Posted by Mike Delurey on November 13, 2014
Working at Booz Allen has shown me that even with limited resources, brilliant minds can yield powerful results. That’s why, earlier this year, our Cloud Analytics and Data Science Functional Community challenged staff to come up with a bright idea in just 10 weeks, with each winning team getting up to $10k to build it. The goal was to prove original, practical, market-ready thinking doesn’t have to cost a lot of money—or take a lot of time.
Twenty-seven teams answered the call. The entries addressed software vulnerabilities, clustering, advanced analytics, and data integration with potential applications ranging from aerospace to public policy. Entries came in the form of white papers, proofs of concept, and fully developed demos.
My team then vetted the entries and selected 10 ideas as finalists based on: cost (the less expensive the better); impact (the bigger the better); and the ability to be used directly to support a client, which some of the ideas already have!
The contest—and the award winners—prove that rapid prototyping can work across all disciplines if given a bit of structure, and that our employees are always up for a good challenge.
