The Western Australia Police Force x WADSIH Hackathon 2024

What is a Hackathon?

Hackathons are collaborative and innovation focussed events that see participants build prototype solutions to solve challenges. When we say ‘hack’ in this context we mean to encourage quick solving something through a prototype, not breaking into a software system. Solutions are generally software-based programs, but they can also be new designs or even insightful improvements for processes and other issues. Given the time constraints (you’ll only have a weekend!) a prototype can be as simple as a small piece of code, a website or even a presentation. The point is to have fun helping out our community.

What is Generative AI?

You may have heard of technologies like ChatGPT, Dall-E and Midjourney. These software tools use complex maths and lots of data to help create new pieces of text or images based upon prompts provided by their users. At the Emergency WA Hackathon we will be encouraging participants to stitch together these various tools to resolve some of the challenges faced by our Emergency Services.

How can I use Generative AI to solve the Western Australian Police Force Challenges?

There are thousands of Generative AI tools available. Have a look at the website ‘There’s an AI for that’ to see a register of some of these tools. Most of these tools will allow you to pass data and information to their Application Programming Interface (API) automatically. If you query Chat-GPT you can quickly develop a small piece of code that will allow you to interact with APIs. When you carefully look at the data sets, structure the data in the right way, and find the right Generative AI to read this information – you could automatically generate a response to future, similar situations. Have a look at OpenAI’s Documentation to read how to do this.

If you’re really clever you might be able to use the output of one Generative AI as the input for another Generative AI. By combining these Generative AIs, you can resolve Challenges that might not be immediately solvable. Have a look at Auto-GPT and all of Open AI’s pre-generated examples to get some clues as to how to resolve the Challenges! 

Is this Hackathon for teams or solo participants?

We encourage participants to team up to build prototypes that solve the Challenges. You can participate as a solo participant, but we’ve noticed that the teams who have the most fun and tend to do the best are typically made up of between three to four participants.

What if I’m not part of a team?

Don’t worry! At the start of the event, we will help pair you with other like-minded people so you can form a team.

When do I register my solution or team?

Solutions and teams will be officially registered on Saturday morning at 11am. 

Can a team member assist us remotely?

Yes, but keep in mind the following requirements 

– All team members must have a valid ticket
– Your team and solution must be registered in person at the event space by 11am on Saturday 22nd June 2024
– Your solution must be demonstrated in person at the Pitch Event on Sunday 23rd June 2024.

What is the Pitch Event?

On Sunday 23rd June 2024 team will need to ‘pitch’ their idea to our judges. This pitch can take whatever form you’d like – demonstrations are always a great way to show off what you’ve built. The judges will award the prizes based upon your pitches. 

Who are the judges?

The judges will be announced over the course of the next few weeks.

Will there be technical experts on hand, over the weekend for advice and direction?

Yes! There will be technical mentors and subject matter experts from the  in attendance. 

Will data sets be provided for each of the challenges?

Yes. The Western Australian Police Force will be providing data from their internal business processes, but teams are also encouraged to seek out and use other open data sources that might help them validate their solution.

What are the challenges?

This year, our challenges are:

• Optimise the Western Australian Police Force’s emergency response.
• Predict the location of a vehicle of interest.
• Build a virtual assistant for frontline officers.
• Extract key information about police investigations from operational sources.
• Ensure that critical information is understood during a 000 call.

Are there ID or minimum age requirements to enter the event?

No, but if you are under the age of 18, you will need to be accompanied by a guardian at all times.

What are my transport and parking options for getting to and from the event?

Transport to the event can be found by visiting the Transperth website. There are also CPP and Wilson parking lots close to the venue.

What do I need to bring along?

This will be an event where we explore how Generative AI techniques can help solve major issues affecting WA. We’d strongly recommend bringing along a laptop and a collaborative mindset!

Food and refreshments will be supplied by the organisers.

How can I contact the organiser with any questions?

If you have any questions, you can contact WADSIH via the website, or reach out to Tim Sondalini via LinkedIn

Please note: Participation is conditional upon not engaging in behaviour that offends, or intimidates anyone. Such behaviours can include physical, verbal or visual conduct (e.g. in the form of posters, email, or SMS messages). Participants are expected to treat all people with respect and courtesy.  Failure to do so can result in being removed from the WADSIH event and possible further action.