They may have been sleep-deprived and exhausted, but the teams taking part in the inaugural 24-hour Classified Post Hackathon made a strong impression on the judges with their passion to succeed, creative interpretation of the competition challenges and innovative use of technologies.
“I am always optimistic about Hong Kong, but seeing first-hand how much the young people taking part in the Hackathon accomplished in such a short time has given me even more reason to be optimistic about Hong Kong’s future,” said Mark Seifried, chief technology officer at AIA and one of the Classified Post Hackathon judges. “We saw an amazing amount of energy coming together within the teams to create a range of ideas and solutions that were relevant to real-life challenges,” noted Seifried.
He also revealed that the international insurance provider will identify ways to stay in touch with the students. “A couple of the solutions were spot-on in their alignment with areas AIA is currently exploring,” said Seifried. He added that the Hackathon is a good example of providing a platform for showcasing cutting-edge technology solutions that can have real-world applications.
Seifried also praised the level of maturity Hackathon participants showed when answering the judges’ often probing questions and providing details about their technology solution projects. In addition, Seifried made the point that to be shortlisted as a finalist or chosen as a winner was an objective assessment of the abilities and commitment of Hackathon participants.
Working from a brief and from data provided by the organisers, teams of three to five, made up of Hong Kong undergraduate students or graduates with a maximum of two years’ experience, were given 24 hours to build apps, tools and innovative solutions for use in the media and insurance industries.
Teams were assigned either the media or insurance category by ballot. Siegfried said the judges looking for groundbreaking creativity across many areas, including the use of data analytics, innovative design, technical application and the use of AI tools. “We were not disappointed,” said Seifried.
The Hackathon being a microcosm of the real world of business, Seifried said the projects require participants to assess large amounts of information, distil the information into important key elements, and effectively communicate those elements through technology solutions and presentations to the judges.
Seifried stressed that, for the concept to work successfully, Hackathon teams need to ensure they have good team organisation, efficient distribution of work and effective intra-team communication.
Seifried said that, as the main sponsor of the first Classified Post Hackathon, AIA was keen to set a challenge that was applicable to Hong Kong scenarios. Teams assigned the insurance challenge category were required to build a digital “social listening” solution capable of extracting key insights from online social media conversations.
Not to be confused with social media monitoring, social listening is the process of tracking conversations in the public domain around specific topics, keywords, phrases or sentiments, which can be analysed to provide insights to discover opportunities or create content for those audiences. The goal was to correlate views and sentiments from Hong Kong social media users ranging from education to healthcare.
Seifried said the social listening challenge aligned with the type of insights that both AIA and the South China Morning Post are interested in, as both companies are an integral part of the Hong Kong community.
AIA being a leader in digital solutions for insurance services, Seifried explained that as the main sponsor, supporting the Hackathon is an extension of the company’s commitment to always thinking ahead, with the aim of providing customers convenient and meaningful experiences.
“Digitalisation and innovation are driving AIA key business strategies,” explained Seifried.
Highlighting how AIA is a pioneer in the Hong Kong insurance industry, Seifried said the insurance provider has introduced a citywide electronic claims submissions facility.
AIA also launched an industry-first self-service kiosk which utilises a proprietary mobile app, and enables customers to make enquiries.
As one of the Classified Post Hackathon judges, Seifried said he was impressed by the way participants in the insurance category had used “social listening” to formulate a deeper understanding of sentiments expressed by diverse sections of Hong Kong society.
“They used their own guided purpose and expertise to figure out a way of understanding complex sentiments expressed by Hong Kong society,” he said, adding that, as part of the Hong Kong community, AIA seeks to get closer to its customers and understand their needs in order to engage with them and deliver exceptional services.
Seifried said that, in addition to having the opportunity to unleash their creativity, Hackathon participants had gained some valuable life lessons.
For example, contestants discovered what it means to work as a team, share work responsibilities and work to a tight schedule under time constraints.
“This happens in the real world, and these guys and ladies responded to the challenge” emphasised Seifried. “Being a fast-moving, agile organisation, these are the skills and talents AIA value,” he added.
Furthermore, he said Hackathon participants who put the experience on their CVs are in a position to make a strong impression on potential employers by demonstrating they have the ability to collaborate and create something worthwhile, when in many cases they are busy with their academic studies.
“This sends a very strong message about someone’s commitment and capabilities,” said Seifried.
