WEBVTT - Smart Talks with IBM: Project OWL 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.880 Now in this series, we're sitting down with people who 0:00:02.880 --> 0:00:08.080 are leveraging powerful technologies developed by IBM, and they're doing 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:11.440 so in ways that are making a real difference out 0:00:11.440 --> 0:00:14.200 in the world. So these are people who are implementing 0:00:14.280 --> 0:00:19.520 technological solutions to real world problems. Today's episode is about 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:23.439 Project OWL, an idea that won the very first Call 0:00:23.600 --> 0:00:28.200 for Code competition in two thousand eighteen. Project OWL aims 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:32.720 to restore communications and logistics capabilities to areas affected by 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:37.879 natural disasters, specifically hurricanes. It's a combination of hardware and 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:42.959 software that leverages MESH network technologies and IBM platforms such 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:46.640 as cloud computing, the Watson platform, and more. We'll hear 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:50.080 from Brian Now, one of the co founders of Project OWL, 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:52.800 as well as a Lisa Macklin of IBM to get 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:56.280 a deeper understanding about the project, its origins and the 0:00:56.360 --> 0:00:59.240 long term goals, both for the Call for Code initiative 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:03.400 in general and Project OWL particularly. Now. I wanted to 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:07.800 start the sentence that I'm speaking right now with the 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:12.280 phrase the remarkable thing about this story is But it 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:15.880 turns out I can't because there are too many remarkable 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:20.600 things to pick just one. Here's a quick rundown. First, 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:26.839 IBM has built a suite of technologies that are incredibly powerful. 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:31.039 They range from cloud computing services, which give developers the 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:34.760 opportunity to take advantage of enormous processing power. You know, 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:39.039 cloud computing is where you've got servers that are able 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:41.760 to do processing on the back end, and through an 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:44.760 Internet connection you can access that, so you don't have 0:01:44.840 --> 0:01:49.160 to have a supercomputer at your own disposal. You've got 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:53.840 a virtual supercomputer in the form of these cloud computing networks. 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:58.200 But they also have the famous Watson platform, which allows 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:02.280 for an incredible range of AI applications that can tap 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:05.760 into all sorts of different processes. So you can think 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:12.120 of this as a suite of refined extreme computing power. 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:16.200 It kind of makes me tingle just to think about 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:20.560 it now. Second, this story is about taking those tools 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:24.760 and actually applying them to solve real world, hard problems. 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:29.919 It's not just that the tech enables cool applications. It's 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:32.600 that like minded people who want to make a positive 0:02:32.600 --> 0:02:35.960 impact are finding one another and they're coming up with 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:40.880 novel approaches to tackle these issues that affect millions of 0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:46.040 lives every day. Focuses on really big challenges. The theme 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:48.120 for the first Call for Code in two thousand eighteen 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:52.560 was natural disasters. The theme for this year is climate change, 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:58.360 so yeah, they go big. The third thing I find 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:03.120 really remarkable about this story is that collaboration keeps popping 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:07.239 up as an important component in the projects. Not only 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:11.359 are individuals collaborating with their teammates, but also with subject 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:16.400 matter experts and IBM professionals with deep knowledge and experience 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:20.480 in the technologies and the company's products. So so while 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:23.360 we're looking at a competition framework, I mean it is 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:28.040 a competition, the spirit of working together permeates the entire process. 