The RIMPA Live Hackathon  - We Hacked It and Had a Hoot

Team names were creative and on theme: Something Nerdy, Hacks of Human Kindness, Guruwari (which comes from the Warlpiri language), Tropicop Hacktivists, Wacky Tacky and Hacky, Global Innovators, On Da Fence, and The Introverts.

After brief introductions and acknowledgments by the MC (Joy Siller), Hackathon Director (Peter Gaca), and exclusive sponsor (Josephine Secis from the National Archives of Australia), “let the hacking begin” was announced.

Day one saw team members (those in the room and online) working tirelessly with gusto and good spirits to solve the problem, ably guided by the ever-helpful mentors (Andrew Andrews, David Pryde, Debra Leigo, Dr Cleophas Ambira, Helen Onopko, Julie Carpenter, Karuna Bhoday, Matt Lyons, Michael Haley and Pinakeen Shah).  Interesting and creative solutions ranging were devised on laptops, whiteboards, phones and notepads.  Energy levels were kept high with regular breaks for coffee and food.

The next morning, teams assembled to finalise their ideas which were then enthusiastically and professionally pitched to the judges (James Price, Josephine Secis and Wendy McLain).  Timing was critical and all kept to the imposed limits without fail.

So, “How might information managers value information so that it is valued as a strategic asset”?  According to some of the teams, it could involve:

•  a dashboard style reporting tool providing dynamic forecasts
•  getting information assets onto the balance sheet through the a ‘k score’ based on quality or usefulness criteria such as exclusivity, timeliness, accuracy and liability and risk
•  an appraisal workflow with valuation categories such as business utility and compliance, together with valuation basis criteria (configurable weighted values)
•  a ‘flash value score’ applied to all information assets and based on criteria such financial value, legal considerations, and administrative effort, and all recorded in a central register

After all great ideas were presented, nobody envied the tough decision faced by the judges. They deliberated for some time before coming to a unanimous decision.   Honourable mentions were given to Tropicop Hacktivists and Wacky, Tacky and Hacky, and the winner Hacks of Human Kindness (Louise Curham, lecturer Curtin University, John Cox, Fuji Film, Machelle Tennent, ACCC, and Debra Menzies, Defence) took away the $10,000 prize.

Learning from the inaugural Hackathon means we can grow this event bigger for the future.

Events such as these add great value to our profession by rewarding the creativity and innovation of participants and adding to our body of knowledge.  They provide real solutions that can be further developed and implemented widely. 

Well done to all participants and big thank you to all the organisers and our sponsor National Archives Australia and we look forward to more events like this in the future.