About TechJam
HCLTech as the Official Digital Technology Partner of Cricket Australia has been working to scale digital transformation, inspire exceptional experiences and build a future-ready technology foundation that will empower Cricket Australia (CA) to inspire love for the game across communities and the ecosystem.
Now, in a bid to bring more technology-driven ideas to the forefront, we are delighted to announce the HCLTech-CA TechJam 2021 #InspiredByHCL - a unique opportunity for today’s innovators to help reimagine Cricket like never before. TechJam provides access to compelling data sets and insights from the Cricket ecosystem and covers a wide spectrum of interesting challenges across Player Performance, Fan Engagement, and Community Engagement from the grassroots to the international level.
TechJam is a global collaboration platform to crowdsource technology-led innovations from the brightest minds across the globe to develop implementable solutions and prototypes to transform the game of Cricket on and off the field. With an esteemed jury comprising of industry leaders from Cricket Australia, Microsoft, Global Sports Innovation Center, and HCLTech’s partners, the winners stand a chance to win great monetary rewards, and an opportunity to win exclusive rewards and recognition from Cricket Australia and partner organizations.
In collaboration with
Featuring leaders from
Challenge Tracks
TechJam—#InspiredByHCL will focus on three leading challenge tracks and will provide data and insights that teams can leverage: Player and Team Performance, Fan Engagement, and Community Engagement. Additionally, since there is a lot of scope for innovation, participants are also encouraged to submit ideas that have the potential to make an impact on the sport and can fall under the wild card submission category.
Player Performance
This challenge requires looking for solutions that leverage historical player performance data to improve performance on the field and improves the sport of Cricket in Australia and internationally. Challenge yourself and create a solution that meaningfully impacts the game of Cricket and improves the overall win rate and performance of Cricket teams on and off the field.
Fan Engagement
This challenge requires participants to put themselves in the shoes of fans and create a technology-based solution that simultaneously manages fan expectation, improves fan experiences, minimizes operational disruption, and helps fans plan for the future of Cricket. Using data and other resources, you will be required to strategize and implement a solution.
Community Engagement
With this challenge, we are looking for disruptive solutions that leverage cutting-edge technologies to increase participation rates, identify young talent, optimize resources and tools to increase engagement within the community, and make Cricket more inclusive for everyone across Australia and internationally.
Wild Card
This is the open innovation challenge track, in which you are welcome to come up with your own idea and submit it for TechJam only If you do not see a solution listed that you would like to work on. Be sure to discuss your idea with a mentor and elaborate on how you came up with your creative solutions.
Meet the Judging and Advisory Panel
To bring the best ideas to life, we have put together a diverse jury of technology, data and sports experts who can lend their views to identify and help innovate the game.
Mike Osborne
CIO and General Manager Technology
Cricket Australia
Sebastian Lancestremere
Global Digital Transformation Partnerships Director & Sports Industry Managing Director
Microsoft
Iris Córdoba
Managing Director and General Manager
GSIC
Phil Meyer
Partner Technology Strategist- Hosting and Cloud
Microsoft
Kiran Maladi
Retail Industry CTO and Technology Strategist
Microsoft
Lee Hickin
National Chief Technology Officer
Microsoft
Dr. Mohamed Zaki
Deputy Director, Cambridge Service Alliance
University of Cambridge
Stuart Robertson
Head of IT Business Partnering Customer & Digital
Toll Group
Shane Hill
Senior Research Analyst
Adapt
Phil Hassey
CEO and Founder
CapioIT
Brian McFadyen
Performance Systems & Analysis Manager
Cricket Australia
Joan Norton
Senior Commercial Strategy Manager
Cricket Australia
Damien Thompson
Senior Manager, Strategy and Data
Cricket Australia
Colin Mapp
Chief Information Officer, Information Technology
Toyota Finance Australia
Praveen Gogia
Executive Director, India IT and Fintech COO