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:31.120 I sat down with Brian from Project Al and I 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:33.240 asked him to walk me through his own background and 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:36.080 how he found himself participating in the two thousand eighteen 0:03:36.200 --> 0:03:38.880 Call for Code. A lot of times I think about 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:45.600 how lucky I was to grow up at this particular time, UM, 0:03:46.200 --> 0:03:50.320 in this particular place, to have the resources I have 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:53.560 and and the tools at my disposal. And what I 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:57.440 mean by that is growing up like a few things 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:01.120 really inspired me to play around with digital technology. One was, 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:05.080 you know, the accessibility of personal computers and UM the 0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:08.240 growing accessibility of the Internet, UM one of my proudest 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:11.120 moments is I think the first real sophisticated thing I 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:13.040 did with a computer when I was about eight years 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:18.800 old is illegally downloaded music with Napster. And despite the 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:23.840 concerns um my mother had about that, I think it 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:29.600 kind of opens your mind to this understanding that there's 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:33.840 so many things you can do with digital technology, um 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:39.400 that previously just weren't possible, uh in other industries or professions, careers, 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:45.440 particularly things that are limited by the physical manifestations of 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:47.479 the world around you. Of course, software is kind of 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:50.040 you know, in a way I'd like to say, it's 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:55.680 like not real, right, it's just code. Um, and some 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:59.960 other experiences too. I'll never forget. UM. What pushed me 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:03.119 need to learn how to code originally was the first 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:06.159 time I played, Uh, my favorite video game of all 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:09.120 time was the first Halo. I mean, did you ever 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:11.480 play that? Oh? I? Oh yeah, no, I'm I'm a 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:17.200 big Halo Marathon fan. So yeah, um, first of all, 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:22.760 amazing game, right, but I'll never forget when I played that, 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:25.360 I thought to myself, this is the coolest thing I've 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:27.559 ever seen. I need to learn how to make things 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:31.200 like that. Um. So I bought this book called three 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:36.640 D Game Programming All in One and it, uh, it 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:39.520 was like a thousand pages long and it's all about 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:42.760 C plus plus video game development. So I thought to myself, Yeah, 0:05:42.800 --> 0:05:46.200 how hard could that be? Little did I know? Um, 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:49.159 but that was really an introduction and those kind of 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:52.600 experiences that I mentioned from Napster, you know, playing video 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:54.719 games thinking about how to build them, that was just 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:58.479 kind of what I was doing through my teenage years 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:03.479 and then even through college and well, I studied mechanical engineering. UM, 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:08.240 I struggled to find an outlet for the work I 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:14.040 wanted to do. UM. You know, I distinctly remember applying 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.159 in six months prior to my graduation and the six 0:06:17.200 --> 0:06:23.520 months after applying to almost a hundred jobs. And these weren't, 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:26.760 you know, just random things that were within my area 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:29.440 that I studied. I graduated with degreen mechanical engineering in 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:34.440 four years, UM from the University of Rochester. And of 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:36.839 all those applications, you know how many jobs I got? 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:42.600 How many? Zero? Yikes. So it was kind of at 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:44.400 that moment that I was like, well, you know what, 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:49.919 if this isn't gonna work doing a traditional route, I 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:52.480 might as well just do something I'm really passionate about. 