TopCoder Tackles 3 Algorithm Challenges in January!

2012 is off to a fitting start. The technology world is abuzz over Big Data and the real-world need to create the advanced algorithms that will be the technology backbone of so many advances in agriculture, healthcare, telecommunications, government and well beyond. At TopCoder, algorithm challenges have always been a key component of our community and in this month alone, we are hosting 3 distinct algorithm competitions.

Soybean EliteClassifier

Every year, soybean breeders try to create new varieties that will outperform those which are currently available on the market. New varieties are created by cross-pollination. In order to test their performance, varieties will be grouped together into experiments. The goal of this competition is to create a solution that will be able to identify elite varieties within each experiment. More information and specifics on this competition can be found here.

NASA Tournament Lab (NTL) USPTO $50,000 Algorithm Challenge

Software developers from around the world and the TopCoder community are invited to develop specialized algorithms to help bring the seven million patents presently in the patent archive into the digital age. The USPTO challenge requires advanced knowledge of text recognition, image analysis, and the construction of bounding boxes. Visit the NTL site for more on this challenge.

SFFCompressor – Standard Flowgram Files

Traditional methods of compressing genetic data files are inefficient. Through competition, this client is seeking novel techniques to re-envision how this data can be compressed both smaller and faster. Traditional archivers do not utilize information on format, structure, and expected distributions of data. We expect competitors to explore ideas that take advantage of these factors. Click here for more information on this competition.

From the TopCoder Blog: Why Open Innovation and Crowdsourcing Can Rule Big Data