Nomura Holdings
Tim Sheedy
Principal Advisor
Ecosystm
Rajesh Puppala
Digital Manager – Supply Chain Technology
Coles Group
Gerard McKee
Head of Technology Strategy and Operations Australia Division
ANZ Bank
Michelle Wade
Commissioner to South Asia
State Government of Victoria, Australia
Sarah Styles
Director of the Victorian Government’s Office for Women in Sport and Recreation
State Government of Victoria, Australia
David Camerlengo
Head of Advanced Technologies and Manufacturing
Australian Trade & Investment Commission
Shahidul Alam Ratan
CEO CKC and Director Smart Cricket Global
Capital Kids Cricket and Smart Cricket Global
Phil Oliver
Managing Director, CricViz
CricViz
Atul Srivastava
Founder Smart Cricket Global
Smart Cricket Global
Dr Amin Beheshti
Director, AIP Research Centre/ Head of Data Analytics Lab & Senior Lecturer
Macquarie University
Dr Muhammad Ikram
Lecturer, Department of Computing
Macquarie University
Dr Rajan Shankaran
Program Director, Department of Computing, Faculty of Science and Engineering
Macquarie University
Sujeet Rana
GM Customer Experience & Technology
Coles Group
Saurav Sachdev
Head of Data Engineering & Operations (Acting)
Coles Group
Vanessa Sorenson
Managing Director
Microsoft New Zealand
Judges speaks
Gerard McKee, Head of Strategy & Operations – Australia Division, ANZ Bank
It was fantastic to see the people's passion of cricket collide with innovative ideas to evolve the game, the quality of solutions meant everyone involved was a winner.
Lee Hickin, National Chief Technology Officer, Microsoft
As someone who came into this not a Cricket expert, I was blown away by the depth of passion, ingenuity, and creativity the fans showed for the game and the depth of technical integration that was possible. TechJam was a great learning experience for me personally and a showcase of just what is possible when we connect the human experience to innovation and technology.
David Camerlengo, Head of Advanced Technologies and Manufacturing, Australian Trade and Investment Commission
Congratulations to the team at HCLTech and Cricket Australia for delivering a successful TechJam 2021. I thoroughly enjoyed participating as a judge and was left inspired by the creativity and passion of participants. It was great to see the innovative concepts from individuals seeking to use technology to make cricket even more enjoyable for players and fans. I can only hope that this becomes a recurring hackathon and look forward to seeing some of the concepts continue to bring people together around the game that we all love.
Phil Oliver, Managing Director,CricViz
The HCLTech-CA TechJam 2021 was an exciting showcase of the innovative talent that exists in cricket. It is evident that technology and data are being used in a wide range of areas to create solutions in our sport and I look forward to watching the progress of the ideas and products that were presented. It was a pleasure to be involved in the judging process and I wish all the teams the best of luck for the future.
Dr. Mohamed Zaki, Deputy Director, Cambridge Service Alliance, University of Cambridge
I would like to thank HCLTech for organizing such an inspired hackathon. It was my great pleasure to participate as one of the judges in this event. I listened to many excellent innovative ideas that could change the future of the sport. I wish all participants the best of luck in the future. I hope to see these ideas flourish and be implemented in the market.
Andy Packham, Chief Architect and Senior Vice President – Microsoft Business Unit, HCLTech
Innovation is critical in every aspect of our lives, in business and in society. TechJam created a platform to showcase some of the most exciting ideas in sports technology and created a stage for innovators to tell their stories to a global audience. The experience was inspiring and energising. Importantly, TechJam itself is a massive innovation and has set a new benchmark for bringing together fans, players, teams, and business to collaborate and grow. Innovation is not easy, it takes effort, commitment, and a lot of hard work so I extend my thanks to the entire team that made this happen.
Shane Hill, Senior Research Analyst, Adapt
Judging HCLTech-CA TechJam 2021 was a delight. Reviewing the submissions illustrated just how innovative, engaged, and connected all parts of the cricketing community can be at their best. Thank you for the opportunity and partnership.