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:54.799 And that's when I kind of dug back into coding 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:57.960 a little bit and really peeled back the curtain on 0:06:58.000 --> 0:07:02.279 the hackathon environment. And now, I'm sure you're familiar with 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:05.560 a hackathon or the mechanics of it, and probably most 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:07.360 of your listeners, but for those who are in a 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:12.760 hackathons kind of just like a coding competition, right and 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:16.320 and companies from all over the world will will put 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:21.000 on these competitions, from IBM certainly too Poor sher Mercedes 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:25.680 Benz to UH, the US government, UM, the Red Cross, 0:07:25.760 --> 0:07:28.520 all sorts of organizations. And typically what they'll do is 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:31.520 they'll say something like, Hey, if we're a car company, 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:34.640 we've got this new a p i UM for you 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:39.400 to build on our on our on our vehicles, and 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:41.400 what we want you developers to do is come up 0:07:41.400 --> 0:07:45.520 with amazing stuff, be creative, build out something incredible, pitch 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:47.960 it to us, and the best ones you're gonna get paid. 0:07:49.040 --> 0:07:51.160 And for me, this was like the coolest thing in 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:54.880 the world because it put together two things that I 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:58.680 absolutely loved that I really couldn't find anywhere else. And 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:01.640 that's you know, I'm a huge sports fan Philadelphia Eagles 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:05.840 for life. UM. I also played soccer my my whole 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:08.160 life grown up, and I'm a big fan of the sport. 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:11.640 And I love that like innate competitive spirit, you know, 0:08:11.680 --> 0:08:14.080 it's just get on a field and go and compete 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:18.120 and try to win. But I also love going back 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:21.400 to the Halo and Napster thing, like just that interest 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.440 to just build stuff, you know, come up with ideas. 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:28.280 And a hackathon I think is so unique because it's 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:34.720 able to put those two uh perspectives together, the you know, 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:38.319 the interest to just go compete in an environment at 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:42.280 the same time do that while building incredible creative technology. 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:45.240 And so for a few years I was hopping around 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:48.920 um going to hackathons and and I kind of got 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:51.720 a groove in it, started winning a few, making a 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:54.640 career out of it, and one thing led to the next, 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:57.720 and then of course competed in the IBM Call for Code, 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:00.720 and here we are today. I asked a Lisa Macklin 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:03.160 of IBM to give an elevator pitch to kind of 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:06.440 explain what the Call for Code is all about a 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:09.560 little bit about the background for for the Call for 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:12.760 Code challenge. And one of the things that of course, 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:18.240 UH it is really important is understanding what matters to developers. 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:23.839 And an interesting insight on developers is that eight per 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:27.880 cent of them code as a hobby. They work on 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:31.960 coding projects at night, in the morning, in over the weekends, 0:09:31.960 --> 0:09:37.800 in their spare time, and they are inherently problem solvers. 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:43.520 And for most software developers, coding isn't just a profession, 0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:48.079 it's really a passion. And one of the things that 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:54.120 we really see also with developers is uh tremendous use 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:58.520 of open source technology, and I think an interesting insight 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:05.040 there is that developers enjoy working together collaborating on projects 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:09.160 which open source helps them to do. So in thinking 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:15.520 about how can we help developers with their UH, their 0:10:15.600 --> 0:10:19.840 love of side projects, of learning and developing new skills, 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:25.800 combined with the desire which is a long held focus 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:30.760 of of IBM S is using technology for good, creating 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:36.120 innovation that matters, taking the technology that we have with 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:40.640 artificial intelligence and blockchain and others and using those to 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:44.040 really help make the world a better