Procurement's Year in Stories: August 2024
NAICS Industry Leader Conclude 2nd Classification Hackathon
Hacking Big Numbers (HBN²) returned this year in Bucharest, marking a significant milestone in the intersection of artificial intelligence and business data analysis.
This innovative hackathon, hosted by Veridion, centred around the theme ‘Solving Big Real-World Problems with AI and Business Data’, brought together some of the brightest minds in data science, machine learning and software development.
The event's centrepiece was an intense Machine Learning (ML) tournament that challenged participants to push the boundaries of industry classification accuracy using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
This unique competition format, reminiscent of a high-stakes game of 20 Questions, tested participants' abilities to develop sophisticated AI models capable of identifying a company's core business with minimal information.
The tournament's innovative format challenged competitors through a series of five-round head-to-head games, each focusing on a single company.
Starting with just a commercial name, participants received increasingly detailed information in subsequent rounds, including business tags, short descriptions, full company profiles and finally, the company's category.
This gradual reveal of data tested the models' ability to make accurate predictions with limited information and adapt quickly as more details became available. Under strict time constraints of just five seconds per prediction, participants applied their models to classify each company's industry.
The scoring system added another layer of complexity, heavily rewarding early correct guesses while increasing penalties for mistakes in later rounds. This structure encouraged the development of models capable of making accurate predictions with minimal data, mirroring real-world classification challenges.
The tournament not only showcased the analytical capabilities of the participants but also demonstrated the transformative potential of AI in industry classification. The winning team achieved an impressive 70% accuracy rate across the selected dataset, with a solution developed in just one weekend.
Is Blockchain the Answer to Sustainable Food Supply Chains?
The global food supply chain, valued at US$9tn, is a major contributor to carbon emissions. The World Economic Forum (WEF) is exploring ways to make this industry more sustainable without affecting food availability.
Among the proposed solutions, blockchain technology emerged as a powerful tool to enhance transparency, traceability and security in food supply chains in 2024.
Traditional food supply chains are often plagued by inefficiencies, security risks and a lack of transparency. These issues can lead to serious problems, such as excessive food waste and contamination-related deaths.
Blockchain technology offers a solution that significantly improve global food safety, accessibility and sustainability.
One of blockchain's most compelling advantages in food supply chains is real-time product tracking from source to consumer. This feature supports sustainability efforts by ensuring compliance with environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards and helps producers receive fair compensation.
As highlighted in a WEF report: “To become more sustainable, firms now need to consider how they operate as part of an extensive multi-tiered supply network with multiple supply and demand links, reverse loops, multi-way interactions and exchanges with numerous actors and non-linear dynamics.”
Blockchain's transparency is crucial for addressing Scope 3 emissions, stemming from a business's supply and value chains. These emissions are notoriously challenging to manage, especially when suppliers are based in countries with weaker environmental regulations.
By providing a clear and unchangeable record of every transaction and process within the supply chain, blockchain helps companies better monitor and reduce their carbon footprint, even across multiple supplier tiers.
Another key issue in traditional supply chains is visibility. Companies often struggle to see beyond their first-tier suppliers, weakening supply chain resilience and making it difficult to anticipate disruptions. Blockchain’s distributed ledger system ensures that all supply chain participants access the same information, thereby improving communication and trust.
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