Brian McFadyen, Performance Systems & Analysis Manager, Cricket Australia
We are delighted with our leading digital partner HCLTech for the delivery of a fantastic HCLTech-CA TechJam 2021. The increased global reach and the diversity of submissions from competitors was outstanding. Events like this just simply demonstrate what can be achieved with great vision, skill, and discipline to commit to a very high level of planning and delivery. Cricket Australia is extremely fortunate to partner with HCLTech and this project is proof of benefits of this relationship. I, like everyone else at Cricket Australia, look forward to the next iteration of the HCLTech-CA TechJam with great anticipation of the next wave of unique technology & digital innovations.
Tim Sheedy, Principal Advisor, Ecosystm
HCLTech-CA TechJam provided a great opportunity for innovative businesses to showcase their capabilities for the good of cricket in Australia and around the globe. As a judge, I had the chance to learn about many start-ups and established businesses who are creating real solutions to many of the challenges facing cricket– helping improve the skills of players and deepen fan and community engagement. It was exciting to get behind the scenes on these innovators who are helping to shape the future of cricket.
Sarah Styles, Director of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation, State Government of Victoria, Australia
My thoughts on what to expect from being involved as a judge in the HCLTech-CA TechJam 2021 were well and truly surpassed. The level of ingenuity in the ideas, and the passion for improving involvement in cricket, shone through. I thoroughly recommend anyone with a game-changing idea to take part in the future.
Damien Thompson, Senior Manager, Strategy and Data, Cricket Australia
Building on the success of last year’s DataJam, the HCLTech-CA TechJam was truly an inspiring experience. Over the 12-week program Cricket Australia, our partners and the competitors came together to find innovative ways to apply technology and data, to create exciting solutions across our fans, participants, and players. Personally, it was invigorating to see the passion and energy brought to the competition by every team and I am excited to see how we will take these learnings and innovations forward. Congratulations and thank you to everyone involved in bringing this to life!
Thomas Body, Performance Data Scientist, Cricket Australia
It was a great experience and some of the projects that came through were fantastic. Mostly, I really enjoyed the diversity of ideas that were worked on. There were some really unique and interesting projects submitted that I really do not think we would have ever seen if not for TechJam.
Patrick Horan, Head of Digital, Cricket Australia
Playing a small role inHCL-CA TechJam 2021was a genuine honour. Seeing so much creativity and innovative thinking being applied to cricket – from on-field performance to off-field engagement – was truly inspiring and I sincerely hope we’re able to bring some of these excellent ideas to fruition for the good of the game. Despite being remarkable in its scale it was very well organised, culminating in a wonderful finale. I’m already looking forward to the next edition.
Kieran McMillan, Head of Customer Experience (Community Cricket), Cricket Australia
Cricket’s global community is quite amazing; it is filled with such talented and passionate people that love this game and want to use technology to make it better. Cricket Australia is very fortunate to have partners like HCLTech and Microsoft that can help us tap into the power of the crowd to identify the next game-changing innovations. The HCLTech TechJam was a huge undertaking and, whilst I only played a small part, I could see how much effort and skill went into delivering the best one yet! Thanks to everyone involved – there were nuggets of gold in every submission.
Finalist testimonials
Cricket Carnival (Winner)
For the first two and half weeks, our team could barely agree on anything or even decide the challenge track we wished to work. Following a workshop hosted by the TechJam team, we decided to stress the "human touch" rather than being tech-centric. From, there it was a smoother ride, especially with the expertise of the mentors and the database made available to us. The weeks we spent working on our project was fun and intense.
Ludimos (1st Runner Up)
HCLTech-CA TechJam was a blessing in disguise for team Ludimos! The fact that we were awarded 1st runners up at TechJam 2021 validated our efforts. The validation was even strong knowing that the jury consisted of ex-Australian Cricket players, world-class coaches and tech experts. We thank HCLTech, Cricket Australia, and Microsoft for providing us with an opportunity to showcase Ludimos on a global platform.
