification, and real-time performance required for mission-critical environments.

Expanding Access to Mission-Critical Development

Central to the event is QNX Everywhere, an initiative which democratizes access to QNX technology for non-commercial developers, researchers, and students. More than 30,000 free non-commercial licenses have been downloaded since QNX Everywhere launched in 2025. The initiative further supports early developer training through partnerships with academic institutions, engaging more than 24,000 students in either a workshop setting or through coursework. QNX Everywhere also provides access to a range of free resources and tools, such as an extensive catalogue of instructor-grade online training modules, Codelabs, sample projects and more than 2,500 QNX Open-Source ports and packages. These milestones demonstrate the real appetite there is in the market to develop and test on the QNX platform. By removing cost barriers, QNX is enabling a new generation of developers to gain hands-on experience with the same platform trusted in over 275 million vehicles and countless critical infrastructure systems worldwide.

Building the Next Generation of Embedded Talent

Beyond technology innovation, the hackathon is designed to cultivate talent within the QNX ecosystem. Developers at all experience levels from students to senior engineers will have the opportunity to engage with QNX tools, contribute to open-source projects, and gain visibility within industries increasingly reliant on high-assurance software platforms.

For more information or to register please visit qnx.devpost.com and follow @QNX News.

-ENDS-

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry (NYSE: BB)(TSX: BB) provides enterprises and governments the intelligent software and services that power the world around us. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company's high-performance foundational software enables major automakers and industrial giants alike to unlock transformative applications, drive new revenue streams and launch innovative business models, all without sacrificing safety, security, and reliability. With a deep heritage in Secure Communications, BlackBerry delivers operational resiliency with a comprehensive, highly secure, and extensively certified portfolio for mobile fortification, mission-critical communications, and critical events management.

Safe. Certified. Secure.

For more information visit BlackBerry.com and follow BlackBerry on LinkedIn

About QNX

QNX, a division of BlackBerry Limited (NYSE:BB)(TSX:BB), provides the trusted foundation that software-defined and physical AI systems depend on to operate safely and predictably in the real world. For nearly half a century, QNX has powered safety-critical applications where failure is not an option. The business leads the way in delivering safe and secure operating systems, hypervisors, middleware, solutions, and development tools, along with the support and services delivered by trusted embedded software experts. Today, QNX technology underpins hundreds of millions of vehicles on the road and a wide range of mission-critical systems across industrial controls, robotics, medical devices, commercial transportation, rail, and aerospace and defence. QNX is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. Learn more at qnx.software.

Trademarks, including but not limited to BLACKBERRY and EMBLEM Design are the trademarks or registered trademarks of BlackBerry Limited, and the exclusive rights to such trademarks are expressly reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. BlackBerry is not responsible for any third-party products or services.

Media Contacts:

BlackBerry Media Relations
+1 (519) 597-0073
[email protected]

SOURCE: QNX

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

K.Morrison--SMC