Citrix Converge Innovation Hackathon

Citrix Systems

#Business
#Engineering
#Business Plan
#Awards
#Designing
#Online Quiz
#Hackathon
Location Virtual
Registration Deadline 8 Nov'21, 11:59 PM IST
Team Size 1 - 4 Members
Impressions 159,160
Eligibility
All

Citrix Converge Innovation Hackathon: Stages and Timelines

Submission and Evaluation

Offline Round round

Start Date 15 Oct'21, 09:39 PM IST End Date 8 Nov'21, 11:59 PM IST

All that you need to know about Citrix Converge Innovation Hackathon

Hackathons and Challenges

Perhaps you’re a grizzled Virtual Apps and Desktops veteran, with experience going back beyond XenApp/XenDesktop to the days of Metaframe and Winframe, a fresh-faced student, encountering Citrix for the first time, or a microapp builder, delivering solutions to end-users with maximum value and minimum code. Whatever your area or level of experience, Citrix Converge 2021 gives you the opportunity to compete for bragging rights, recognition, and a share of over $25,000-worth of prizes.

Here’s an overview of our Converge Innovation Hackathon, CVAD Scripting Challenge, and last, but by no means least, the Pop Quiz…

Registration Guidelines

 

Converge Innovation Hackathon

Our centerpiece competition is the Converge Innovation Hackathon – four challenges in one. Form a team of up to four innovators to design a solution to enrich the hybrid work experience, aligned with one of four themes:

  • Application Delivery and Security: Scaling and securing the unbounded workspace.
  • Virtual Applications and Desktop: Providing virtual application access to everyone anywhere.
  • Work Solutions: Reimagining hybrid work and what it means to be your best at work.
  • The Future of Work: Reimagining work in the new world.

Within your chosen theme, you and your co-conspirators must identify a challenge and design a solution. From there, you might create a mockup, code a proof-of-concept, or, if you choose the Work Solutions theme, combine micro apps and Podio to build a working system. Your final hurdle is to create a five-minute demo video showing your solution in action.

The brief is daunting, but the rewards are bountiful. You are competing for MacBook Pros (the good ones, with the M1 processor), iPads, and Raspberry Pi 400’s – sweet gadgetry indeed!

Application Delivery and Security Theme 

Scaling and Securing the Unbounded Workspace 

SUMMARY 

In this design challenge, you will explore the scalability and security challenges that companies face amid today’s global threat landscape and propose a solution leveraging technologies such as AI/ML, NLP, and service mesh to securely deliver functionality to both human and automated clients. 

BACKGROUND 

Network security is no longer defined by a single perimeter. It is a dynamic edge that adapts in the cloud to protect any device whenever and wherever needed. The core principle in this environment is “don’t trust, always verify.” In a world of complex cybersecurity threats and hybrid workforces equipped with diverse applications and devices, zero-trust network access (or ZTNA for short) aims to provide comprehensive protection by never assuming a request comes from a trustworthy source—even if it originates from within the corporate firewall. Everything is treated as if it comes from an unsecured open network and trust itself is viewed as a liability within the zero-trust framework.  

Beyond addressing security needs at an individual and corporate level it is essential for us to consider the dynamic needs of network loads. The ability to scale dynamically across networks, while balancing the associated costs, is the holy grail for which organizations are searching.  

OBJECTIVES 

You must research a problem in the fields of secure networking and network scaling, envisage a solution, and create a video, up to five minutes long, presenting your entry. You might build a mockup or develop proof-of-concept software. You need not be a master coder to compete and win – sound analytical skills and a fertile imagination are just as likely to win this challenge as a working application. 

