The Presidential Hackathon empowers hyper‑local innovation with cross‑sector civic tech participation and offers winners a promise to enter public‑infrastructure as part of the fiscal budgeting cycle—a great success. Ministries rotate running thematic Presidential Hackathons. This year it’s the new Ministry of Environment; Minister Peng Chi‑ming, once a hackathon judge and a strong advocate for open data and open science, is leading it. Minister Peng is another example of a player from the civic tech and open data movement who enters into government as a cabinet minister, bringing with them a general commitment to transparency. This is extremely encouraging.