On the 28th of October, 2017, Team Computers decided to use Qlik Sense, a business intelligence tool that they work with, for a unique purpose: To provide the United Nations with useful insights for their peacekeeping operations around the world.
The reduction of violence and the consequences arising from it for its member nations is one of the primary objectives of the UN. Data is quintessential to explore the cause of conflict, its nature and the main players and subsequently its reduction. The challenge for the participants: To create dashboards on Qlik Sense to analyze the data of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a region plagued by conflict for decadesm and enables the UN to resolve and soften conflicts where ever possible.
A 12 hour hackathon for developers of Qlik, the Qlikathon was organized to fuel innovation in the realm of data analytics and business intelligence. Held for the first time in India at Karma Chalets, it marked the beginning of the series of hackathons for developers of Qlik that Team Computers will host over the next few years. Though the dates are still being worked on, the next Qlikathon will most likely be held in the beginning of 2018 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
“The Qlikathon is a first of its kind to happen in India for Qlik developers and enthusiasts and it has energized the whole ecosystem. More partners want to emulate this and Team Computers has been a trend setter on this, like always. Kudos to Team for the initiative’’ said Chaitanya, Lead – Channels at Qlik India, who was part of the three member Jury for the event.
For Rajan Kumar, a participant, the Qlikathon was a combination of a spirit of collaboration and competition. He excels in the newly launch offering of Qlik, Geoanalytics and was more than delighted to help other participants explore its potential. “While providing important insight to U.N’s complex data set , Qlikathon was also a refreshing experience for Qlik developers and a strong bonding opportunity for the Qlik Community. I couldn’t have imagined for a better forum to meet so many people that work on the same tool, and each participant brought a new skill to the table. There is so much possible with Qlik Sense with widgets and extensions, it is unbelievable. ” said Rajan.
Jaganand, an organizer, who was actively engaging with the participants helping them with story tell. He wasn’t surprised when the results were announced, already having identified dashboards with strong user interfaces and compelling stories. Akhil Jain from Team Computers bagged the first prize of INR 50K, while Mukul Kumar from Team Computers and Rahul Gupta from MakeMyTrip were awarded the second and third prizes of INR 30K and 20K respectively.
“The first of the Qlikathon series has been a great success. I feel that it not only gave the developers the opportunity to demonstrate their tech skills but also got them emotionally connected to each other and build a community that seeks benefits and opportunities of change nation-wide by innovation, ideas and insights in analytics. “We hope to take Qlikathon national one day, and in the process build a budding community of Qlik developers that believe in the power of ideas and innovation” states Jatin Sawhney, Director – Business Analytics at Team Computers who first conceptualized the idea of the Qlikathon. With Team being the first Qlik partner in India 12 years ago, Jatin and his Team have played a pivotal role in establishing the tool in the Indian market.