Here are some examples of promising areas: 

  • Security solutions already use machine learning capabilities to detect intrusion attempts and mitigate them by automatically applying configuration changes. For example, the system might recognize that a network client is probing for vulnerabilities and automatically configure the firewall to disallow access to that client’s IP address. 
    How might we adapt this approach when there is no firewall? How might microservices use similar techniques to protect themselves against malicious or perhaps more likely, malfunctioning, clients? 
  • Predictive maintenance is well established in manufacturing environments, using machine learning techniques to proactively take machinery out of service for maintenance before a failure causes a bigger problem. 
    How can we harvest the gigabytes of diagnostic data produced by networking infrastructure to predict, not the failure of individual components, but network-wide incidents by proactively reconfiguring the network? 
  • Techniques such as infrastructure-as-code have reduced the time and effort required to deploy network components such as Citrix ADC while improving quality. When the configuration is captured as code, it can be audited, changes tracked across time, and systems can be rolled back to their last known working state. 
    Can we make networks easier to configure and monitor, perhaps using natural language processing (NLP) to allow us to express higher-level intent, without compromising quality? Is there a day that we might be able to say, “Alexa, find any devices on the network that have tried to open a connection on a non-listening port”? 
  • Software-based solutions to handle dynamic network loads by creating virtual service mesh kinds of solutions on demand.

You must form a team of up to four innovators (solo entries are allowed, but we encourage collaboration and teamwork). 

Your solution might take the form of a mockup or proof-of-concept software.  

Virtual Applications and Desktops Theme 

Providing virtual application access to everyone anywhere  

SUMMARY 

The availability of virtual applications and virtual desktops has transformed the corporate IT landscape, particularly as the global pandemic has disrupted work patterns over the past 18 months. The ability to securely access applications and data located within the enterprise data center or on a public cloud from their laptop, tablet or even mobile phone has enabled remote and hybrid work across the globe. What are the possibilities of extending the reach of this technology to consumers? What new capabilities and markets might be unlocked over the next decade? 

We believe that the ability to access best-in-class applications and digital assets from any device anywhere will transform the lives of everyone, globally. In this challenge, we would like you to envisage ideas to deliver a great virtual experience to every individual via any digital device. 

BACKGROUND 

The two incumbent virtual application and desktop technologies are Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and Desktop as a service (DaaS). It’s worth taking a minute to understand the differences between these two approaches. 

VDI is defined as the hosting of desktop environments on a central server. It is a form of desktop virtualization, as the specific desktop images run within virtual machines (VMs) and are delivered to end clients over a network. Those endpoints may be PCs or other devices, like tablets or thin client terminals. It is deployed from a company’s on-prem datacenters and managed by their in-house IT teams. 

DaaS securely delivers virtual apps and desktops from the cloud to any device. This managed desktop virtualization solution provisions secure SaaS and legacy applications as well as full Windows-based virtual desktops and deliver them to end-users. Companies that subscribe to DaaS don’t need to manage their own hardware. Instead, they use a pay-per-user subscription model to scale up or down as needed. This allows companies provides them with the ability to rapidly roll out cloud desktops for temporary staff during peak seasons, for new users when working through mergers and acquisitions, or to accommodate a growing hybrid workforce. 

Both VDI and DaaS allow end-users to access virtual desktops and save admins from having to install and manage operating systems on each individual device within the company. However, there are key differences between these two types of virtualization. 

.The benefits of both VDI and DaaS for end-users are profound. A well-implemented deployment delivers a similar experience as a locally deployed application or desktop while isolating applications and data from the client device. The end-user has a secure ‘window’ onto their remote applications and data; if their client device is lost, stolen, or suffers a malware incident, the user can simply pick up their session on a different client. 

Can DaaS support the expansion of virtual applications and desktops to a broad, global audience of consumers, or will a new technology arise over the next decade? We’re challenging you to imagine how an end-user in 2031 might benefit from virtual applications and desktops. 

OBJECTIVES 

You must research a problem in the field of virtual applications and desktops, envisage a solution, and create a video, up to five minutes long, presenting your entry. You might build a mockup or develop proof-of-concept software. You need not be a master coder to compete and win – sound analytical skills and a fertile imagination are just as likely to win this challenge as a working application. 

