EY GDS Hackpions 2.0

1. Do I need to pay any money to register for the hackathon?

No. You do not have to pay anything to anyone, for this hackathon.

2. Do I need to have any specific qualifications, to be a participant for the hackathon?

If you love to code, you are more than welcome to participate in the hackathon!

3. Do we need to submit a fully working idea?

The entire idea need not be fully implemented. However, the submission should be functional, so that it can be reviewed by the judges.

4. Does one have to be online and available during the entire duration of the hackathon? 

No, one does not need to be logged in on HackerEarth or remain online for the entire duration. You can develop the application on your local system based on the given themes, and submit it on HackerEarth, on the specific challenge page.

5. Since there is no specific technology mentioned, are there any restrictions on using number of pre-built libraries?

Proposed solutions should ideally be suitable for deployment in Azure cloud platform. The expected statistical solution for all the six themes, are mentioned below:

• The tools can leverage open source, custom libraries or application program interfaces (API) from cloud platforms. 
• Azure and MS Tech stack continue to be the most preferred stacks, over which we would like the solutions to be built. Open source technologies can be used if Azure and MS Tech stack cannot solve the problem, or if you don’t have access to the above-mentioned stacks. However, you must design the solution in a way that it can be easily ported to EY tech stack, and also provide a valid business reason for choosing open source technologies, during the evaluation stage.

The preferred technology stack is C#, .NET and Python for artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning (ML). You are also free to use libraries that are not licensed under Affero General Public License (AGPL).

6. Do I need to give a demo of the product that I have built? 

Yes, you may submit a small presentation or video, that demonstrates your submission. However, it is not mandatory and only good to have. You might be invited to demo your application as a part of different stages of the event, details of which will be shared on the microsite.

7. A fully developed application needs to have a solid backend for data storage like SQL or SharePoint. Since it is online, will just the prototype be accepted? 

Yes, it is absolutely fine to submit just the prototype. If you use any database like MySQL or PostgreSQL, you can submit a database dump, along with your submission. However, you are allowed to submit just the prototype.

8. If it is a team submission, does that mean all the team members can access the work, at the same time? 

Yes, all the team members can login from their accounts and do application submissions on HackerEarth.

9. Who will own the intellectual property (IP) rights to the product, that I have built? 

Participants must agree that participating in the hackathon does not grant them the license (expressly, by implication, estoppel or otherwise), or any right of ownership to the data and resources. The IP of the participants' code belongs only to the EY organization.

10. How will I receive mentorship during the hackathon, and how will it help me? 

As a part of the hackathon, each of you shortlisted for the quarter-finale, will be mentored by professionals from domains such as AI, RPA and Analytics of EY GDS. The mentor will help you gain detailed insights on the problems and set clear expectations of the expected solutions, on a real-time basis. Mentors will support you to prepare the pitch or presentation for the panel, through the event’s stages.

11. How will the mentoring activity work? 

• One mentor will be assigned to each of the shortlisted teams, that are part of the quarter finale.
• EY GDS and HackerEarth will set up regular connects. Information of these sessions will be shared in due course.

Disclaimer: “This publication contains information in summary form and is therefore intended for general guidance only. It is not intended to be a substitute for detailed research or the exercise of professional judgment. Member firms of the global EY organization cannot accept responsibility for loss to any person relying on this article.”