As the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) gathers pace, there is a risk that the perception of the utility of data is skewed toward profitability for organisations, rather than its ability to meet social needs. That businesses can learn much more about their customers through data collection and analysis is only one aspect of how the world is changing. The real value in data lies in turning data into answers to real-world problems, says SAS.
The annual SAS Hackathon, which this year involves 69 teams globally identifying social challenges and finding novel solutions through the application of technology, takes an entrepreneurial approach to innovation across a variety of sectors, from banking and energy to insurance and telecoms. As a leader in analytics, SAS aims to turn the power to know into the power to solve humanitarian challenges. The Hackathon event, currently under way in South Africa and around the world, serves as a showcase of this potential, with winning ideas to be taken to production for the marketplace.
Kelly Lu, Lead on Advanced Analytics and Artificial Intelligence, SAS in South Africa; says “SAS’s global Curiosity Forever campaign and events like the Hackathon are intended to demonstrate how curiosity, when harnessed with the right technology, can change the world. The objective is to begin with a simple question: “What if?”. And while this has always been the starting point of invention and innovation through human history, advancements in technology have laid the platform for highly responsive and targeted social solutions to be developed and implemented in a short time.”
What is missing from the majority of coverage of global digitalisation are real-world application scenarios. Used intentionally and driven by curiosity, collaboration and innovation, technology and data can improve lives, not just bottom lines. “SAS’s analytics capability has supported projects as diverse as protection of the Amazon rainforest, flood prediction and preparedness, and boosting healthy bee populations,” adds Lu.
These innovations have led to global recognition for doing social good by thinking boldly and bringing practical innovation to the marketplace. “This is what the case-centric Hackathon is all about: putting analytics into the hands of professionals, industry groups, NGOs and the public sector to improve lives – whether through a new product, a new life-saving medicine, a new educational tool or a new security solution,” continues Lu.
The 2022 Hackathon team for South African from Dake Solutions aims to solve real-world problems in identifying various lung diseases and mitigating the associated risks. The ability to identify these diseases early and accurately will not only potentially save lives but enhance the industries in which prevalence lung diseases impacts productivity negatively.
“Analytics can move the world by helping users discover patterns and trends that lead to better decisions and new solutions – in real time. From the starting point of curiosity and participants operating in a space outside of regular jobs and classrooms with freedom to play with ideas, we have high hopes for the social solutions that will emerge from this year’s Hackathon. Many organisations are focused on their core business and struggle to develop the creativity required to address critical challenges,” adds Lu.
By providing multidisciplinary teams of corporate teams, industry advisors and technical support with access to global leading technology, the Hackathon will transform use cases from ideas to reality, with the potential to stimulate further creative solutions among participating organisations.
“We see this as a key component of organisational sustainability and competitive advantage, given the rapid pace of change and disruption across all sectors,” concludes Lu.