Here are some examples of promising areas: 

  • Rethinking the delivery of virtual applications and virtual desktops to enhance the end-user experience. 
  • Imagining how personal devices such as smartwatches and virtual reality headsets can become part of the user interface for virtual applications. 
  • Extending virtualization solutions to untapped markets. Schools and universities are already seeing the benefits of students’ applications and data residing in a secure environment, allowing students to seamlessly switch from school to mobile to home-based client devices throughout the day. What other environments could realize similar benefits? 
  • Citrix Service Provider Rapidscale has built a DaaS solution on Citrix Virtual Applications and Desktop Service, leveraging the CVAD REST API to provide cloud-based desktops on-demand to a range of businesses from law firms to car rental companies. How could you use the same tools in a consumer setting? 
  • Ultra-low-cost client devices such as the Raspberry Pi can act as a window onto sophisticated applications running remotely. What are the possibilities when end-users in remote locations and developing countries can access the same applications as their counterparts elsewhere? 

You must form a team of up to four innovators (solo entries are allowed, but we encourage collaboration and teamwork). 

Your solution might take the form of a mockup or proof-of-concept software.  

Work Solutions:

Reimagining Hybrid Work in a Hybrid World with Podio and Micro apps 

SUMMARY 

Your challenge is to create a Citrix Workspace microapp that leverages Citrix Podio to reimagine some aspects of the hybrid work environment and what it means to be your best at work. You may include integrations with other automation and productivity tools. Your solution can connect with any aspect of the employee experience whether streamlining day-to-day tasks, improving collaboration with colleagues or teammates, enriching the virtual workspace, and or everything anything in between. 

BACKGROUND 

Up to 70% of people will continue to work remotely for at least five days per month through 2025, but the hybrid work experience remains a challenge. Studies have found that employees working in this new hybrid environment are more vulnerable to working longer hours, encountering work-home interference, and at times, working at an ever-faster pace.  

At Citrix, we believe that empowering employees with the right tools can help organizations cut down on some of this complexity while boosting employee productivity and morale. While each organization is different and has unique needs, the opportunities to improve are everywhere and the best solutions to navigating many of these problems come from collaboration and community.  

OBJECTIVE 

Your challenge is to use the Citrix Micro apps low-code builder in combination with RPA tools, productivity tools of ISVs (like service now, Microsoft, SAP, etc.), other opensource tools, chatbots, and Citrix Podio is a System of Records (SoR) to help bring to light some of the challenges associated with working in a hybrid world where employees struggle to be their best. This could include how we: 

  • Onboard into a new work environment  
  • Network or connect with colleagues at work 
  • Manage activities to stay balanced and healthy  
  • Collaborate with teammates 
  • Communicate across the company 
  • Interact with core applications to complete day-to-day tasks 
  • Create a virtual workspace that reflects the way an employee prefers to work 
  • Managing personal development and career 
  • And the list goes on….   

CONSIDERATIONS 

When developing your microapp you might consider the following: 

  • Engaging with different types of employees to better understand their experiences and expand your creative canvas. 
  • Explore how you might simplify business workflowsautomate processes, or eliminate mundane tasks. 
  • Consider the tools and solutions you might need to improve productivity in a modern work environment 
  • Thinking about how your solution can bring a fresh perspective to a particular area of the hybrid work experience or inspire someone else to enrich their workspace.   
  • Have fun with it! While the challenges of hybrid work are everywhere, this is an opportunity to get creative while having an impact too. 

Future of Work:

Reimagining work in the new world

BACKGROUND 

We imagine the advancement of technology would filter information and provide only context-aware insights. Thus, enriching the lives of individuals. We can expect a unified experience while working from anywhere and the entire human experience is digitized to the extent of teleporting in the true sense. In this challenge, we would like you to explore the gaps and opportunities linked to human interactions with applications and people and the overall experience associated with it. This could include but is not limited to: 

  • Reduce the information overload related to accessing applications, reading/writing, learning, and access to work 
  • How do we make the workspaces smart to provide contextual details and guide the users in every action they perform? 
  • How do we make the collaboration across individuals in a hybrid environment seamless and close to in-person interactions? 

CVAD Scripting Challenge

New this year is the CVAD Scripting Challenge. You must fly solo, tracking down resources in a Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Service instance based on a series of clues. There is a catch, though: you can’t log in and use the Citrix Web Studio to explore the instance. You must instead write a script that uses either the CVAD Remote PowerShell SDK or the CVAD REST API to output the correct result. There are apprentice-, craftsman- and master-level missions to match your skill level, with the winner of the hard mission netting a $1,000-level prize. If you fancy yourself a master of brevity as well as coding, the shortest script that correctly completes the master-level task will bring you a prize at the $500 level.

