College of Defence Management, Secunderabad, a premier tri-services training institute under Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff, successfully concluded the second edition of Defence Datathon, a pioneering tri-services data analytics competition on 27 November 2024. The participants from the three services as well as Indian Coast Guard showcased their data analytical skills to provide insights on diverse datasets for innovative solutions to various strategic and operational challenges. The top 10 participants presented their solutions and five winners were felicitated.
The primary aim of the competition was to promote a culture of data-driven decision-making within the Armed Forces. The four themes chosen for Datathon 2024 related to current strategic events and challenges faced including ‘War of the 21st Century: The Israel-Hamas Conflict’, ‘Decrypting the Buzz: the China-Taiwan Dynamics’, ‘Designing Dietary Preferences for Armed Forces and Deciphering India’s Trade Trajectory’, The Datathon witnessed overwhelming participation reflecting the growing enthusiasm for leveraging data analytics. The competition was conducted in a phased assessment process, culminating in a final evaluation by accomplished subject matter experts.
The Datathon has been a successful in promoting data centricity amongst defence forces. Data is often called the “ammunition” of the modern digital battlefield, and the capabilities to harness big data will decide outcomes in information age military conflicts. Initiatives like CDM Datathon therefore align military processes to the information age.
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