Mumbai : While AI remains the hottest
area in business and tech, many people and organizations struggle to use it
effectively to deliver value.
The fifth annual SAS Hackathon, open
for registration now through Aug. 31, provides a compelling way for people with
varying job roles and levels of experience – from data scientists and
developers to business analysts and students – to expand their AI skills.
The global SAS Hackathon is a month-long, all-digital event where teams
of participants collaborate and compete to solve business and social challenges
using the latest AI and advanced analytics.
The actual hacking runs Sept. 15 through Oct. 10. All entries will be
judged by a panel of AI and analytics experts, and category and industry
winners will be announced this fall.
SAS, a leader in data and AI, produces the annual SAS Hackathon, which
is sponsored by Microsoft and Intel.
Latest AI technologies
Among the technologies that SAS Hackathon teams can access are:
- SAS® Viya®, SAS’
cloud-native and cloud-agnostic data and AI platform.
- SAS Viya Workbench, a
new cloud-based developer environment for building AI models.
- SAS Data Maker, a
secure synthetic data generator.
Industry tracks
SAS Hackathon team members can be – and often are – located on
different continents. SAS experts will lead (and judge) industry-specific
tracks for:
- Banking
- Energy & telecom
- Health care & life
sciences
- Insurance
- Public sector
- Retail, consumer goods
& manufacturing
- IoT (internet of
things) – a cross-industry track
New individual track for students
For decades, SAS has supported university students looking to hone
their analytics skills. And the SAS Hackathon has been a great way for those
students to gain valuable – and marketable – experience in data and AI.
For the last five years, students have been able to create or join SAS
Hackathon teams, working with these teams to choose an industry track, refine a
challenge to address, line up data sources and submit project information for
judging.
While students can still create or join teams in the industry tracks,
this year’s SAS Hackathon offers a new option: Students can register for the
Student Individual track using their academic email. Participants in this track
will use Cortex,
an analytics simulation game developed by SAS with HEC Montréal, Canada’s first
business school, to tackle a fundraising challenge.
Student participants will use SAS software and predictive modeling to
identify which potential donors to call for maximum profit while minimizing
costs. SAS will provide the data set and software access while students will
build the models, submit their optimized call list and compete on a
leaderboard.
“Through the SAS Hackathon, all participants gain valuable hands-on
experience, network with AI and analytics practitioners around the world, and
work on big and meaningful challenges for their business, university and
community,” said Peter Lundqvist, Global Producer for the SAS Hackathon. “This
data and AI experience can boost their portfolios and help them advance in
their careers.”
Taking on big challenges
SAS Hackathon teams can create analytical applications that solve
real-world challenges and improve lives. For example, Team
Butterflies was the grand champion of the 2024 SAS Hackathon. This team
from SAS Partner Butterfly Data developed an AI-powered solution to help spot
misinformation and disinformation. With Butterfly’s tool, organizations can
verify data sources, spot unreliable information and ensure the use of credible
and ethical information to make decisions.
The 2024 SAS Hackathon boasted a record 1,731 registrants from more
than 70 countries. This led to an all-time high of 145 approved teams that
participated in the month-long hack, supported by 110 SAS mentors.
SAS is a global leader in data and AI. With SAS software and
industry-specific solutions, organizations transform data into trusted decisions.
SAS gives you THE POWER TO KNOW®.
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