Why Intel loves contests

Intel's research and development director, Kamil Isaev, is the one who should be asked questions related to the development of information technologies and the search for innovations in the computer industry, as he, in a sense, represents it.

In this interview there are a lot of questions about why and for what purpose Intel holds various contests, the purpose of which is to find and establish contacts with developers; how students of Russian universities are attracted and that, as a result, all participants in the process receive. I already wrote on Habré about the contest "Computer Continuum", which is now in full swing, and it will be discussed. For potential participants all the details on intel.ru/contest

- Kamil, Intel for many years holds contests, and, various. What is their purpose, always the same or depends on the tasks in certain areas?
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- Indeed, Intel has been holding various contests for a long time, including in Russia. Their goals are close, but still, they are not identical from competition to competition. 10 years ago I was engaged in Intel educational programs and organized competitions in universities. Their goal was to establish contacts with those who are willing and able to cooperate with our corporation. Perhaps such a task is put before all the contests that we organize. For example, Intel opens a new direction for research and development in Russia, and you need to understand what people here can set the tone for what they are. The search for people is a goal that runs like a red thread through any competition that we initiate.

- However, similar contests are held by other companies that produce hardware solutions and software (software). Are there any specific features of Intel?

- In fact, contests held by different companies, it is difficult to compare, because I'm just engaged in contests, which are held by Intel. In order to compare, you need to participate in the organization of competitions that are held by other organizations. But I believe that from the point of view of technology, the implementation of all such competitions they have much in common, their goals are close. And the differences are determined by the people who organize them: it is they who bring in the specifics.

- It is clear that in terms of the development of the ecosystem, such activities are a powerful incentive. Did Intel succeed as a result of the competitions to get new reliable partners or to recruit promising employees for specific areas within the company? How do you assess success in this regard?

- Of course, we do not expect that each competition will attract partners or employees, but such cases happen, and this is one of the valuable results of competitive activity in general. There is a category of contests that we have not touched yet - these are competitions of students and postgraduates of universities in order to identify Intel scholars. The very first such competition allowed us to hire a valuable employee - Andrey Semin, whom you know well. Andrei was the winner of the first scholarship contest held by Intel at Moscow University. We attracted students from three faculties: computational mathematics and cybernetics, mechanical and mathematical, and physical. There were about one hundred participants, five winners, one of whom, Andrei Semin, is today a successful employee of Intel, works in our office in Munich and is well known as an expert in the field of high-performance computing. There are other examples where winners of Intel contests held among students helped universities and companies gain valuable employees.

- The competition we are talking about was initially focused on high performance computing, and this is understandable. After all, this theme, to put it mildly, is not very common, it needs to be popularized and developed, to stimulate the people who are engaged in it. Why did you need to expand the range of projects that will be submitted to the competition this year? Isn't it easier to take and organize a new competition from scratch?

- A good project develops over the years, during this period the base of contacts expands, and this is a very valuable acquisition of any competition. And there is always a temptation to use the lessons learned earlier. We have modified the high-performance computing competition that Intel conducted in previous years, and now it will be devoted to developments for the entire computer continuum: from supercomputers to mobile devices. On the one hand, these are signs of the evolution of a successful undertaking, and on the other, the desire to expand the task. As soon as we say that the modern person in his life is surrounded by a variety of computing devices, many of which are very important to him - those that are usually in his pocket (mobile phone) or are on the table. But there are other, imperceptible for us: servers, data centers and cloud services implemented on their basis. The evolution of the competition of solutions for high-performance computing in the competition of solutions for the computer continuum emphasizes the principle that the computer world is huge and diverse, and all of its components are important for modern man, each in his own way.

- However, there is a specific software for high-performance computing and client devices. How do you plan to strengthen the work towards finding talents who write programs for clients? Will this approach differ from what has been done before?

- All projects that are accepted for consideration contain a software component. True, not all is reduced to it. After all, this is not a competition of applications, but a competition of solutions that may include different elements. The client device includes many components: from the element base to the operating system and applications running in its environment.
How are we going to enhance the work with the ecosystem? - This is an excellent question that concerns not only the current competition, but also a lot of what we are doing. The ecosystem of developers (according to our terminology, it is called ISV - independent software vendors) for Intel is extremely important because it creates a software stack element. And this is the most important component of the solution that the user buys. Contests are one of the elements of working with such an ecosystem.
As you know, Intel has a whole division for interaction with developers (Developers Relations Division, DRD) and there are a number of programs that are focused on them. The point of DRD activity is to rally the ecosystem around Intel in a natural way. But it is necessary that software companies realize the value of cooperation. Intel constantly introduces new platforms to the market, creates new processors, and software should work very well for them. But besides the timely provision of key samples of our products, what else can we give them? The competition is aimed at the visible part of the iceberg of the software development ecosystem. But its lower part is no less interesting for us, and the role of DRD colleagues is extremely high in its development. We hope that the programs that they develop are important and interesting to our partners. Here is one of the examples on the surface: AppUp application store. He has not earned money in Russia yet, but he works in other countries, and the world is not that big. Therefore, Russian developers have the opportunity to write applications and place them in the Intel application store - these are programs for mobile devices, various operating systems, starting with Windows and ending with MeeGo. This is an important catalyst for the development of the ecosystem, and we will use it. We hope that next year the application store will work in Russia. And before that, we will open a similar project, not AppUp, but something ideologically very close, an application store, which we want to launch so that we have the opportunity to interact with developers on this topic.

