There has been a lot of buzz about this recently, and I'm surprised at the ignorance. Building a POC in a hackathon demonstrates none of the hard parts about bi

There has been a lot of buzz about this recently, and I'm surprised at the ignorance. Building a POC in a hackathon demonstrates none of the hard parts about bidding on and executing a government contract, especially one related to border security, personal information, etc. As you say, maybe they overpaid, and government procurement is broken, but these silly comparisons don't get into that at all. "Tell me you have never worked on a government contract without telling me you've never worked on a government contract" might be a good summary. Do the hackathon participants have security clearances? That would be the first in a massive list of things that make projects like this cost way more than what you would pay a kid to make for you on the weekend.