Can you build an AI-based tool that prevents users from buying products that are prohibited for sale in or import to Switzerland?
Learn more about the challenge
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Q&A Session for hackers
Problem Imagine buying a gadget online - only to discover it’s illegal in your country (Switzerland). Swiss law for example only permits class 1 laser pointers, with all others banned from import, sale, or use.
Your task in this hackathon project will be to use your imagination to build a smart, AI-based, end-2-end tool that instantly checks the legality of e-commerce products, helping everyone - from travelers to online shoppers - to stay safe and compliant.
Objective Using a product identification number from a major e-commerce platform, such as Temu or Shein, the system determines if the product is likely prohibited for sale or import to Switzerland. This classification is made based on publicly available information and Swiss legal guidelines. It is essential that the terms of service or usage policies of the offering platform are not violated.
Criteria of evalution will be ease of use and classification performance.
Support for Hackers
- Data: An evaluation set of legal and illegal product codes will be made available at the beginning of the hacking phase.
- People: One person from FOCBS will be on site at the hackathon.
Technical Preferences
- The resulting tool shall offer at least a simple web-UI for querying product identification numbers as well as a GET-endpoint for the same purpose. Feel free to containerise and make it look nice etc.
- The license of the code generated in this challenge will be MIT.
Why hack? By building a tool that can inform customers about the legality of an e-commerce product you will:
- help customers avoid accidental illegal activities
- use AI to make Switzerland a safer place
About the Challenge Partner
Tea from Asia, furniture from Sweden or computers from the United States: every day, several thousand tonnes of the most diverse goods cross the Swiss border. The FOCBS specialists check to see if the goods have been correctly declared, determine the applicable taxes and duties, and ensure compliance with numerous provisions aimed at protecting people and the economy. Together with domestic and foreign partner authorities, the FOCBS also performs tasks in the area of security and migration, both in border areas and rail traffic, as well as at airports.