- How is the composition of the organizers of the competition? Is it based on the history of their relationship?

- If the competition is held for several years in a row, then, of course, there is a tradition, there is a history of relationships. Here, the competition for high performance computing (HPC) - it is convenient to refer to it as an example. Its ecosystem is not so large, all the strong players here are known, everything will last. Co-organizers, co-founders of the competition were the most famous and respected members of this ecosystem. And with them there is a story of good relations. We know these people quite well and invite those whom professionals in this field expect to see on the jury. If we make changes - like this year - then a combination of the old and the new is created. Since HPC is part of what we call the “computer continuum,” naturally, those who were co-organizers of past competitions are included in the current one. But since the expansion of the subject has occurred, we also need people and companies who understand new topics that were not there before. Since here we have less experience, and the history of relations is often simply not there, decisions are made from tactical considerations - in the good sense of the word. There are projects that today attract the attention of the scientific community. One of them is Skolkovo. Naturally, we had a desire to offer Skolkovo a partnership in organizing such a competition. It was a simple thought, it lay on the surface. And the Skolkovo Foundation went to meet us. Or ABBYY is one of the most famous Russian software brands. Applications that they develop and release to the market, from our point of view, contribute to the rapid development of client devices that is being observed today. And there is a clear connection between the competition, which we had conceived, and ABBYY. Therefore, we asked them to become co-organizers too. In short, the composition of the founders is the result of the interaction of historical reasons, established connections, on the one hand, and our desire to contribute to the development of new areas of the IT industry.

- Regarding geography: as I understand it, this competition will be mainly of a Russian character, but it’s known that IT specialists in Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other CIS countries are very strong. Do you plan to do something to expand the scope of the competition, and if so, how?

- Generally speaking, we have no geographical restrictions, I do not remember in the context of the wording “only for Russian companies” and I think that this should not be. Because applications are submitted by e-mail, through a website, and this is the Internet, this is an area without borders. There are no obstacles that would prevent the citizens of Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan to take part in our competition. In general, we could receive applications from distant countries, for example, from Israel, but this raises the question of effectively disseminating information: can we communicate to potential participants in these countries that the competition exists. It is easier for us to notify people who live in Minsk, Kiev, Almaty, than those who live in Tel Aviv.

- If you turn to technical competence: in your opinion, is the percentage of defects in the works that are submitted for the competition high? What is the situation at the entrance?

- This percentage changes from one competition to another, even more so, within the same competition, if it has been held for several years. Thematically this is a tough competition; This is not a children's drawing contest or, say, a flash animation. The jury works with intellectually capacious work. Therefore, even competently formulate the conditions of the competition is a very difficult matter. And it turns out that we learn together with the participants. When the competition is held for the first time, the percentage of strong work is lower - we observed this using the example of the first competition in high-performance computing. But from year to year, both the quantity and quality of work grew. People learn, the share of strong projects is growing, and the percentage of marriages, as you say, is decreasing. I think that when we make such dramatic changes as this year, it is natural to expect that the percentage of strong work will decrease somewhat, but this is normal. Everything will be corrected next year and later.

- But the everyday situation: imagine that my extremely useful and interesting program for the client device won the competition, but I live in the Far East. To arrive at the prize, I need to spend a lot on the air flight from Vladivostok and pay for a hotel in Moscow, because in one day you will not turn around. What to do?

- This problem is solved. I, perhaps, will not begin to make 100 percent promises - the budget of the competition cannot be called unlimited, and its lion's share should be spent on prizes. But if we have winners from remote areas of the country, we will help. However, experience shows that people are strong, who are able to win the competition, as a rule, do not live in poverty. I do not remember the case in the past few years someone could not come from Novosibirsk, for example, for material reasons. If such a person appears, I think that we will find a way for him to arrive and receive the prize personally. But more often it happens otherwise: people are very busy, they do not physically have enough time, so they cannot always come.

- At the end of our conversation, I would ask you to formulate a farewell to the participants of the competition, to address them with a message. What could you tell them?

- I, of course, would strongly encourage them to participate. I will try to explain how, from my point of view, the motivation to take part in the competition could look like. We are witnessing the next round of development of the IT industry, and this turn is characterized by the rapid spread of client devices. Therefore, the appearance and structure of our industry will change. For potential participants in the competition it is extremely important that the ideas that they have and who are able to move the industry forward at a new evolutionary stage, are noticed and appreciated by Intel and our colleagues and co-founders. The Skolkovo Foundation, which is designed to support innovation in Russia, and Intel, which has tremendous international business experience, can provide participants with unique opportunities for growth and development. If their ideas are noted and appreciated both at the national and international level, they will be truly fruitful and will help accelerate the evolution of the industry in the right direction. And what could be more interesting and attractive for a researcher, engineer, programmer who works in the field of information technology?

- Let's wish success to all participants and organizers of the competition and we hope for excellent results. Thank.