Driving Innovation in the WA Healthcare Ecosystem

The 2022 WA Health Hackathon will bring together a diverse group of data professionals, digital specialists and students to explore digital and data-driven solutions to real world healthcare challenges. In partnership with various healthcare providers and research organisations we have developed a set of challenges paired with real-life specialised datasets. Teams will come together to ideate solutions, explore the data, develop concepts and finally present their solutions. Teams will be judged in two rounds by an expert panel based on the solution’s social impact, design principles, viability, innovation and scalability. Teams not only have the chance to win some fantastic prizes but will also be solving real-world healthcare challenges that have the potential to change how healthcare is delivered and make a real impact on the lives of those around us.

The winning team will walk away with a $5,000 cash prize thanks to our prize sponsors <xxx> along with a prize package shared with the runners up worth over $20,000 thanks to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Perth BioDesign.

WADSIH is also committed to supporting teams interested in progressing their challenge after the hackathon and will facilitate information sessions and connections with relevant support channels to provide an ideal launch pad for whatever stage teams are at.

Registrations to take part in the Hackathon will open on Monday, 4 July 2022. Sign up to the WADSIH newsletter to ensure you are the first to receive all the registration details.

WADSIH is proud to deliver this event alongside our event partners MTPConnect WA Life Science Innovation Hub, Amazon Web Services, Telethon Kids Institute and the UWA Data Science Club.

What’s Involved in the Health Hackathon?

Several events will take place throughout the hackathon some of which will be compulsory for hackathon participants to attend and others that are optional.

A summary of events is listed below with the full program of events available here.

· Health Hackathon Launch and Orientation | Monday, 8 August 12-2pm

· Domain Expert Appointment | various days and time from 8-12 August

· Upskilling Session I (Design Thinking and Pitching) | Tuesday, 9 August 5-7pm

· Upskilling Session II (Getting started with AWS) | Wednesday, 10 August 5-7pm

· Collaboration Sessions | Saturday and Sunday, 13 – 14 August 9am – 5pm

· Round 1 Pitches | Sunday, 14 August 1pm – 6pm (timing tbc)

· Final Round Pitches | Thursday, 18 August 5.30 – 8.30pm

See the full program here.

Participating in the Health Hackathon

To participate in the Health Hackathon you must be based in Perth, Western Australia and be able to attend (at a minimum) the collaboration sessions, round one pitches and the final pitch night (for the

top five teams). Whilst not compulsory, we highly recommend you attend the Launch and Orientation session and take part in the upskilling events especially if you are not familiar with the content covered in those sessions.

Who should participate?

· Do you have capabilities in data analysis, predictive modelling, natural language processing, automation, digitisation, data visualisation, software development or other data and digital skillsets?

· Are you a data or digital professional or student? You don’t need experience in the health care sector, in fact, data professionals outside of the sector are strongly encouraged to participate.

· Are you an aspiring entrepreneur wanting to test your skills on challenges and datasets that have the potential to create real-world impact and improve the lives of those around us?

If you answered yes to the above, then you are a perfect candidate for the Health Hackathon.

As a participant you have the added benefits of connecting with likeminded individuals and learning more about opportunities for innovation in the WA healthcare sector. Hackathons are excellent opportunities to meet new people, challenge yourself and grow your skills.

Participants can register as an individual or in a team of up to five people. If you are registering as a team, you will be required to provide a team name as part of the registration process. All members of the team must register separately quoting the team’s name as part of the registration. Those registering individually can nominate to tackle a challenge on their own or be assigned to other individuals and/or teams looking for additional members. We will have an open slack channel for those that want to start looking for teammates whilst registrations are open.

Selecting a Challenge

Together with our partners, we have curated a set of broadly defined challenges. Details of each challenge can be viewed here.

We have purposely been ambiguous with how to approach these challenges and have placed more focus on defining the problem we hope to see solved. We do this to encourage as much innovation and novelty as possible. The suggested approaches are by no means prescriptive and are only included to start ideas flowing as to what may be possible. Your proposed solution may include some or none of these proposed approaches.

Teams will have the opportunity to choose the challenge they want to work on. Challenge registration will open at 9am on Monday, 25 July 2022. There will be a cap on the number of teams able to work on any particular challenge. We suggest developing a priority list of challenges your team is interested in tackling prior to the challenge registration date.

Collaboration and confidentiality agreements will need to be signed by all members of the team prior to data being released. These agreements can be viewed under each of the challenges. We are aiming to make data available to teams a week prior to the launch of the Hackathon to allow you time to familiarise yourself with the data and perform some exploratory data analysis and any required data wrangling. Domain expertise will not be available until the week of the hackathon.

Health Hackathon Program

Health Hackathon Launch and Orientation

Monday, 8 August 12 – 2pm

We’ll start our hackathon with a lunchtime launch and orientation on Monday, 8 August 2022. Whilst not compulsory, we strongly recommend participants attend to hear case studies from a panel of experts and innovators in the healthcare sector. We’ll also be providing essential information regarding how the hackathon will proceed and be available to answer any of your questions. There will be an opportunity for networking with food and drink provided.

Domain Expert Appointment

In the week leading up to the Collaboration Sessions each teams will be scheduled an appointment with their assigned domain expert. To make the most of this time do some background research of the challenge and ensure you have your questions ready to go.

Upskilling Session I

Tuesday, 9 August 5 – 7pm

The first of our upskilling sessions will be presented by Perth BioDesign who will deliver a workshop in human centred design and the biodesign process. They will help teams understand how to define the unmet clinical need, form a problem statement and identify considerations critical to creating a solution. Design principles form part of the judging criteria for all pitched solutions so it is highly recommended teams understand these principles and incorporate them into their solution.

Upskilling Session II

Wednesday 10 August 5 – 7pm

The second of our upskilling sessions will be an interactive session presented by AWS. Participants will learn how to use their AWS accounts, navigate the console and set up some services. AWS experts will be on hand to answer any specific questions from the teams.

Collaboration Sessions

Friday 12 to Saturday 13 August 2022 9am – 5pm

Teams will be able to work on their solutions over the Friday and Saturday at the EZONE Student Hub at UWA. Teams will be required to check in at least once during the course of the collaboration period. We encourage teams to take advantage of the excellent collaboration facilities that have been made available at this venue and the roving AWS solution architects that will be on hand to answer and workshop any questions.

Round 1 Pitching

Sunday 14 August 2022

Timing for this session will be dependent on the number of teams that register for the event. The earliest it will start is just after lunch. The EZONE will be available in the morning if teams would like to practice or finetune their presentations. All teams will have five minutes to pitch their solutions followed by five minutes of Q&A from the judging panel. After deliberation the judges will announce the top five teams that will go through to the final pitch round. Afternoon tea refreshments will be provided at this event.

Final Pitch Night

Thursday 18 August 2022 5.30pm – 8.30pm

All teams will be invited to the final pitch night where the final five teams will pitch to an audience of health sector experts, decision makers and researchers. We are also very pleased to be welcoming the Minister for Innovation and ICT, Hon. Stephen Dawson MLC to open proceedings. Winners and

runners up of the Hackathon will be announced on the night followed by networking and most importantly the opportunity for conversations around how we can all collaborate to progress feasible solutions and drive innovation even further in this crucial sector.

Challenges

Set up page with brief descriptions of each challenge and then links to the challenge briefs.