Pop Quiz

Finally, our Pop Quiz tests your observation and memory. We’ve incorporated it into each day of the conference to test your knowledge of basic terminology, core concepts, and best practices across the Citrix portfolio. Questions will appear at the end of select sessions across all three tracks. Answer more questions to increase your chance of winning one of three daily prizes!

No matter your level of experience or expertise, you can learn, compete and win at Citrix Converge 2021. May the odds be ever in your favor!

FAQ

Teams and Eligibility

Who is eligible to participate?

You and all of your team members (in the case of the Converge Innovation Hackathon) just need to be registered. Beyond that, if you have a love of technology, a passion for problem-solving, and are inspired to think about how we might work differently, then you're definitely in the right place.

There are some restrictions on Citrites – see the next question…

Can Citrix employees participate?

Citrites are welcome to enter the Converge Innovation Hackathon, but not the CVAD Scripting Challenge or Pop Quiz. We feel that our employees might find those a little too easy!

Citrix employee teams participating in the hackathon will compete for the Best Citrite Entry award. Note that Citrites may only form teams with fellow Citrix employees. Please see the Official Rules for details.

I'm a student, can I participate?

Absolutely! We'll do our best to help you learn, have some fun, and feel connected to the community. There’s even a student class in the hackathon with first, second, and third prizes for all-student teams.

How many people can be on a team? Can I submit independently?

The CVAD Scripting Challenge and Pop Quiz are individual competitions.

While we will take submissions from individuals in the Converge Innovation Hackathon, we encourage you to form virtual teams of up to four members. If you don't already know other participants, you can reach out to the discussion group for your competition to find teammates.

Submissions

What do I need to submit?

We have multiple competitions this year and each has its own requirements for submitting an entry. To view the specifics, refer to the challenge page for your competition. <insert link to top-level / page here>

How do I record my demo video for my Converge Innovation Hackathon entry?

We prefer to receive demo submissions as mp4 video files. If you need assistance, please reach out to a Citrix mentor or the discussion group for your hackathon (insert link here).

What do I do if I submitted an entry but now need to make changes to it?

Once you have submitted your entry for the competition it is final; no further changes will be permitted. So, you’ll want to do a thorough review before submitting.

I want to build a Micro app integration for the Work Solutions theme – is Podio the only system of record (SoR) I can integrate with?

Podio is required but you are welcome to add more systems of record as necessary to implement your vision.

Where do I go for help if I get stuck?

Just reach out to the discussion group for your challenge or chat with a mentor (insert links below)

Converge

Innovation Hackathon <Discussion Group> or <Mentor>

CVAD Scripting Challenge <Discussion Group> or <Mentor>

Citrix will provide mentor coverage for the duration of your competition.  We encourage you to raise your questions in the discussion group for your competition or directly with a mentor and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

For the pop quiz, you’re on your own. How much help do you need for a multiple-choice question based on the session you just watched?

What are the judging criteria?

As the judging criteria for each competition are different, please refer to the challenge page for your event for the details specific to your competition. <insert link to top-level / page here>

What happens with my submission?

We'd love to share your submission with others, to showcase what you have built on Citrix's platform. In support of this, we're requiring all competitors to accept them as part of their entry.

Who owns the integrations created in the hackathon?

As it relates to non-Citrix employees participating, you and your team own the projects that you create for the Converge 2021 Hackathon. However, the ideas you submit are released for public consumption. And since we're not requiring conference participants to sign a non-disclosure agreement, it's possible to inspire ideas that build on yours. So, if you think you have a start-up idea that you want to keep under wraps, this is not the place to share it.

Citrix employees are encouraged to participate in the hackathon and will need to be registered and subject to the same requirements for all other participants. Any team participation by Citrix employees shall be limited to other Citrix employees only. No team participation with third parties is permitted.

Please see the Official Rules for details.

Prizes

What are the prizes for this competition?

