[LINK] Hackerthons for Training New Federal Government Consultants?

[Tom Worthington]

Could GovHack style hackerthons be used to quickly get the new federal 
government internal consultants up to speed? Greetings from the office 
of Amazon Web Services (AWS) Australia in Canberra, where I am attending 
the GovHack Annual General Meeting. GovHack is a non-profit organization 
which organizes an annual hackerthon using government data sources. This 
happens at sites around Australia (and last year NZ as well). Teams 
build applications using the data, and the best win prizes.

The Australian Government has decided to reduce reliance on external 
consultants, and make more use of public servants, including an internal 
consulting team. This will require new skills, both for those 
transitioning from the private sector, and those used to working in one 
agency. The hackerthon provides a way to learn to work in a diverse team 
rapidly. Normally hackerthons are though of as open events. However, it 
is possible to run an internal event with cleared staff, working on 
sensitive matters. Over the last few years I have assisted with three 
defence related hackerthons. More at: 
https://blog.highereducationwhisperer.com/2023/06/hackerthons-for-training-new-federal.html


-- 
Tom Worthington http://www.tomw.net.au