Artificial Intelligence Hackathon with the UK…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a big opportunity and challenge as technology changes society. Organisations at every level have AI high on their agendas, and the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) is no different.

The MOD is trying to make the artificial real, and together we hosted a two-day hackathon. After all, working with, and learning from, partners is essential to success. The event challenged 13 teams from industry and academia to find new ways to use AI in defence, and you can see how they got on in the video below.

The aim of the AI hackathon was to find a new way of innovating, collaborating and bringing fresh ideas into the MOD, all while inspiring enthusiasm for AI in the Ministry.

To keep the teams focused on finding innovative solutions to defence challenges, we had two teams of judges – one made up of senior staff from the MOD, the other formed from cross-sector innovation leaders. The result was 13 unique AI-based products.

The best result of this hackathon was that it introduced new innovators to the MOD. Almost 40 per cent of the people who took part had never worked with the Ministry before, opening the door to new ways of thinking.