Winners & Highlight Video

Winners

Projects will be evaluated based on the criteria outlined above. Winning teams must designate one team member who is able to receive the prize(s) on behalf of the team. This team member must be able to complete an IRS Form W-9 in order to receive a cash prize on behalf of the team. If a team member is a minor, a parent may complete the form on behalf of the team member. All prizes are subject to change.

Grand Prize Winner

HyperCube

$20,000

Second Place Winner

A Solution to the Consumption for Counterfeit Medicine

$15,000

Crowdsource Prize

G.I.N

$2,000

Student Prize

The Spartan Solution

$5,000

CINA Follow-on Research Project Prize

A-CAPP Team #1

$10,000
Research Funding

Click here for details and additional criteria

The CHALLENGE

We challenge you to present a solution that enhances, or overcomes policy blockers (legal, regulatory, administrative) to effective public-private collaboration in the fight against counterfeiting. Ideas that enhance data sharing and operational collaboration among the private-sector and state, local, and federal law enforcement entities are of particular interest in this event. The results of this policy hackathon will provide input for a technology-focused follow up challenge.

Questions to consider might include:

What mechanisms (legal, policy, technical) would enable faster and more effective public and private sector information-sharing and collaboration on this issue? For example-
Sharing information on the identification of new and emerging schemes to stay ahead of criminals involved in the trade of counterfeits
Connecting information about counterfeiters / related networks among federal, state, and local law enforcement in the US and globally to support investigations and successful prosecutions
How do you account for “latent” bias where social or statistical biases happen over time due to the complexities of healthcare processes?
Where does bias occur and how do we provide a path forward for follow-up investigations?
How do you account for consistent evaluation and assessments of the algorithm over time and for all patient populations?

Photo Credit: Left: Shutterstock, Middle: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Right: ICE.gov, Defense Visual Information Distribution Service

The Background

Counterfeiting is an industry-wide, global issue, that affects all retail channels. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that pirated and counterfeit products make up 2.5 percent of world trade—that’s $464 billion a year, or roughly the gross domestic product of the country of Belgium. Counterfeiters deprive brand owners of the value of their intellectual property and compete unfairly with honest entrepreneurs. They are criminals that may also be associated with transnational networks engaged in a wide range of illicit behavior, including trafficking in narcotics, arms, persons, and wildlife. Billions of dollars from these activities flow through the global economy each year, distorting local economies, diminishing legitimate business revenues, eroding social conditions, harming public safety and security, and fueling conflict.

The Internet has provided new opportunities and mechanisms for trading goods and services via e-commerce. At the same time, the openness of the Internet and the anonymity that surrounds many online transactions also make it attractive to counterfeiters, providing them with easy access to markets, with low risk of detection and, if caught, relatively low penalties in many jurisdictions. As highlighted by OECD research, in many jurisdictions “counterfeiting goes largely unpunished due to difficulties in coordinating effective responses and perceptions that these are ‘victimless’ crimes that do not warrant significant action,” among other challenges. Combating these crimes takes agile, multilateral, multidisciplinary teams using a full range of innovative tools. Cross-domain experts from government, industry, law enforcement, and social sciences together with technologists specializing in data mining and analysis, AI/ML, IP rights or other areas can make huge in-roads in detecting counterfeits and disrupting supply chains.

TEAMS & MENTORS

Teams can consist of up to five members. Each team member must register for the event.
Teams can be based anywhere in the world, however, please note the scheduled live event times below which are all in U.S. Eastern Time (GMT-04:00)
Entries submitted by employees of sponsoring companies or organizations will not be judged by a judge from the same company or organization.
Participants under the age of 18 will be required to complete a simple permission form to participate. Participants must be at least 13 years of age.
Participants are encouraged to find complementary skills in our dedicated Slack channel. You can find policy gurus, techies, businesses, and innovators to fill gaps on your team!

Mentors will be available for teams that desire to consult with subject matter experts in anti-counterfeiting legal and enforcement regimes in the United States, technology, product development, and other areas.
The mentor’s role is to offer feedback and advice; mentors are not project leads. Team submissions should be driven by the team members from conception to completion.

SCHEDULE

August 2022

August 5, 2022

Registration Opens

Thursday, August 27, 2022

11am EST

Hackathon Kick off Event

October 2022

October 7, 2022

11:59pm EST

Registration Closes

October 13, 2022

5pm EST

Submission Deadline

October 21, 2022

Finalists Invited to Demo Day

November 2022

Saturday, November 5, 2022

10am EST

Demo Day- Team Demos, Judging, Winners Announced

Rules and submissions

Rules

Check your Onboarding packet that came with your registration confirmation for more details, such as how to stay engaged and how to submit your solution.
Teams can use their own research. Solutions must be their own original ideas.
Teams must be registered (check timeline above) to qualify their submission for review.
The demonstration on November 5 will be in-person but reasonable accommodations will be made for teams that cannot be in-person. Instructions will be sent to the top teams to make those arrangements.
These rules are subject to change.

Submissions

Submissions must reflect the original work of the project team alone and must consist of the following components:

Written concept paper (up to 5 pages) outlining Policy/Business Idea
Template available here (PDF | Word)
Written application via DevPost outlining Prototype idea
Video pitch of prototype* demo (no more than 3 minutes)
* A prototype should demonstrate the idea and how it works. It is a visual representation and should be functional in the sense that it might be clickable but does not require a database. It should NOT be a set of slides. Teams do not need to submit code but can if they desire to do so. A separate Slack channel will be provided for prototyping tips and suggestions for tools.**Submissions must be in English

JUDGING CRITERIA

Projects will be judged based on the following criteria:

Impact: How impactful could this solution be to U.S. law enforcement at the state, local, or federal levels or to private-sector entities engaged in this fight against counterfeiting?
Scalability: What is the potential for scalability? How costly would this solution be to bring to scale? Could it be accomplished under current authorities and resources or would it require new legislation and appropriations?
Creativity: How original is this solution? Does it set itself apart from existing solutions? Does it demonstrate outside-the-box thinking?
Design: Is this solution thoughtful and complete? Is the strategy appropriate?

We challenge you to present a solution that enhances, or overcomes policy blockers to effective public-private collaboration in the fight against counterfeiting.

Winners & Highlight Video

Winners

HyperCube

A Solution to the Consumption for Counterfeit Medicine

G.I.N

The Spartan Solution

A-CAPP Team #1

The CHALLENGE

Speakers

EMCEE

TEAMS & MENTORS

SCHEDULE

Rules and submissions

JUDGING CRITERIA

Judges

Sponsors

Tools, Data, & IP Rights

FAQS

POINT OF CONTACT