Crickey Cricket (2nd Runner Up)
The HCLTech-CA TechJam was among the most memorable, engaging and fulfilling event experiences we’ve had. The one on one sessions with mentors, supervisors and leaders were incredible and helped us refine and clearly define our project goals, objectives and scope. A detailed, feature-rich, and complete cricket data set was shared. Without such incredible data from all facets of the game, we would not do the complex data modelling and simulations we did. The technical webinars were insightful and helped expose us to the leading technology deployed in the industry, and gave us information into areas where we could potentially add value. Any cricket or sports tech fan who has a dream or passion should enter the ring and have a hit next year.
Switch N Swift (Finalists & Challenge Track Winners)
Firstly, I want to thank HCLTech, Cricket Australia and Microsoft, for conducting an amazing event. We learned a lot from it, even about each other. We have learnt about each other’s creative sides, which inspired us to work harder and innovate further. TechJam is a platform that will continue to provoke creative thinkers to do something more.
5G Connected Stadium (Winner– Internal Track)
Participation in HCLTech-CA TechJam 2021 was amongst the better experiences we've had as far as hackathons go. The hackathon's chosen theme was one of a kind that let us entwine our love for the sport and passion for technology to produce a unique product blend. Recurrent consultation on our queries by the event's organizer was smooth and quick. We take this opportunity to thank the event organizers and sponsors for extending support wherever needed, giving Team 5G Connected Stadium a pedestal to showcase our innovation.
Automatic Highlights Generation (1st Runner Up– Internal Track)
During TechJam, I got to network with some amazing people and leaders. This is truly an ode to all the people who have been part of my journey – professionally and personally. I feel fortunate, thrilled, and truly honoured to be recognized among the Top 2 at this year’s HCLTech-CA TechJam event on the HCLTech track. Thank you for organizing this truly memorable event for all of us.
Cricex- Cricket Match Highlight Extractor (Finalists)
Participating in the HCLTech TechJam has been an excellent experience for our team. TechJam challenged us to think outside of our comfort zone and enabled us to innovate in a meaningful manner. Interaction with various mentors and other fellow team members broadened our vision and allowed us to think about developing something that can not only provide a meaningful change but also be fun in the process.
Cricinshots (Finalists of TechJam ’21)
It was motivational for us to see a cricket-themed tech Hackathon powered by prominent names in Cricket and technology. It was amazing to interact with members from HCLTech, Cricket Australia, and other professionals from this space. It was a global platform for student entrepreneurs like us to showcase what we are building, and we thank the organizers for that.
Change the game
Meet the Champions
Winner
Cricket Carnival
Reconnecting the community with world of cricket and sports by organising street events
First Runner-up
Ludimos
Boosts coaching and learning efficiency by 5x using advanced AI algorithms providing actionable insights from cricket videos
Second Runner- up
Crickey Cricket
Uses NFT Collectibles and Fantasy Cricket to gamify the fan experience and increase engagement multi-fold
Winner
(Internal Track)
5G Connected Stadium
An immersive mobile application that boosts fan engagement through Augmented and Virtual Reality
Runner - up
(Internal Track)
Automatic Highlights Generation
Generating highlights reels automatically to reduce the human labour costs incurred while streaming
Winner Challenge TrackPlayer Performance
AI driven video analytics
for player performance tracking
ML-based video analysis for cricket using mobile cameras, to measure player performance through biomechanical modelling and body tracking.
Winner Challenge TrackFan Engagement
Cricket Answers for
Self Service Data Analytics
Enabling the common cricket fan to ask and answer any question based upon cricket ubiquitous statistics
Winner Challenge TrackCommunity Engagement
Spolib
A technology platform that enables sports coaches to connect with athletes in whole Australia
Winner Challenge TrackWild Card
Switch n Swift
An idea to help cover the ground during rainfall quickly with the help of technology and save the day.