#UNITEDBYHCL Hackathon

1.Why should I participate in #UnitedbyHCL Hackathon??

HCL Technologies brings together the world’s biggest businesses to the #UnitedByHCL Hackathon in search of solutions propelling them into the 21st Century. And here is your chance to show them the way! A first of its kind hackathon hosted at none other than the Theatre of Dreams – Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester inviting the world’s best hackers. We will be flying the best teams from all over the world to Manchester, UK where under the guidance of industry leaders, they will collaborate to build solutions changing the face of business in the 21st century.

As you experience glory and greatness at the home of legends, with one of a kind experiences at iconic Old Trafford stadium, stand a chance to win exciting prizes, merchandise, internships beyond the Grand reward totaling $10,000.

Are you game?

2.Who will pay for my travel, accommodation? Is there any reimbursement?

All teams that qualify for the final offline hackathon round at Manchester, UK will have their travel expenses (including return trip) and accommodation (for the 2 day period) covered by the contest organizer. All members of qualifying teams will have to take care of their own expense for UK visa applications, if they do not already possess the same. Please note that the issuance of the VISA is a prerogative of the British Embassy and there is little HCL can do to influence the process. Besides travel and accommodation there will be no reimbursement for expense by the organizer.

3.When is the #UnitedbyHCL Hackathon?

- PHASE 1 | IDEA SUBMISSION - ONLINE

The first round kicks of 18 Mar 2017 at 00:01 hours. Your team is required to submit a detailed idea/synopsis of your project under any one theme which you would like to choose.

Register at https://www.hackerearth.com/sprints/unitedbyhcl

All entries in this phase will have to come in by 2nd July 2017, 23:59 hours

- PHASE 2 | PROTOTYPE SUBMISSION - ONLINE

Shortlisted teams have to submit a functional proof of concept (minimal prototype) that showcases the features built-in to solve the problem. You are encouraged to add any relevant documents that support your prototype.

All entries in this phase will have to come in by 23rd July 2017, 23:59 hours.

Out of all the submissions, we will choose up to 40 teams to fly to the final round in Old Trafford

- PHASE 3 | Manchester, UK

A 24 Hour hackathon in the month of August @ Theatre of Dreams, Old Trafford Stadium, home to Manchester United Football Club for shortlisted teams qualifying Phase 2.

You can refer this doc to get a detailed understanding on the hackathon: https://goo.gl/dZdV2F

4.Who can participate in #UnitedbyHCL Hackathon?

We invite participations from everyone with no constraints on Age; Country or Experience.

5.How do I participate in the hackathon? Is there a registration fee?

No registration fee applicable for this competition.

6.What should be my team size and structure? Don’t have a team, can I participate on my own?

UnitedByHCL Hackathon invites teams with participant size varying from 1 up to 4 members. An ideal team composition should have a Designer; a Developer; a UX / UI specialist; a Software engineer and a Backend engineer. However, you are advised to decide depending on the problem statement you/your team is tackling. We also will need ONE MANDATORY NOMINATION of a team leader who will drive the conversation and represent your group.

Yes, you can apply as an individual.

7.What will I hack on? What are the different tracks and challenges?

Please refer the themes section at https://www.hackerearth.com/sprints/unitedbyhcl under the About section. You can also view the various partnering brands and their individual problem statements by visiting their dedicated sections. Keep an eye out for new challenges from even more renowned global organizations.

A team can choose multiple challenges provided by the world’s top brands and submit their idea in any one of these tracks.

8.What are Idea submission and application development phases?

- PHASE 1 | IDEA SUBMISSION - ONLINE

Phase 1 idea submission is open to participants globally. Here, contestants are required to put forward their groundbreaking ideas along with a synopsis of how this idea will be developed into a viable solution. Your team is required to submit a detailed idea/synopsis of your project under any one theme which you would like to choose.

Shortlisted entries will not be allowed to change their ideas submitted and will have to proceed on to Phase 2 Application Building.

Participants will be judged on the following parameters:

- Understanding of a problem

• Which Methods you are using to solve the problem.


• Work carried about so far to develop understanding of the underlying problem.

- Tech-stack used

• Which technology you are planning to use to solve the problem.


• It need not have to be cumbersome but concise.

- Impact

• Approach used to solve the problem


• Feasibility of the proposed method/solution

PHASE 2 | PROTOTYPE SUBMISSION - ONLINE

Shortlisted teams from phase 1 will have to submit a functional proof of concept (minimal prototype) that showcases the features built-in to solve the problem. You are encouraged to add any relevant documents that support your prototype.

All entries in this phase will have to come in by 23rd July 2017, 23:59 hours.

Participants will be judged on the following parameters:

- Code/Scalability

• Coding standard, beautified and well-maintained code, external libraries.


