Hackathon

A HACKATHON or Hack Day is an event to bring people together for co-creation. Hackathons are often associated with development of apps or other “technical” products, but can be focused on anything in principle (such as processes, services, business ideas etc. as well as new technology or code). It is a forum for working collaboratively to understand a problem, generate ideas then develop, prototype and test ideas in a short space of time. There are different names and flavours for this style of event, including Hack Days, Hackathons, Open Innovation Events, Ideas Days, Co-production events etc. Whilst there are differences between some of these, many of the principles and concepts used are the same.

The principle for a Hack Day is that by bringing people together with a variety of skills (technical and non-technical) small teams can work intensively to create things in a short timescale by focussed working. Often teams will be comprised of people who would not normally work together, giving rise to new ideas, capabilities and opportunities. In a city context, it can be used as a tool for community engagement and for “social innovation” i.e. bringing groups of people with a common interest together and creating new solutions to societal problems. Again, these can be tech or non-tech in nature.

The toolsheet  (to donload on the right) will guide you through the steps to follow in order to run a successful event of this type. It includes a series of questions to ask yourself to help define what type of event you wish to run in order to meet your needs and ensure that your hackathon achieves what you want it to.

KEY PRINCIPLES

There are a large number of variations in how a Hack Day, Hackathon or Open Innovation event is run. There is normally no “cash prize” as there is with many other Hack events (though it obviously depends on your purpose as to exactly how you design your event).

• It should be open and collaborative in nature;
• Challenge should be welcomed, but should be done in a supportive way (done to help make things better, not to bring something down);
• It runs best when focused and well facilitated;
• Use/create a comfortable and relaxed environment, with a range of workspaces and breakout spaces;
• Whilst the environment should be relaxed to enable people to be at ease, the event itself should also be exciting and dynamic;
• Give people structure and focus - tell them what they need to achieve/create and by when;
• Be clear on the outputs and outcomes that you are seeking; refer people back to these all the way through to keep them on the right track (that way you’ll get what you want out of the event);
• You can’t have too much food and drink! ;
• Let people play to their strengths;
• Ensure people have fun!

THE EXAMPLE OF TECHTOWN

TechTown is a now closed URBACT Action-Plannng Network within which the partners were working on how to maximise the job creation potential of the digital economy. The network was using Hack Days to bring together creative and digital minds in each community to develop tools and ideas to support and grow the digital sector - and also to enable the partner towns to communicate and collaborate more easily with each other and build stronger relationships. Some of the events focused on exploring existing tools and services, whilst some would aim to develop new solutions where nothing suitable existed before.

The outcomes from a TechTown Hack Day could be software, applications, websites or hardware. However, they were also much about the process - the outcomes didn't have to be digital product, it could just be a better way of doing things. TechTown's events were running on single-day for practicality, as cities/towns would often struggle to engage people for a longer period. For Tech Town, there would also normally be at least broad themes that would shape the focus of the event. You can find out more under the TechTown dedicated page.

HOW TO USE IT ONLINE

This tool can also be used for virtual meetings.