Cairo Designathon 2026 Puts the Future of Mobility on the Table

Cairo Designathon is returning for its fifth edition this November, bringing multidisciplinary designers together for a five-day challenge focused on rethinking the future of mobility.

Organised by KAIROS CDC in collaboration with PHOTONX and Cairo Design Week, the Designathon will run from November 22nd to 26th during Cairo Design Week, followed by a live jury and awards ceremony on November 27th. Applications are currently open until November 8th, with shortlisted participants set to be announced on November 12th.

This year’s theme, ‘RE:DEFINING MOBILITY’, asks participants to look beyond conventional ideas of transport and consider how people, technology and the environments around them shape movement. Designers will work in multidisciplinary teams, using design thinking methodology and guidance from assigned mentors to develop a response to one of two challenge tracks: ‘Beyond the Wheel’, which focuses on reinventing the form of mobility, and ‘Less Machine, More Motion’, centred on improving its efficiency.

The Designathon forms part of inMotion, one of six initiatives taking place across Cairo Design Week’s Zamalek, Downtown and Heliopolis districts from November 19th to 28th. Hosted at Sultan Hussein Kamel Palace in Heliopolis, the first edition of inMotion is being developed with PHOTONX, bringing Cairo Design Week’s cultural and curatorial programme together with ELARABY’s experience in technology, engineering and manufacturing.

The jury will include Cairo Design Week founder Hisham Mahdy, Alchemy Design Studio founder Karim Mekhtigan, KAIROS CDC founding partner Mohamed Radwan, PHOTONX R&D Senior Head of Product Design Centre Youssef El Araby and a representative from the Information Technology Industry Development Agency.

Applications for Cairo Designathon are open through its official website until November 8th.