IDI Camp - Ukrainian war tech hackathon

The first IDI Camp military hackathon took place on September 23-25 in Kyiv. More than 50 teams of IT specialists and engineers worked tirelessly for two days on developments in four categories: drones, demining, communication and everything else, starting with computer vision and ending with the improvement of small arms.

For three days, IT specialists, engineers and designers together with the military worked on innovative solutions that will help the Armed Forces of Ukraine gain a technological advantage over the enemy. These are systems of distraction and psychological influence, electromagnetic weapons, survey and search for mines and explosive objects, UAVs, countermeasures against enemy EW devices, mobile radar stations, etc.

During the forum for developers (hackathon), expert and mentoring support was provided to the teams by representatives of Ukroboronprom, the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the Central Research Institute of Armaments and Military Equipment of the Armed Forces, as well as military personnel who specially came from the front line.

The Kyiv School of Economics taught participants how to present startups to potential investors.

All the tasks proposed to the teams are relevant for our country and the Armed Forces of Ukraine right now. For example, 270,000 square kilometers liberated from the enemy need effective and quick demining. In order not to mine them for tens of years, modern technological solutions are needed. In addition, there are urgent issues related to the automation of a number of processes, the further robotization of weapons, as well as the creation of the latest software products. All this can both strengthen individual units and comprehensively increase the combat capability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The final evaluation of the projects was given by a competent jury based on four criteria: relevance, innovation, viability of the solution and the quality of the startup's presentation.

"We want to create a favorable environment for the implementation and development of defense startups, so that as many IT specialists as possible get involved in this, so that many innovative projects are created that are useful for Ukraine and deadly for the enemy," said the co-founder of the Innovation Defense Initiative (IDI ), founder and CEO of ElifTech Anatoly Maslov.

The organizers managed to gather representatives of different fields and professions under one roof. There were both classic IT developers and the military ones, who came literally from the battlefield. Participants ranged in age from engineering students to 70-year-old veterans of engineering and programming. And they all worked for the victory of Ukraine.

Among the main areas of development are psychological impact systems, drones for various types of purposes, systems for combating enemy drones, mine clearance, radar, automation equipment, and much more.

"This event is special because it takes place during the war. That's why today we have to develop something that can be adopted by the Armed Forces of Ukraine tomorrow and help the Ukrainian military to liberate our cities, - stressed the general director of Ukroboronprom Yuriy Gusev. - You are investing your knowledge, talents, work and time now in the future victory over the enemy - and we, together with the army, should contribute to implementing the best innovations as soon as possible."

"Ukraine will definitely win because we have such talented and dedicated people. I hope that some ideas will soon be implemented, which will be a significant help for the Armed Forces of Ukraine," said Volodymyr Koval, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The total prize pool was $25,000. 10 projects received grants. For the first place - $4000, for the second - $1000.