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Our Military Software Solution at IDI Hackathon

Military Software Development Hackathon

These days, it’s extremely important for the IT community to support military initiatives. After all, сollective international security in the modern day is founded on technological solutions, inter alia, in the defense sector. This hackathon was organized to support military software development to support Ukraine.

Innovation Defense Initiative (IDI) Camp

The recent event, conducted in the format of a hackathon, focused on the newest technological solutions in the defense sector. The IT community presented military-centered software solutions that may aid the armed forces of Ukraine in multiple ways. 

The rationale behind such an event? Ukraine, involved in the military conflict, strives to save the lives of combatants, non-combatants, and civilians. This is only possible through increasing defense capabilities, including the integration of the recent development in the area. 

IDI Hackathon is more than a social event that allows dev companies to introduce their tech solutions. With government-level partners behind the event and the well-development IT network formed, any of the successful innovations stands a chance to be sponsored and added to the tech stack of the armed forces of Ukraine.

IDI Hackathon, How it All Went

This IDI camp was essentially different from other hackathons the PM Partners team had had the pleasure to participate in. First, for security reasons, we had no information regarding the event’s location until the very last moment. That’s why only one of the PM Partners team was able to visit the event in person. Others were present in the online mode.

This hackathon was partially competitive since the participants were offered to complete the development challenge. The reason is to correlate the event with the actual situation on the battlefield and ensure that the technological solutions brought have real-life usage.

For convenience, the members of the event were categorized into three groups:

• The jury, or challenge owners

They were the actual representatives of the armed forces of Ukraine, having knowledge of what technological solutions may be to their assistance.

• Participants

These were IT teams of individual developers having a well-thought-out IT project. 

• Mentors

They were business or military specialists guiding participants all the way and helping them to achieve desired outcomes. 

• Investors

These were foundations, companies, and individual investors willing to invest in developing defense IT solutions.

The prize pool amounted to $20,000. It was intended to be spent on the event-winning IT solution. With this budget, its MVP could be developed and integrated with the armed forces of Ukraine’s tech stack. 

Military Software Solution by PM Partners 

PM Partners is proud of our participants in the IDI camp. Here are some of the key presentation points deriving from our software-for-military solution.

Name & description

“Victory on air is forged on the ground,” — Oleksandr Maznyi. 

The modern-day reality proved that the lion’s share of the victory is artillery and air force. Taking into account the considerable number of military planes transferred to Ukraine from allies, the issues with technical support and maintenance of these valuable resources became pressing.

That’s why PM Partners came up with the idea of a military software solution that would serve as an automation system for the monitoring of the lifecycle of an aircraft. This would make Excel tablets and paper-based reports regarding the state of aircraft redundant. 

The solution will create a holistic system that would unite all the departments and processes involved in the support and maintenance of aircraft, including authority, finance, supply chain, planning, production, Quality Assurance, reliability, stores, and technical records. This would significantly simplify aircraft management and prolong the life expectancy of military planes. 

Team 

We had six members in our team called “Cloudy”, here are their names:

• Oleksandr Maznyi
• Yevhenii Komar
• Andrii Kozoriz
• Vitalii Antonov
• Mykhailo Shelekh

Such a team composition ensured that we could provide the jury with immediate answers to their questions regarding the architecture of the solution, its usability, its integration, and other aspects. 

IDI Hackathon Challenge

To make such an ambitious military software possible, the PM Partners team had to spend considerable time discussing every aspect of aircraft management with our mentors. It was quite a challenging matter because military management processes notably differ from conventional supply chains and fixed asset management systems.

Results & Use Case

At the end of the day, while participating in IDI Hackathon, we planned an analog of an Enterprise Resource Management (ERP) solution, customized specifically for aircraft management to simplify the technical support and maintenance of military planes. The project implementation cost was estimated to be around $80,000. Yet, the one-time integration of the solution in only one military facility would make it possible for the entire armed forces of Ukraine to start using it instead of their legacy system. 

PM Partners team is always up to innovative projects in different niches. Regardless of whether it’s a simple software integration challenge or a large-scale, ambitious IT development project, you may rely on PM Partners on any matter. Get in touch for additional details, and we’ll respond shortly.

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