Report on BRIdging the Divides with Globally Engineered Software (BRIDGES) 2026

BRIDGES 2026, the third edition of BRIdging the Divides with Globally Engineered Software that incorporated a Summer School, was held from January 9 to 11, 2026, at Loloata Island Resort near Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG). The school brought together students, local professionals, organizers, international speakers, and industry partners to explore innovative prototyping through AI-powered technologies and open source software. The event combined keynote talks, GitHub and AI tooling tutorials, a student hackathon, prototype presentations, and discussions about sustaining a local software engineering ecosystem. Overall, BRIDGES 2026 welcomed and supported 21 students and produced three open source prototypes addressing problems in the Papua New Guinean context. Website: https://bridges-png.github.io/.