• Algorithms, Web API, creativity, logic, framework, network communication


• Use of version control, demo url and deployment tools to make development operations easier


• Documentation, Collaborative tools and devOps automation

- Design/Wireframe/Blueprints

• Elaborative self-explanatory design


• Any interactive and creativity from design perspective


• Subtle patterns / Textures / Elegant design / Icons / Typography


• Use of UI / UX / CSS3 and HTML5 features in case of web/mobile development

- Overall Usability

• Overall functionality of the submission


• Use of sane labels/text/context/design which would make sense


• Added efforts/features/value to the overall work (video, presentation, etc).


• Embracing innovation/idea/task in mind.


• Lesser bugs

Out of all the submissions, we will choose up to 40 teams to flight to the finals in Old Trafford.

PHASE 3 | ONSITE HACKATHON AT OLD TRAFFORD

Shortlisted entries from Phase 2 are invited to compete in a 24 Hour HackFest taking place at none other than Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester. Get your ground breaking idea to see the light of the day and transform them into viable solutions transforming the 21st Century Enterprises. At the end of Phase 3, participants are required to submit:

• A deck to pitch your solution


• Demo to showcase base functionality


• Refine your code and enhance it based on live feedback from industry leaders

Participants will be judged on the following parameters:

- Completeness

- Usability

- Clean-code quality

- Pitch / presentation to the jury members.

You can refer this doc to get a detailed understanding on the hackathon: https://goo.gl/dZdV2F

9.Who will be my mentor? How will the mentor allocation happen?

All shortlisted entries from Phase 2 will be allocated a MENTOR to steer contestant thinking on creating a viable business solution. This mentor will be a senior industry leader who is available to answer your queries and guide you on judges’ expectations. HCL is happy to enable this Skype / Telephonic discussion upon the team’s request on a mutually available time slot with the mentor.

10.What am I required to bring to Old Trafford?

All participants are required to bring in their own laptops / other gadgets to showcase their solution. Organisers will take care of all internet bandwidth requirement at the venue.

In case of any specific requirements you need on the day, please let us know at support@hackerearth.com and we will try best to accommodate your request.

11.What is the output expected from a hacker? List of deliverables with the formats.

We expect you to build a working prototype/ an application/ a user interface/ a wireframe/ a design/ a hack / a code that will lead to solve the challenge that you select. The list of deliverables for you in all the rounds would be as follows:

- PHASE 1 | IDEA SUBMISSION - ONLINE

• Contextual information and your understanding of challenge you’re trying to solve, and how you’re planning to do it.


• Also, try to add a concise description of the technology stack you have in mind to solve the problem.

- PHASE 2 | PROTOTYPE SUBMISSION - ONLINE

• Screenshots or wireframe


• Workflow document and deployment instructions if any


• Source code


• If applicable, Demo URL

- PHASE 3 | ONSITE HACKATHON AT OLD TRAFFORD

• A deck to pitch your solution


• Demo to showcase base functionality


• Refine your code and enhance it based on live feedback from industry leaders

You can refer this doc to get a detailed understanding on the hackathon: https://goo.gl/dZdV2F

12.Who will own the intellectual property (products/apps) developed during the hackathon?

All the IP developed during the hackathon will be the sole property of the developer.

13.Who will be the judges and on what parameters will the hacks be judged?

Judges will be a team of senior industry leaders and IT gurus belonging to diverse organisations, final list will be uploaded soon on the website. The hacks will be judged on the following parameters:

- PHASE 1 | IDEA SUBMISSION - ONLINE

- Understanding of a problem

• Which Methods you are using to solve the problem.


• Work carried about so far to develop understanding of the underlying problem.

- Tech-stack used

• Which technology you are planning to use to solve the problem.


• It need not have to be cumbersome but concise.

- Impact

• Approach used to solve the problem


• Feasibility of the proposed method/solution

PHASE 2 | PROTOTYPE SUBMISSION - ONLINE
- Code/Scalability

• Coding standard, beautified and well-maintained code, external libraries.


• Algorithms, Web API, creativity, logic, framework, network communication


• Use of version control, demo url and deployment tools to make development operations easier


• Documentation, Collaborative tools and devOps automation

- Design/Wireframe/Blueprints

• Elaborative self-explanatory design


• Any interactive and creativity from design perspective


• Subtle patterns / Textures / Elegant design / Icons / Typography


• Use of UI / UX / CSS3 and HTML5 features in case of web/mobile development

- Overall Usability

• Overall functionality of the submission


• Use of sane labels/text/context/design which would make sense


• Added efforts/features/value to the overall work (video, presentation, etc).


• Embracing innovation/idea/task in mind.


• Lesser bugs

PHASE 3 | ONSITE HACKATHON AT OLD TRAFFORD

• Completeness


• Usability


• Clean-code quality


• Pitch / presentation to the jury members.

You can refer this doc to get a detailed understanding on the hackathon: https://goo.gl/dZdV2F

14.Will the result announcement and the prize distribution happen on the day of the Hackathon?

Yes, the final results will be announced on the last day of the hackathon at Old Trafford. The prize distribution will happen on the same day.