place. And we 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:48.120 know that the majority of developers are interested in the 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:51.800 same thing. Most of them, as they're working on side 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:56.440 projects are doing work that has societal benefit. So that's 0:10:56.480 --> 0:11:00.280 really what created the UH. The spark behind ying the 0:11:00.320 --> 0:11:05.920 Call for Code Challenge. We wanted to see what twenty 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:09.559 four million developers around the world would do if they 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:14.800 were given access to the technology and also an understanding 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:18.719 of some of these UH major world problems that they 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:22.760 could help tackle. So with Call for Code, where IBM 0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:25.800 is a is the founding member of Call for Code, 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:30.040 we launched it UH in tighten with the David Clark 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:33.960 caused the Linux Foundation of working with the United Nations, 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:38.520 and we wanted to focus on something that was really 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:42.800 really important each year. The Call for Code was is 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:46.120 a five year program and we started with a focus 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:50.199 on natural disasters. We knew that this is an area 0:11:50.520 --> 0:11:55.760 that was an increasing problem around the world and one 0:11:56.160 --> 0:11:59.760 that technology could could help, and so in launching Call 0:11:59.840 --> 0:12:06.800 for Code in we asked developers to create solutions for 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:12.880 these problems, and we were really blown away by the 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:15.920 amount of engagement that we got. We had over a 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:21.480 hundred thousand participants in that first year, creating some three 0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:26.200 thousand software applications, and over the last two years it's 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:31.920 it's grown tremendously. We had nearly two hundred thousand participants 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:37.400 in the Call for Code nineteen and UH. What I 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:42.400 think is really amazing too is we had participation across 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:47.160 a hundred and sixty five countries. So we saw a 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:53.320 tremendous amount of of interest and engagement in creating these 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:58.720 sustainable solutions, leveraging open source and working not just developers, 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:02.720 but typically teams that involved other experts. We had teams 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:10.720 that were comprised of developers and UH first responders, medical professionals, students, 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:15.160 groups coming together to work on an amazing range array 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:18.600 of problems. And as Brian would explain to me, Call 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:23.000 for Code stands apart from other hackathon type events. The 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:28.240 IBM Call for Code UH focused on originally, well still 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:31.839 to this day, natural disasters, although they've kind of segmented 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:34.120 and focused even a little more under that umbrella. I 0:13:34.120 --> 0:13:37.719 believe this year's competition is focusing on climate change. UH 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:45.800 certainly has implications to natural disasters UM. And so one 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:48.120 of the things that I think was really interesting about 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:52.040 the IBM Call for Code UM apart from all the 0:13:52.080 --> 0:13:54.120 other hackathons I've been to, and one of the things 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:58.600 that kind of left me frustrated with the hackathon community was, 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:02.880 you know, you go to these events. UM. Sometimes they're smaller, 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:05.720 sometimes they're larger than the Call for Code is certainly 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:09.719 a huge hackathon, um, but even you know, there are 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:12.320 other in person events Call for codes at three month long, 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:15.400 or at least it wasn't it might be longer shorter 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:18.400 now three month long virtual things, so you can compete 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:21.880 from anywhere. But some of the hackathons I would go to, uh, 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:26.760 like we would put three hundred developers in the basement 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:29.720 of the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas for a weekend, 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:33.920 and you'd like compete on different enterprise hackathons like PayPal 