30 Things I learned Organizing South East Asia's Largest Datathon

Organizing Data Unchained Malaysia was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my career. In November 2018, we invited 100 brilliant data enthusiasts, out of 300 candidates, to a resort in Kuala Lumpur to solve a data problem and to create a suitable business model for it. We gave participants anonymized sample internet and phone call data, connected car records and some points of interest. We asked them to predict the destinations towards which cars are moving, to create a safe driving index and to build a business plan that uses these two models commercially -- all this in just 24 hours. It was crucial for participants to possess a good blend of technical and business skills to make it through the competition.