There are worse ways to spend a long weekend than catching a Eurostar train from London to Paris and connecting onwards to Lyon before returning home a couple of days later.
And if you're the sort of person that enjoys writing code and designing solutions to hitherto intractable problems, there is probably no better way to pass your time on the train than participating in a hackathon designed to help rail companies create better, more efficient and customer-centric businesses.
So let's cut to London's St Pancras Station on an early November morning where a group of carefully selected coders are setting off on a Journey to France and back. Their mission – if they choose to accept it - is to come up with solutions for a set of problems specified by train operators. And when they return, the best ideas will be trialed in real world situations.
The so-called Hacktrain illustrates the degree to which the “hackathon” concept has ceased to be a phenomenon unique to the IT industry. Today, companies as diverse as British Airways, MasterCard and Disney run or sponsor such events as a means to find better ways of doing things. And increasingly hackathons are building vital bridges between large organisations and innovative tech businesses.
So what does that mean in practice? Well, a typical hackathon will take place in a single location over an agreed period. During that time, technically adept people – usually but not always coders – work individually and collectively to solve problems and address challenges. The theory is that in the hothouse atmosphere created by individual competition – everyone wants to show off their skills, after all – and the pressure to achieve results ahead of a fixed deadline, an awful lot of good works done.
In the process, the hackathon can provide a means for talented people to forge relationships with the corporate sponsors. And for those who are connected to tech startups, it's a huge opportunity to put a foot in the door of potential customers or partners.
Building Bridges
Which brings us back to the “Hacktrain.” Organised by Hack Partners, the initiative is focused solely on the rail industry. And as co-founder RiverTamoor Baig explains, the hackathon is not the end of the story. The goal is to take ideas developed over 48 hours on a train and see them developed into trials within the rail industry and ultimately adopted by train operators.
To that end, Hack Partners has worked hard to develop strong and deep links with transport companies. “This year we have five of Britain's transport owning companies taking part, “ says Tamoor Baig.
And as he sees it, the involvement of the industry means that hackers taking part in the event are not only working on real-world problems, they are also working with data provided by rail operators and focusing on solving problems that keep train managers awake at night. “We get the industry to set the challenges,” he says. “Participants have 48 hours to come up with a solution.”
The Solutions Arriving
The hackers themselves are individuals chosen not only for their skills but also – according to Tamoor Baig – for their propensity towards working collectively. But that begs a question. If the hackers take part in the event as individuals, rather than representatives of start-up technology companies, how does Hack Partners ensure that good ideas are developed and trialed after the hackathon itself is over.
Last year, the answer was the Hacktrain Accelerator, a follow up programme during which startup businesses built on hackathon ideas and worked with rail companies to put them into action. “Some of the people taking part in the accelerator had been on the Hacktrain,” says Tamoor Baig. “In other cases,other startups came in.”
Vivacity Labs was one of the beneficiaries. Based in London, the company develops smart cameras that can be programmed to recognise things – such as types of vehicle. The recognition software means that the cameras can be used to, say, monitor a stretch of road and analyse traffic patterns without the need for humans to look at the footage.
“We were originally focused on the road industry but we thought there might be applications for other industries, including rail. ” says Chief Operating Officer Peter Mildon.
The accelerator programme that followed 2015's Hacktrain event, provided Vivacity with a route into the rail sector. As Mildon recalls, his company applied for the programme, was accepted and the result was a series of trials of the camera technology for rail companies.
The biggest trail involved using the recognition abilities of the cameras and software to map the movement of individuals on the London Bridge station concourse in close to real time, allowing station staff to both manage crowding and plan for the future. Elsewhere, the company put sensors on a train for Chiltern Railways and monitored activity around the booking offices at a station in Swindon.
Mildon says the accelerator helps solve one of the perennial problems facing startup technology companies. “It enabled us to the speak the right people.” However, as he stresses, taking part in the trials is only part of the journey. The next stage is to agree further trials and adoption with rail operators..
Meanwhile, Hack Partners hopes to see more trials stemming from solutions developed on year's Hacktrain. Tamoor Baig says real progress was made during the 48 hours, He cites the example of data provided by French rail company SNCF providing details of its entire estate, from trees near the line to buildings. Normally analysing this data requires humans to look at pictures. Hackers on the train developed a 3D mapping system and the capacity to identify components within the estate - such as trees - authomatically. Another team came up with a means to keep passengers informed about WiFi strength throughout their journeys.
The next stage, then, is take these latest solutions forward. If successful it will provide a source of innovation for rail companies and opportunity for technologists and startups.
