Few weeks back, I was relaxed playing with my kids after attending my first ever tumultuous participation in a Hackathon event held here in my office. The big event named as “CARGILL DIGITAL EXPO 2017” conducted on July 17th to July 19th. The leadership team here planned the event assiduously and more deliberately till the completion. Apparently, last year I joined Cargill on July 11th in MNPLS and shifted to Bangalore on July 19th. Upon one year after my completion, this year July 19th, I (Me & My Team) won the 2nd runner up in this Hackathon event. An award received from our CIO is a trust worthy and proud moment for me!!!
Let me brief you the event and some of my experiences as a Hackathon participant:
Day 1
Digi expo event kicked off in a most flamboyant and jubilant manner !! Event started with a lighting a lamp and followed by felicitation of Global IT leadership team by the center leaders. Later, a staggering Virtual reality presentation given by our CIO (Chief Information Officer). A far away Minneapolis message delivered in a live virtual reality that has kicked off the event in it’s savor. That’s when the Cargill Digi Expo Hackathon kicked off officially.
So, what is a Hackathon:
A Hackathon is an event, typically lasting several hours or days, in which a group of students and young professionals with different backgrounds come together, form teams around a problem or idea, and collaboratively build a unique solution from scratch. These generally take shape in the form of websites, mobile apps or design concepts using latest technologies.
Later, Hackathon teams were introduced to the global audience on the stage. There were more than 8 teams participated in this Hackathon. Teams both internal and outside were participated for solving the real time problems! Ebullient local college students gave me the extra strength with their intro brief message. I was alas, dreaming my college days and lost for a while!!!
My team “Cargill Safeguards” engrossed to buckle down the problem statement. We received the problem statement from the event coordinator. It’s related to employees/workers safety issue that needs to be using Internet of Things.
Event team, allocated us a conference room and propped us with all other amenities. We did all the hardware config and planned for the rest of the two days. The Sprint 1 finished without much of any hick ups.
Day 2:
We did all the configuration using Azure IoT platform and connected to the cloud using Raspberry Pi with a UV Sensor data. It took a while to clear the bugs in my Python Code.
Coding! Coding! Coding!! Coffeee!!! Coding!! Coffeeee!!! Some food!!! Grrrrrr!!! Python + .net bugs botched us for a while!!! Thanks to my geeks Mr. Shirsendu & Amber who ensued to fix the issue without any eke out!!!
Meanwhile, Day 2 of the large event went well with various Industry Leaders latest technology trends presentations. I did not get much time to join all but able to join one of the presentation “Industrial IOT” presented by PavanKumar PVN Director | Product Management | Internet of Things(IoT), SAP Labs. Session was good for basic understanding on IoT. Pavan goaded the audience with his daily life practical examples using IoT. Audience felt much easy to go with him!!But, I was bit fizzled without much data on SAP Leonardo. I was struggling since many days to get more documentation on SAP Leonardo IoT Platform for my Proof of Concept for a Trade Finance Solution using Raspberry Pi. I mention the same, thanks to Pavan who said will help/guide me on this. Will See how it goes :)-
Day 3:
It was a very long day for me. Packed up early in the morning to meet the semi finals deadlines. Me & My team planned well for comprehensive Story Telling plus Design Thinking approach for our PoC presentation as a strategy in Semi Finals- Trust me that Worked!!!:
Design Thinking is about taking a disciplined, objective and methodical approach to solving a design problem: clearly defining the challenge, creating multiple solutions, picking the best and executing. Combining this with story creates a process where we inject this same discipline into the narrative process, effectively removing the guesswork.
On the other side, Day 3 steadfastly went well with all the top SI (System Integrator) like TCS, Cognizant, Deloitte, Accenture & few start ups show caused their Digital solutions to the teams. In the evening a round table discussion with GIC (Global In House Center) leaders discussed the latest trends and topics. Leaders pitched the digitization as the bread and butter for innovation!!
Later in the evening, I came to know that my team got selected for the finals. Total 3 mores got selected in the finals. Within a short span of time, we got prepared for our finals prep. In a short of 10 minutes, we presented our POC on the stage to the global audience. Agog did it with few technical difficulties on the stage.Our honorable CIO, late in the evening announced the results and my team won the 2nd runner up!!! Such a proud moment for a first time Hackathon participant like me!!
Event concluded after our CIO’s key note which I paraphrased like this:
I’d put it like this: at its best, the purpose of enterprise is to evoke the highest human potential. The instrumental, calculative, deterministic view of enterprise, of human effort, of the role work plays in life, is in its twilight.
My Team’s Solution Brief:
http://prezi.com/w9bnoaqi88vk/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
My Take on Digital Expos:
- Event problem statements when documented would be beneficial for innovation.
- As part of a digital strategy-
- There is a need to document the problem statements for your digital needs.
- Develop a portal or a hub for any core business cases with a point of contact as BRM (Business Relation Manager) for your digital needs. So that, Global IT teams can see them anywhere & anytime for any innovative solutions.
- Story Telling & Design thinking would be helpful for this purpose.
- Involving more start ups and outsiders into these events would be helpful for co-innovation.
- There are currently more than 350 plus IoT plaforms avbl in the market, so work with your Architects and decide few platforms for your core developments.
- Learning is a key player for any digital strategy and it’s not a easy cake walk for many of these Digital Umbrella solutions. So, innovation lab teams should be encouraged to update step by step documentation. It’s like Wikihow!!
- Involving Key business users into these Hackathon event would be beneficial!!
So, What is Hackathon for me-
- Inspiring challenges – Take real world challenges and sole them using the technology.
- Coaching – Get benefits from mentors
- Prizes – Win real money!!!
- Career Opportunities – Get intern opportunities
- Certifications- Get participation/win certificates for your CV build up.
- Networking – Meet and stay in touch with brightest minds in the area :)-
- Learning – Learn team work skills & creative techniques
- Spirit- Feel the collaborative energy.
- Food- Enjoy the delicious food. More Coffee!!!
Last but not least-“Every business will be a technology-driven business, in the business of learning.”
sivaayyala 