Claude Impact LabOne day. One real problem. Build the answer.
An Impact Lab is a full day where teams of builders take a real local problem, real public data and Claude Code, and finish with a working prototype the city could actually use. Impact over prizes.
The idea, in three lines.
Impact Labs run in Claude communities around the world. Melbourne brought the format to APAC.
Community-run, one day
Sponsored by Anthropic through the Ambassadors Program. Impact over prizes.
A global format
San Diego, Mexico City, Miami, Santiago, and now APAC.
Pointed at the city
Collaborative and curious. Make something real, and have a good Saturday doing it.
The talking happens first. Then we build.
An Impact Lab pairs with Claude Conversations. On the night, small mixed tables work through one hard question, like what AI means for their job, and each table lands its biggest idea on a card. Those cards become the brief the builders pick from at the Lab.
At the first Lab in Melbourne, three civic-data tracks set the brief: heat and liveability, transport and access, and community and citizen initiatives.
What to expect.
It's a long day, and it goes fast. You're not watching, you're in it.
Speakers to kick it off
A welcome from Anthropic, the brief for the day and a few short talks from people building with Claude. Then laptops open.
Hands on, all day
Teams lock a problem and work through six sprint blocks with Claude Code. Talk it out, build it, test it, repeat.
Mentors on the floor
Senior builders rotate through every team on the hour, unblocking you and pushing the work further.
Real local data
No blank page. Public datasets opened up for the day, so what you build points at how your city actually moves, lives and works.
Demos and judging
Every team demos a working prototype in a strict, timed pitch. Judged on real-world impact, not polish.
A day to celebrate the community
Food and coffee all day, new people at every table, and a room full of builders cheering each other on.
How the day runs.
This is how Melbourne ran. Each city tunes it, but the shape stays the same.
- 9:00 am
Doors, coffee, welcome
A welcome from Anthropic and the organisers, then the why: genuinely useful tools on real public data, for the community.
- Morning
Pick a problem, lock a team
The tracks go on the board. Teams choose the problem that pulls at them, lock a direction, and the clock starts.
- All day
Six sprints, heads down
Build with Claude Code on the day's data. Mentors come round on the hour.
- 5:00 pm
Submit and pitch
Every team takes the stage with a working demo in front of the judging panel.
- Then
Winners, and a drink
The judges call it, the room celebrates, and the builds live on in the recap.
Melbourne, May 2026.
About 400 people applied for 60 seats. Eight teams, three civic-data tracks, one Saturday at Inspire9 in Richmond.
Good Sh*t
A map that makes local businesses' civic and sustainability work visible. Shops publish their good deeds and earn Heart Points, while Melburnians browse, applaud and follow a public leaderboard. Five builders.
The people who made it run.
Speakers, mentors and judges who gave their Saturday to the room.
Organised by Claude Community Australia. Sponsored by Anthropic, with Divergent Kind and Real Minds AI. Hosted at Inspire9, Richmond. Data from Victorian Government Open Data, City of Melbourne Open Data and Glow.
What to bring.
Be in the room for the next one.
The next Impact Lab is being locked in.Register interest and you'll hear first.