📈 #56 The power of competitions in Operations Research

Why don't we have a Kaggle-like space in OR?

Some months ago I had an interesting conversation about competitions in OR.

The other person was already engaged in competitions, and he saw a clear trend: the number of competitions was declining. Why? Mainly because of the cost of hosting them.

You need to allocate computers, put a layer of software on top to manage users, groups, data, and the competitions theirselves, and this is managed at a competition basis. This means that if there’s one competition in one conference, if a different conference wants to organize a new competition, they need to start over again.

And it also may happen that you’re an enthusiast about competitions and suggest a competition in a larger conference, but if they reject the proposal, then there’s no competition at all.

Because there’s not a centralized page for competitions in OR. There’s not any Kaggle-like space.

But I think it’s important to have such a place.

That’s why today, in Feasible, I want to explore:

• 🎯 Why competition matter in Operations Research

• 🏅 Notable Operations Research competitions

• 🎅 Christmas competitions

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🎯 Why competitions matter in Operations Research

Let’s admit it: Kaggle has become a powerful platform for researchers, practitioners, and enthusiasts to tackle AI challenges.

That’s because competitions represent much more than just a test of individual skill.

They foster innovation that bring together diverse perspectives and approaches to solve difficult real-world problems. In the Operations Research field, these competitions serve several critical purposes: