We are finalists in an artificial intelligence related challenge organized by the Department of Veterans Affairs. From our perspective the competitors are big companies with a lot of employees and with unlimited resources. We are just two freelance deep learning developers under the team name Rixel. The ceremonial announcement of results is at the end of February In Washington D.C, and we will be there in person. We think our example can motivate others to dare to dream big, since nothing is impossible.
This campaign is about finding companies and organizations who have similar attitudes and values. As IT guys, we can write good codes that fly us into the final. As IT guys, we are not the popular ones. That’s why we decided to find experts and sponsors to take advantage of our opportunity. We do not want money donations, we already paid our travel costs. Video interviews, common press releases, technical or device-based support would help us. Our computers have enough computational capacity to run cutting edge software and train deep learning models, but we do not have a studio with high-end devices.
We know nothing about the final result. Maybe we will be in sixth place or we will reach a better position. Frankly, there is only one thing that matters: it is a real Hungarian Dream when two people from a small European country are in a challenge between huge companies.
If we had the right tools and devices, we would make videos about our trip and our journey to motivate others. We are not youtube celebrities, but we do our best. We offer our motivation and commitment for your support. Any forms of cooperation are welcome. Let’s make a small change in the world.
This competition is co-organized by the Office of Research and Development of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and National Artificial Intelligence Institute (NAII). This competition is a part of the AI Tech Sprints, which provide a novel approach to innovation to meet Veteran needs. Teams compete to create AI-enabled tools that leverage federal data to address specific Veteran health care issues.
The task of this competition was to create a computer-adaptive skill assessment platform which will be used across the federal government to train and assess the workforce of the future. Teams made prototypes of a learning platform for the All Services Personnel and Institutional Readiness Engine (ASPIRE) project. The general goal of the platform is to administer a computer-adaptive assessment of the test-taker’s skills and understanding of AI. The system will provide an assessment summary and make personalized recommendations of courses or other materials to advance the test-taker’s skills. The software should provide a relatively stable and secure experience, with auditability and interpretability of results.
On November 18, 2022, NAII announced the finalists who will compete for the winning positions. The selected teams are: Booz-Allen Hamilton, Coursera, Groundswell-Data Robot, QuantHub, Rixel, Scaled Entelechy.
Official announcement page and source: https://www.research.va.gov/naii/tech-sprints.cfm
Hungary is a small country, everyone knows everyone, especially IT developers, startuppers or business managers. Each new talent brings a unique mindset into the economical environment that makes a flourish and inspiring atmosphere. New actors means new business opportunities for each company.
IT people are not rock stars or celebrities, we are in the shadows and not hyped. However, the whole world is built on the result of IT experts and programmers. Software are everywhere. Our main goal is to motivate experts like us to push or exceed their limits and use their talents or power to produce future-proof solutions for a better world. Regardless of their age or experience and background any developer can have a dream of building something meaningful which uses or which is a cutting edge technology and these dreams can come true. More experts means more ways to cooperate with others.
As we mentioned earlier, we already invested the necessary resources in our travel. However, we would like to make a meaningful and useful campaign that helps others. We may be able to make it on our own, but with partners we can reach our goals faster and easier.
A common project always has more potential for success than a lone-wolf one. We believe in the power of community. That’s why we ask for help and that’s why we are not asking for money. We are open to any kind of cooperation that moves you, us and others forward. We have a ball and we are open to pass it for you to make it a match point ball.