Open Doors Initiative, Citywise Education, NOW Group join day of AI innovation to drive social impact
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Pictured: Emmanuel Adeleke, Deloitte Ireland; Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke; Anne O’Leary, Meta Ireland
Meta and Deloitte Ireland hosted a hackathon aimed at empowering Irish NGOs to harness the power of AI for public good. The event, Llama for Good, was hosted at Meta’s International HQ in Ballsbridge, and brought together NGOs the Open Doors Initiative, Citywise Education and NOW Group to co-create innovative solutions using Meta’s Llama AI model.
Sixteen engineers from Deloitte Ireland and Meta worked with Meta’s Llama to develop workable AI prototypes designed to address real-world challenges faced by the participating NGOs, with potential AI solutions ranging from partnering mentors with mentees, to streamlining course delivery for inclusive education programs. Llama is a free, open source AI model that removes cost barriers and makes advanced technology accessible to NGOs of all sizes. By enabling organisations to build custom solutions tailored to their communities, Llama fosters local innovation and rapid problem-solving. Its efficient design allows deployment even on modest hardware, making it practical for NGOs with limited technical resources.
The Open Doors Initiative connects jobseekers with experienced professionals, offering guidance, career advice, and pathways to sustainable employment. Much of this work is currently manual, limiting scale and efficiency. Citywise Education, which supports young people in underserved communities on their path to third-level education, explored how to streamline its back-office processes and course delivery – using today’s Hackathon as a first step. NOW Group supports neurodiverse people across Ireland with access to training, employment and community opportunities. Through the Hackathon, they investigated how AI could link currently siloed data – especially around the publicly available JAM Card – to better identify potential users and business partners and use insights to drive growth and impact.
Anne O’Leary, head of Meta Ireland (pictured), said: “Meta’s Llama is a game-changer for NGOs. As an open source and free-to-use AI, Llama removes financial barriers and empowers organisations to innovate locally, building solutions tailored to their communities and missions. Our Llama models have been downloaded over 1.2 billion times, with real-world projects already making a difference – a massive endorsement of the potential for Meta’s AI to drive innovation, economic growth, and competition. I’m very proud to see dynamic Irish NGOs like the Open Doors Initiative, Citywise Education and NowGroup benefit from Llama and wider industry expertise at today’s Llama for Good Hackathon, and I look forward to seeing how the ideas developed here today can inspire further innovation and positive change.”
TechCentral Reporters