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Joint hackathon planned to strengthen sovereign supply chains

Joint hackathon planned to strengthen sovereign supply chains

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds has announced that the Australian and New Zealand Defence Forces will host a joint hackathon to identify opportunities to strengthen Australia’s sovereign supply chains and support its Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities. 

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds has announced that the Australian and New Zealand Defence Forces will host a joint hackathon to identify opportunities to strengthen Australia’s sovereign supply chains and support its Sovereign Industrial Capability Priorities. 

Known as #ANZDFhack, the 48-hour online event will be held from 15 to 17 May and will identify innovative solutions to supply chain issues, which underpin Defence’s ability to mobilise quickly when responding to a crisis or threat.

Minister Reynolds said the hackathon will leverage the ingenuity of technological specialists across the two nations to enhance sovereign capability.

“The strength of the Australia-New Zealand relationship is more important than ever, and now is the optimum time to build networks and find self-reliant capability solutions with our close partner and friend across the Tasman,” Minister Reynolds said.

A hackathon (a combination of the words hack [solving a complex problem] and marathon) is an intense sprint-style experience in which software developers, interface designers, technologists and product experts come together to rapidly develop software or hardware projects.

Typically, the goal of a hackathon is to have a proof of concept or working hardware/software ready to demonstrate at the event. It usually has a specific focus such as developing software on a specific platform or API, or helping solve problems for a specific demographic or cause, such as #flattenthecurve hack, were 2,700 participants worked together to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hackathons are defined by the intensity of experience, most often the events are technology-focused. However, for this event they encourage anyone with a creative mindset and intent to generate solutions for Australia and New Zealand manufacturing revival and supply chain resilience.

The hackathon is expected to generate executable submissions, including prototypes, applications and algorithms. Software developers, innovation specialists, 3D experts and prototype development specialists will be invited to engage with each other and Defence. Winning and shortlisted concepts will progress through innovation programs, mentoring, real data, funding streams or ongoing support.

The event is being coordinated by the Australian Defence Force and will be executed by the Australian Computer Society.

More information about #ANZDFhack is available at www.anzdfhack.org