The University of Melbourne’s Hunt Challenge 2020

In February-March 2020, the University of Melbourne’s Hunt Laboratory for Intelligence Research will hold an international analytic tournament.

Teams of analysts from intelligence organisations will compete alongside teams from the public to solve complex, realistic, intelligence-type problems.

WHO’S INVITED?

You. Everyone over the age of 18 is welcome. There are no educational or professional experience prerequisites. We’ll provide the training and learning materials you’ll need, and assign you to a team.

**SORRY, REGISTRATIONS HAVE CLOSED – FEB 17**

Organizations. The Challenge is open to any government or private organization with an intelligence function. An organization can enter a full team (or teams). Upon request, we can merge smaller groups of analysts from different organizations into combined teams.

If you would like to enter a team from your organization, please click the button below for further information and contact details:

INFORMATION FOR ORGANIZATIONS

HOW DOES THE CHALLENGE WORK?

HC2020 takes place on Hunt Lab’s SWARM Platform, an experimental online platform developed at the University of Melbourne with major funding from the US Intelligence Advanced Research Project Activity (IARPA).

There are 2 rounds in the Challenge:

Round 1: Public Teams + Professional Teams. You’ll join a team which will compete to produce a report with the best analytical reasoning for 2 complex, realistic, intelligence-type problems (1 per week, Feb 19 – Mar 4).

Round 2: SuperTeams + Professional Teams. The best performing individuals from all teams in Round 1 will be invited to join a SuperTeam, regardless of their teams’ performance in Round 1. Teams will tackle another 2 complex, realistic, intelligence-type problems (1 per week, Feb 19 – Mar 4).

The HC2020 Leaderboard will display the report scores of each team per problem, with a winner declared at the end of each round.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN?

Registration & Onboarding: Feb 4 – Feb 16

  • Registration, Onboarding, Consent & Entry Survey
  • Platform orientation & training

Round 1: Feb 19 – Mar 4 (2wks)

  • Public Teams + Professional Teams tackle Problems 1 & 2

Break: Mar 4 – Mar 11 (1wk)

  • Round 1 winner declared
  • SuperTeams invitations sent

Round 2: Mar 11 – Mar 25 (2wks)

  • SuperTeams + Professional Teams tackle Problems 3 & 4

Offboarding: Mar 25th – Mar 31

  • Round 2 winner declared
    Exit Survey

WHAT’S THE TIME COMMITMENT?

Round 1. Your team will tackle 2 problems, 1 each per week. We estimate that you’ll spend, on average, about 5-10 hours per problem in the Challenge. You may spend less or more time if you wish.

Round 2. By invitation to a SuperTeam only, the time commitment is the same as Round 1.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

  • WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS?

    (1) Everyone over the age of 18 is welcome. There are no educational or professional experience prerequisites. We’ll provide the training and learning materials you’ll need, and assign you to a team.

    (2) You will need the Chrome internet browser on a desktop or laptop computer. The SWARM Platform will not function properly on other internet browsers, or on mobile devices.

  • HOW DO SUPERTEAM INVITATIONS WORK?

    The best performing individuals from all teams in Round 1 will be invited to join a SuperTeam, regardless of their teams’ performance in Round 1.

  • HOW ARE TEAM’S REPORTS SCORED?

    Each report will be evaluated and scored by three expert raters using a version of the official scoring guide for intelligence reports put out by the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The principles for assessment are as follows.

    1. The raters will be “blind” as to what team, or type of team, produced a report.
    2. Reports will also be scored on the accuracy of answers to objective sub-problems.
    3. The three raters’ scores will be averaged to produce an overall score. Raters will provide comments on each report.

  • ARE THERE ANY OTHER COSTS?

    The only costs for the Hunt Challenge 2020 are for Professional Teams. Government and corporate organizations with intelligence functions may enter a Professional Team(s) for $9,990 +GST each

  • WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS LIKE?

    You’ll be solving a hypothetical intelligence-type problem designed by the Hunt Lab to test the reasoning skills analysts need to solve real world intelligence problems. 

    Example Problem: Kalukistan

    Introduction: You are an Identity Intelligence Officer serving with Special Operations Command Asia (SOCA). Your current station is in the troubled Central Asian country of Kalukistan; where a large car bomb has just detonated outside the Ministry of Minerals and Mines. SOCA has recently changed their policy when dealing with the local police and security forces, in the interests of reducing unrest in Kalukistan. So when the local police detain four suspects in the car bombing case and ask you to recommend what to do with them, it’s not just a simple matter of determining guilt. Politics and counter-terrorism collide in this fictional (albeit very plausible) problem. 

    Please click to download a full copy of:

  • WHAT’S PROVIDED TO YOU?

    Training. Platform system and process guidance, and online courses for evaluating analytical reasoning.

    In addition, you’ll have access to the Help Center, which contains articles, videos, and FAQs; and The Lens Kit, a repository of useful tools, tips and techniques to help you solve the problems.

    Feedback. We’ll provide you with our expert raters detailed scores and comments for your team’s reports. The Challenge leaderboard will display your team’s relative performance.

HOW TO ENTER THE HC2020

The Hunt Challenge 2020 is limited to 20 teams in total, 10 Public Teams and 10 Professional Teams.

Join a Public Team. You may reserve a place on a Public Team at no cost. Everyone over the age of 18 is welcome. There are no educational or professional experience prerequisites.

Join a SuperTeam. No additional cost, by invitation only (based on individual performance in Round 1).

Enter a Professional Team. Government and corporate organizations with intelligence functions may enter a Professional Team(s) for $9,990 +GST each.

**UPDATE (FEB 16): HC2020 now has 7 Professional Teams and 9 Public Teams**

 

Reserve your place on a Public Team

Click a button below to get started with your onboarding:

**SORRY, REGISTRATIONS HAVE CLOSED – FEB 17**

We’ll show you a short presentation covering more on:

  • What is the Hunt Laboratory for Intelligence Research?
  • What is the Hunt Challenge 2020?
  • What’ll be involved?
  • What happens when?
  • How to contact us, and more.

At the of the presentation, you can reserve your place on a Public Team in the Hunt Challenge 2020. Registrations close Sunday Feb 16th at 11:59pm AEST.

Any questions or concerns?

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us at swarm-help@unimelb.edu.au