Hackathons: The Future of Innovation?

Hackathons got their start in the 1990s as part of the bottom-up approach to push for “disruptive” innovation. But are they only for tech companies?

Hackathons (sometimes called codefests) are social coding events that bring computer programmers and other interested people together to build a new software program or improve an existing one. Companies that value innovation have adopted hackathons as a way of introducing creativity and fresh ideas. Hackathons are usually undertaken to achieve specific goals, but often they are a chance for businesses to create employee-driven, out-of-the-box ideas in a low-risk environment. Employees are given the freedom and support to work with colleagues in other departments (and often around the world within a given timeframe, but without the pressure of having to produce a viable product.

What else can Hackathons fix?

Today, hackathons are no longer restricted to the tech world, and the bottom-up approach to push for “disruptive” innovation has since been making its way into healthcare, local government, and disaster management. In 2014, the British government and HackerNest ran DementiaHack, the world’s first hackathon dedicated to improving the lives of people living with dementia and their caregivers, and in 2011, the United States Congress hosted a hackathon specifically aimed at promoting open government. In March, Brown University will host “Hack for Humanity,” which gathers students together to explore solutions to problems emerging from the Rohingya refugee crisis. Even Pope Francis is getting in on the act — the Vatican is working on plans for a hackathon this year!

Do they really work?

Hackathons have proven to be an outstanding way to generate ideas for new tech products and services. For example, many of Facebook’s most popular features (including the “like” button, Facebook Chat, and Timeline) were conceived at hackathons. Another example of a hackathon success is GroupMe, a group messaging app first conceived at the TechCrunch Disrupt 2010 hackathon and acquired by Skype for more than $40 million.

The ITMAGINATION difference

ITMAGINATION is always up for a good hackathon, and our emphasis on innovation and thinking outside the box has led to some notable hackathon successes. Our employees have worked with JavaGirl and Girls Who Test to organize a hackathon for testers at the Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology in Warsaw, and last weekend our team was busy innovating at the Global Legal Hackathon in Warsaw, where the web-based customer service app for small and medium-sized law firms we created has already found potential customers.

Hack it. Improve it. Done.