[LINK] Hackathon Friday to Secure Defence Supply Chain Against Pandemics

[Roger Clarke]

On 13/5/20 11:59 am, Tom Worthington wrote:
> Senator Linda Reynolds, the Australian Minister for Defence, announced 
> today the Australian and New Zealand Defence Forces will host a joint 
> hackathon to strengthen supply chains. 
> https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/minister/lreynolds/media-releases/joint-hackathon-planned-strengthen-sovereign-supply-chains 
> 
> This is to be run by the Australian Computer Society (ACS), starting 
> this Friday. Australians and New Zealanders have been asked to 
> contribute ideas to secure the logistics of our military, in the light 
> of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as recent bushfires, earthquakes and 
> floods. http://www.anzdfhack.org/
> 
> I have volunteered my experience working at Australian Defence Force 
> Headquarters in the 1990s, developing national policy online as part of 
> the Internet "Cabal", here on the Link List. ;-) 
> http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/CLCCommsUpd/1995/56.pdf

I've never got involved in any of these.  It's not lack of interest, or 
even scepticism, and certainly not opposition to the idea.

Glancing through the page, it's awfully (and probably expensively) 
glitzy, but it does actually include content!


But it doesn't address a key aspect I'm interested in understanding:

 > ... shortlisted concepts will be offered inside pathways for further 
development and funding of their idea in Defence and Industry sectors
...
 > What is the hackathons IP policy for submissions?
 >
 > Under development.

Mmmmm.


There's a very long list of hackathons, e.g. here:
https://www.disruptorsco.com/big-list-hackathons/

Yet I can find nothing about IP, e.g. in the Wikipedia entry, or on the 
govhack.org site, or in the https://hackathon.guide.

Does this mean that hackathons so rarely deliver ideas worth pinching 
that defining terms relating to IP is irrelevant?

Put another way, is it primarily an active form of job application / 
body-shop?  For example, the promotion includes:
 > Expose your talent to high profile defence collaborators and industry 
professionals who are looking for your help and contribution

Or does it mean that the business model depends on people coming along 
and gifting IP to sponsors?


-- 
Roger Clarke                            mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
T: +61 2 6288 6916   http://www.xamax.com.au  http://www.rogerclarke.com

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA 

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University