03Enterprise FinOpsNext event
Fri 30 Oct2026
Beyond the Mainframe
How might an organisation see what its computing actually costs, when the estate spans generations of systems that each account for cost differently?
Next · Challenge 03Beyond the MainframeFri 30 Oct 2026at BCS HertfordshireFriday 30 October 2026
Five challenges,
one mission.
Turning fragmented data into insight people can act on — on the farm, in the community, across the enterprise, in public life and in frontline care.
Open to any age and any skill level. Mixed teams are the whole point, and no prior coding is needed.
- places per event
- 100
- at our own events
- Free
- and skill levels
- All ages
- events, one season
- 5
01 — The events
Five challenges, one season
Vast, valuable data already exists, but it sits in separate silos. Each challenge takes one domain and asks the same thing: pull the sources together and show what no single one reveals. They run from October to July — and where our people are speaking on the day, you'll see them on the date.
04Civic online safety
Sun 25 Apr2027
Safe in the Open
How might a person in public life understand and act on the harm aimed at them, without having to read all of it themselves?
05Charity · patient safety
Late May2027
Ahead of the Heat
How might a warning issued for a whole region reach the individual people most at risk from it, while there is still time to act?
01AgTech data
Sun 13 Jun2027
One Farm, One Picture
How might a farmer get a trustworthy answer about their own land, when the data that holds it sits in systems that were never built to talk to each other?
02Civic data
Fri 16 Jul2027
Mapping the Gaps
How might someone see where different kinds of disadvantage fall on the same people and places, when each kind is counted and held separately?
02 — The format
How the day runs
Mixed teams, real data, expert mentors and a hard stop. Time pressure forces a tight scope: pick a target, a few sources, one insight.
- 01KickoffBrief, datasets, teams
- 02FormMix skills & local knowledge
- 03BuildPrototype against real data
- 04Mentor checksSense-check with experts
- 05JudgingFive criteria, equal weight
- 06ShowcasePresent the picture
Four ways to answerA build, an analysis, a design or a shared standard can all answer a challenge. Pick the one that suits your team.
- Track 01
Build it
A dashboard, app, map or integration that merges the sources into one view.
- Track 02
Make sense of it
An analysis that reveals a pattern others would miss.
- Track 03
Design it
A clear interface for a busy non-expert — one screen that tells the story.
- Track 04
Standardise it
A common language or lookup so the sources can talk to each other.
03 — The collaboration
Innovation Forum × R1X
Innovation Forum convenes the challenges, the partners and the room. R1X carries the engineering — so what gets built in a day is grounded in something that would survive contact with a real business.
- 01
Publishes the research
The applied-AI material on this site — primers, build patterns, controls — written and maintained by R1X.
- 02
Builds the tooling
Synthetic environments, datasets and starter code behind each challenge — no client-system exposure.
- 03
Mentors and judges
Practitioners on the floor during the build, and on the panel when the work is judged.
04 — Insights
Applied AI research from the collaboration
Written for the people who have to run the thing afterwards: what retrieval actually is, how to build it safely, and what to control before you start.
05 — Ways in
Take part free. Everything else starts with a conversation.
Places at our own hackathons are free for everyone; when a challenge runs inside a partner’s event, the host’s ticket applies. Membership, sponsorship and patronage are shaped around you — so we talk first rather than publish a price list.
ParticipantsTake partFree100 places per event. Teams of up to five, or come solo.IndividualsMembershipFree, or get in touchJoin the community free; full membership adds events, resources and networking.OrganisationsSponsorshipGet in touchPut your problem in front of the room — Supporter, Partner or Headline.IndividualsPatronageGet in touchA gift that keeps places free. No logo, no influence — that's the point.
Let's build all five.
Partners and sponsors, datasets and starter code, mentors and judges, a venue and a date — tell us which one you can bring.
Or email info@inno-forum.co.uk
Partners, sponsors and supporters of previous Innovation Forum events