As the prizes for each competition are different, please refer to the challenge page for your event for the details specific to your competition. <insert link to top-level / page here>

When will I receive my prize if I win an award?

Many of this year’s prizes are digital, so you’ll be receiving your prizes via email according to the timeline for your competition. However, a few select prizes will be shipped. <details on delivery here> For a detailed list of prizes check out the challenge page for your competition <insert link to top-level/page here>

OFFICIAL RULES

Though it may go without saying, we still need to remind you to please play nice. As a participant in our community and a contestant in our Citrix Converge competitions, we have a few rules to make sure this is a fun, positive, and inclusive learning experience.  

To participate in a contest, you must agree to our Code of Conduct, the Virtual Hackathon Release, and these official rules: 

  • The contest is open to anyone who is the age of majority in their jurisdiction at the time of entry and is registered to attend the Citrix Converge virtual conference.  
  • Details on eligibility, contest submissions, criteria, prizes, and winners are available on the contest overview page.  This information is incorporated into each contest’s official rules.
  • The contest is void where restricted or prohibited by law.  No purchase is necessary to enter or win. 
  • All decisions, including determinations of eligibility and compliance, are at the sole discretion of Citrix and are final, binding, and conclusive in all matters.
  • Your team may be disqualified if any team member violates these rules or the Code of Conduct, or submits false information (for example, concerning identity, contact information, or ownership of rights).  Submissions may be subject to a due diligence review for participant eligibility and compliance with these Rules. 
  • We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to suspend or cancel the contest and to not award the prizes if the administration, integrity, or security of the contest is jeopardized, and to disqualify participants who tamper with the submission process or operation of the hackathon.  
  • Prizes are final and cannot be transferred or substituted by the winning team, except at Citrix’s discretion.  If the winning team accepts the prize, the team will be solely responsible for any applicable taxes.  If the selected winner cannot be contacted, is ineligible to receive the prize, or declines the prize, Citrix will select an alternate winner.
  • The odds of winning will depend on the number of eligible entries received and the skill of the other participants.
  • We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, regarding this contest, any prize, or your participation in the promotion, and are not responsible or liable for any events that may disrupt your participation in the contest, including electronic, hardware, software, network, Internet, or other malfunctions, failures, or difficulties of any kind, typographical errors, failed, incomplete, or delayed submissions or computer transmissions, or injuries, losses, or damages of any kind arising in connection with the contest, your participation or inability to participate, your submission, or your acceptance, possession, use or misuse of a prize. 
  • LIABILITY RELEASE: Under no circumstances will we be liable for any direct, incidental, indirect, special, or consequential damages in connection with, arising out of, or relating in any way to the contest or any prize. 
  • By participating, you agree to indemnify and hold Citrix and its officers, directors, employees, successors and assigns harmless against any claims, losses, damages, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ and other professionals’ fees) incurred by Citrix in connection with, arising out of or relating in any way to the contest and your participation or inability to participate therein, including any act, default or omission by you, claims that your submission infringes on the rights of a third party, or any misrepresentation made by you, your non-compliance with these rules, acceptance, possession, misuse or use of the prize and claims brought by persons or entities other than the parties to these rules arising from any of the foregoing, or related to your involvement with the contest.
  • Any issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation, and enforceability of these rules, or the rights and obligations of participants and Citrix will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the state of Florida without regard to choice of law rules.
  • This contest is sponsored by Citrix Systems, Inc., 851 Cypress Creek Road, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309, United States.

What are the important dates & deadlines?

  • 8 Nov'21, 11:59 PM IST Registration Deadline
  • 15 Oct'21, 09:52 PM IST Event registration
  • 26 Oct'21, 09:51 AM IST Formal Kick off for mentorship support
  • 8 Nov'21, 11:59 PM IST Final Submission Date

Contact the organisers

Rewards and Prizes?

Opportunity to win prizes worth $25000 as a part of this event

Winner

Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch M1

760,000
Certificate

First Runner Up

Apple iPad 10.2” A13 Bionic

320,000
Certificate

Second Runner Up

Raspberry Pi 400 Personal Computer Kit

60,000
* All the prizes and certificate will be Released Within 15 days after the event is over
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