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:38.760 would be their visa some other folks. Um. But what's 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:41.640 so unique about Call for Code, and what I think 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:45.160 really sets this apart is their commitment to actually see 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:49.320 the solutions through. And I think that's really important, particularly 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:52.560 within the context of natural disasters, because so often that 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.480 these hackathons you'll see great ideas or at least that 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:59.080 first like nugget of an idea. You know, if great 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:03.800 ideas are one percent inspiration and perspiration, and hackathon is 0:15:03.840 --> 0:15:06.360 kind of like that one percent. The part of Call 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:09.440 for Code that really impresses me and the reason I 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:13.280 think it's the most important technology competition in the world 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:17.520 today is the commitment to see the work through in 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:19.960 the end to actually make an impact in the world, 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:24.040 and I think that is fostered an exceptional community of developers. 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:27.080 Like I said at the top of the episode, one 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:30.080 of the interesting things about Call for Code is that 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:36.040 it brings together too seemingly opposing philosophies cooperation and competition. Well, 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:39.120 Call for Code is structured as a competition. There's a 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:42.640 deep culture of collaboration throughout the program. A Lissa of 0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:47.080 IBM explains, one of the things that really struck me 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:51.040 early on is that, you know, the the open source 0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:58.160 movement is about collaboration and about achieving more faster by 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:03.840 working together, and that also means that projects live on 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:07.120 in open source. So one of the things that really 0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:11.360 inspired me hearing from I participated in a number of 0:16:11.360 --> 0:16:15.320 of hackathons around the world. We do about six hundred 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:20.200 of these every year, bringing developers and uh different parts 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:23.280 of the world working with them together on their solutions. 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:28.640 And what I found incredibly motivating hearing from the developers 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:32.720 is that they were excited that this wasn't a one 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:35.520 and done, It wasn't you know, a twenty four hour 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:38.400 hack where they come in, they create things, are great ideas, 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:41.800 and then they move on. These are projects that can 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:47.120 live on and be built out by developers around the world. 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:50.160 And that was also the thing in working with the 0:16:50.240 --> 0:16:54.240 United Nations that they really keyed in on, because there 0:16:54.240 --> 0:17:00.160 are so many software driven solutions that don't require lot 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:03.720 of infrastructure, even things like you know, early warning systems 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:07.320 for tsunamis as an example, if you have access to 0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:12.360 the weather data, if you have a smartphone, you can 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:15.080 get those alerts which save lives. And this is the 0:17:15.119 --> 0:17:19.680 type of thing that someone could create working on open 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:23.320 source in one part of the world, and then it 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:26.600 could be adapted for conditions in different parts of the world. 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:32.199 Buy software developers virtually any place anywhere somebody has a 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:34.359 you know, a laptop and a smartphone. And the U 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:38.520 n was particularly interested in this because they saw the 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:44.159 long term sustainability and in terms of how the developers 0:17:44.200 --> 0:17:46.359 are working together. I think this is one of the 0:17:46.480 --> 0:17:50.520 things that really inspired me as well over the last 0:17:50.560 --> 0:17:53.520 two years, is seeing how these groups come together. And 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:56.040 I think that Brian may have told you that the 0:17:56.840 --> 0:18:00.320 five members of the team that he's on with jacked 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:02.960 oal from different parts of the United States and different 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:04.639 parts of the world, and they met on a Slack 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:08.760 channel uh, and we saw a lot of that. UH. 