UniSuper Hackathon 2019 – “Innovation and Collaboration as a competitive advantage”

Axway was honored to be invited by UniSuper to take part in their first-ever Hackathon–UniSuper Hackathon 2019. Facilitated by Hack Days, in UniSuper’s Bourke street Melbourne office, the event took place over the course of two days at the end of May. Eleven teams, made up of 80 participants, joined forces to collaborate, share innovative ideas and put their unique skill sets to the test through some healthy competition!

Who is UniSuper?

A customer of Axway’s using both API Gateway & Manager, UniSuper is an Australian superannuation fund that provides superannuation services to employees of Australia’s higher education and research sector. UniSuper invited Axway to join them as part of a team of nine alongside an Axway partner; Intelligent pathways have been involved on-site for the implementation of Axway’s products at UniSuper.

The Project: GO MOBILE

In a nutshell, the Go MOBILE application aimed to improve UniSuper’s member experience and engagement. Currently, members must log in to the website to access their account information and check their account balances, which we all know can be painful when having to remember many usernames and passwords. Statistics have shown that at least 10% of people attempting to log in fail, which is subsequently bad for engagement.

The problem:

• Lack of visibility into APIs currently exposed from the various integration platforms within UniSuper.
• Lack of centralized, secure API hub
• MOL mobile app is not available to members

Value Proposition:

• We will have a central, secure hub for all APIs exposed within the UniSuper technology unit.
• All the externally facing APIs will be exposed to the external hub, as well as ready for our external business partners or mobile app to consume.
• Members will be able to conveniently access their account from the mobile device of their choice as well as register for the “Simple Balance View” option.

So that’s what our team set out to achieve. One easy-to-access place whereby members can access their account information on the go. Which as a result and direct advantage to UniSuper as a business, it provides not only the improvements and satisfaction members experience but also a platform to market and communicate to its members through push notifications and application advertisements.

So how did it all unfold?

I joined the team on the morning of Day One. At 9:40 am, we break into our teams and the planning and hacking begin. Just before we all break for lunch; all the groups join collectively to share their four-minute Gaddy pitches to the group and any updates on the projects so far. It was remarkable to hear all the ideas and work that everyone had put into the projects. Further, you could really hear the amount of passion and excitement in the pitches from the participants–it was at that point we knew we were amongst a competitive crowd. After the lunch break, the teams continued to code away tirelessly, our team pushing towards getting the app live in demonstratable format. And they did before we left that evening, we had GO MOBILE!

Day two was a very different atmosphere, the quiet concentration that I witnessed yesterday was obsolete with the room now a buzzing group of energetic people all racing around getting set up for the judging. The room began to transform into a show floor as the teams rehearsed their pitches, set up demos, as well as decorated their pop-up stands to prepare for the evening marketplace.

Knowing that our team had executed this innovative new GO MOBILE application, we needed to ensure we did it justice by having a unique pitch to wow the judges that evening. We worked on and rehearsed a “before and after” skit that showed the improvement the app made in member experience when needed to access their information. The idea… a bit of a laugh and some entertainment to win over points with the judges!

In the final hour, as our team synced our demo on the mobile device, tested presentation slides on the display screens, and hung our promotional posters, we did a last-minute race down to the shops to pick up decorations and props for the final touches of our marketplace stand. And all in time and preparation for the 2:45 pm pitch to the judges, which included UniSuper’s CEO, CIO and the Chief People Officer.

We were the first up, and our presentation and pitch went well. After all, teams were seen by the judges the event wrapped up with the marketplace starting at 3:45 pm whereby the doors open to the public and everyone came in and check out the teams work, as well as cast their votes in the people’s choice category.

The Innovation Award

Two days of teamwork led the team to victory, taking home the Innovation Award. It was fantastic to see the three organizations, Axway, Intelligent Pathways and UniSuper, all come together to form a team in such a short time, managing not only to prepare a “state-of-the-art” pitch and sell the idea successfully to the judges but also demonstrate a functional MVP product. A very proud achievement for all those involved, with the next step to get the sponsor for this great initiative and make it a reality for the members of UniSuper. Watch this space!

In an upcoming blog post, you will learn about a Axway’s own Hackathon held in three cities around the world.