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:13.399 The The winner of of Call for Code nineteen is 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:18.080 a team that at Barcelona based and there's a firefighter, 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:24.400 a nurse and three developers. So it's different different groups 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:28.000 collaborating together, meeting each other either in person or in 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:34.600 hackathons or meeting virtually working on these open source projects, 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:39.600 and they continue to collaborate over time. Brian confirmed what 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:43.119 Alisa was saying describing how his team came together during 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:46.560 the first Call for Code. I had known a few 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:49.520 of the co founders previously, we competed against each other 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:53.200 at hackathons UM, but one of the founders of Project Owl, 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:56.879 Magus Pereira, him and I had just met in the slack. 0:18:57.080 --> 0:19:00.040 I think digital technology and like meeting someone on a 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:03.200 message board and Slack might seem like a little weird 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:05.800 and different, right, you didn't run into this person in 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:10.880 a room, you didn't meet at like a conference, UM, 0:19:10.920 --> 0:19:15.000 but it's really effective at putting people together who have 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:19.280 like minds, like skill sets, and like ambitions. And I 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:22.359 remember Maggis had just posted some message about what he 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:24.800 was interested in. We connected and had a call and 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:30.200 I just still to this day distinctly remember his creativity, 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:34.640 passion and interest in building unique solutions, and so even 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:37.400 after one call, we we just kind of agreed, like, man, 0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:41.080 we gotta work together, Like how can we facilitate this 0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:45.000 because I think there's a lot you have to offer 0:19:45.080 --> 0:19:46.920 that you're interested in. And I feel the same way 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:50.160 about myself and the team we've already put together. So 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:54.080 we I don't know if they still use Slack or 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:57.560 how they do the collaborative piece, but the environment of 0:19:57.640 --> 0:20:00.320 all these developers showing up to just want to build 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:04.320 something great while still inspiring people to have that competitive 0:20:04.400 --> 0:20:08.600 nature um I think is a really fascinating experience. And 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:11.480 IBM puts on call for code satellite events, so like 0:20:11.520 --> 0:20:15.840 many hackathons all over the world during the main overarching event, 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:19.280 and this is another way to like plug in, try 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:21.760 something quickly, see if you've got an idea for the 0:20:21.760 --> 0:20:26.200 bigger competition, and meet other technologists in the environment to 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:29.800 to really make this happen. This brings us up with 0:20:29.880 --> 0:20:33.480 what Project al would specifically focus on, which all revolved 0:20:33.520 --> 0:20:38.640 around hurricanes specifically with regards to what we did as 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:42.639 we were going into call for code. Uh, we uniquely are. 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:44.879 Our original team of five was spread out across the 0:20:45.000 --> 0:20:48.560 United States still is today, but we were at the time, Um, 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:52.880 Charlie was in Houston, Magus in North Carolina, myself, Terra, 0:20:52.880 --> 0:20:58.920 Core and Nick in New York City, and very recently 0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:04.240 at the time, Charlie and Houston had gone through Hurricane Harvey, 0:21:04.720 --> 0:21:07.920 a massive hurricane caused a lot of economic damage in Houston, 0:21:08.640 --> 0:21:13.120 and Magus during the competition went through Hurricane Florence, so, 0:21:14.240 --> 0:21:17.280 you know, and kind of the outset, we felt, well, 0:21:17.840 --> 0:21:20.160 it seems like hurricanes are probably a pretty good thing 0:21:20.240 --> 0:21:25.000 to try to approach here. These have been quite a problem, um, 0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:28.240 And not only are they a problem that hits close 0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:30.600 to home for us, because we've all been through them, 0:21:30.640 --> 0:21:32.119 you know, even still to this day. I'm here in 0:21:32.160 --> 0:21:35.520 New York City. I live on the L Train. Hurricane 0:21:35.560 --> 0:21:38.960 Sandy ripped through New York City in two thousand twelve, 0:21:39.680 --> 0:21:42.800 and uh, they're still shutting down the L Train to 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:45.800 repair it for like eight years later. So the team 0:21:45.880 --> 0:21:48.760 knew what type of natural disaster they wanted to focus 0:21:48.800 --> 0:21:52.119 on next. They thought about how technology could help people 0:21:52.200 --> 0:21:55.800 affected by a hurricane. So in the absence of being 0:21:55.800 --> 0:21:59.359 able to stop these natural disasters, we really couldn't do 0:21:59.440 --> 0:22:02.679 that yet um, and we can't do that now, and 0:22:02.720 --> 0:22:05.720 maybe in the long run there might be something there, 0:22:05.760 --> 0:22:08.960 but in the absence of being able to stop them, 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:13.719 we felt okay, Well, what we can do is enable 0:22:13.880 --> 0:22:18.359 people to prepare for and deal with them as effectively 0:22:18.400 --> 0:22:24.360 as possible. And the first obvious problem is that when 0:22:24.359 --> 0:22:28.119 a hurricane rips through it destroys everything, most notably the 0:22:28.160 --> 0:22:36.159 infrastructure to provide organization, whereabouts and logistics in a community, 0:22:36.720 --> 0:22:40.240 and that, of course is partly where the name Owl 0:22:40.320 --> 0:22:46.000 came from. UM. So our focus was really that if 0:22:46.080 --> 0:22:50.840 we could find a way to quickly, easily and cheaply 0:22:51.520 --> 0:22:54.879 bring back communications in a place that either didn't have 0:22:55.000 --> 0:22:57.960 it or lost it, that could be a really advantageous 0:22:58.200 --> 0:23:02.600 solution to these communities. And while the immediate devastation left 0:23:02.600 --> 0:23:05.640 behind after a hurricane is playing to see, Brian's team 0:23:05.720 --> 0:23:09.280 knew that they challenge lasts longer than a day or 0:23:09.320 --> 0:23:12.959 a week following a hurricane, and that communications plays a 0:23:13.080 --> 0:23:16.520 vital role in that timeframe. I think it's important to 0:23:16.600 --> 0:23:21.600 note that particularly for hurricanes, though I suspect this is 0:23:21.640 --> 0:23:25.919 true for most other types of disasters. To UM, the 0:23:25.920 --> 0:23:30.120 the majority of the death toll and the economic devastation 0:23:30.280 --> 0:23:34.680 occurs not during the immediacy of you know, the wind 0:23:34.720 --> 0:23:37.879 and the rain and the thunder. It's it's the long 0:23:37.920 --> 0:23:42.440 tail after. When you don't have roads and physical infrastructure, 0:23:42.440 --> 0:23:44.200 you can't get to places. You can't get to love 0:23:44.280 --> 0:23:46.920 the ones, You can't get to medical facilities. When you 0:23:46.960 --> 0:23:50.199 don't have communications, you can't effectively coordinate to put the 0:23:50.320 --> 0:23:53.520 right resources in the places they need to be UM, 0:23:53.640 --> 0:23:55.840 nor can you contact loved ones to see if they 0:23:55.880 --> 0:23:59.960 need help. UM. Elderly can't get medications they need food. 0:24:00.000 --> 0:24:03.840 Food is not adequately distributed to the places that need 0:24:03.880 --> 0:24:07.960 it most based on who needs what UM. So when 0:24:07.960 --> 0:24:13.399 these infrastructures go down, particularly the communications piece, you lose 0:24:13.520 --> 0:24:19.320 the ability for society to function on the plane that 0:24:19.400 --> 0:24:23.200 we are currently accustomed to. So their solution was twofold, 0:24:23.440 --> 0:24:28.000 create small, durable and inexpensive network hardware that responders could 0:24:28.080 --> 0:24:31.520 rapidly deploy in a region, and a software platform that 0:24:31.640 --> 0:24:36.800 enabled communications and other operations across that network. The idea 0:24:36.920 --> 0:24:41.280 seems simple and elegant, but as Brian and his team discovered, 0:24:41.720 --> 0:24:44.200 achieving that goal in the real world is a bit 0:24:44.280 --> 0:24:48.639 more complicated. To be clear, there were a whole host 0:24:48.720 --> 0:24:51.879 of challenges at the outset, and there are many many 0:24:51.920 --> 0:24:55.400 more today that we still need to solve. Um. A 0:24:55.440 --> 0:24:58.560 phrase I like to use that never seems to connect 0:24:58.600 --> 0:25:02.600 with people, but I feel as appropriate is something maybe 0:25:02.600 --> 0:25:05.359 you've ever heard, the saying, uh, it's turtles all the 0:25:05.400 --> 0:25:07.680 way down. I think it came from like a joke 0:25:07.720 --> 0:25:12.879 in physics that, uh, some person said to a physics professor, 0:25:13.560 --> 0:25:15.440 you know, the Earth isn't in space, it's just sitting 0:25:15.480 --> 0:25:19.240 on the back of a turtle. And the professor says, oh, okay, okay, sure, 0:25:19.720 --> 0:25:22.400 So what's that turtle sitting on? And the person responds 0:25:22.440 --> 0:25:27.160 like another turtle And there the professor goes, okay, and 0:25:27.200 --> 0:25:29.560 what's that turtle sitting on And the person goes, oh, 0:25:29.640 --> 0:25:34.119 it's turtles all the way down. My my point and 0:25:34.160 --> 0:25:36.879 the reason I think this is appropriate. Maybe I'm crazy, 0:25:36.880 --> 0:25:40.720 maybe this has no relationship, but the point is, as 0:25:40.760 --> 0:25:43.360 we are kind of peeling back the covers. I'm, by 0:25:43.400 --> 0:25:46.560 the way, I'm not an IoT guy. Sure, I'm a technologist, 0:25:46.680 --> 0:25:51.400 like I can code. I know how to use Google right, um, 0:25:51.440 --> 0:25:55.080 which interestingly is like one of the core skill sets 0:25:55.080 --> 0:25:58.000 of programmer needs to be able to have how to 0:25:58.320 --> 0:26:03.520 learn new technologies and figure things out. Um. Nobody on 0:26:03.560 --> 0:26:07.000 our team was like a professional IoT developer. I mean 0:26:07.160 --> 0:26:11.359 even when we started developing, I would be writing code 0:26:11.400 --> 0:26:14.400 for the firmware, but I didn't actually know what language 0:26:14.400 --> 0:26:16.960 I was writing in. I just knew that it worked. Yeah, 0:26:17.280 --> 0:26:20.399 none of us had like a professional background to do 0:26:20.440 --> 0:26:22.560 any of this. So if anybody's thinking like you need 0:26:22.640 --> 0:26:26.200