EU for Innovation
HA NDBOOK:
HAC KATHONS
AS A CATA LYST FOR
UNIV ERSITY-B USI NESS -COOP ERATION
EU for Innovation
This handbook contains info for universities and
innovation support organizations interested in
organizing a hackathon. Content is written from this
perspective in mind.
Handbook is structured chronologically - what are the
key learning points you should consider before,
during and after hackathon.
Handbook draws from experience of running three EU
for Innovation hackathons in Albania in 2-5/2020.
EU for Innovation
WHAT IS A HACKATHON? WHO ARE INVOLVED? OUTCOMES OF
HACKATHON CAN BE É
A ÓhackathonÓ is an event, - Challenge-owner(s)
where entrepreneurial - Participants - Service
people come together to - Mentors - Product
create solutions for a real- - Co-organizers and - Concept
life challenge in a limited partners - Insight and knowledge
time. - Startup
- Initiative
- Joint-project
CHALLENGE-OWNER
A hackathon should have a real-life challenge- P U B L I C S EC TO R
owner, who helps to set the direction for
participants. I N D U S T RY
Challenge-owner can an external organization such
CHALLENGE-
as a company, network of companies, public sector
organization. Alternatively, a wicked problem
OWNER
coming from the society can be seen as a challenge.
Hackathons are excellent tool for universities in
exploring new opportunities and needs in themes
S O C I ETY
that challenge-owners find relevant.
Ideally, the challenge-owner has interest and N E T W O R K / A S S O C IAT I O N
capacity to utilize the results of the hackathon.
PARTICIPANTS STUDENTS
PUBLIC STAFF MEMBERS
Hackathon participants are responsible for
ORGANIZATIONS
creating the solutions during the event. They
& NGOs
can be teams of students; researchers and staff
members; NGOs and public organizations;
private individuals; existing startups / early-
stage businesses, or mix of these. PARTICIPANT
Decision to focus on certain types of
participants will directly effect on what level of
support they might need, as well as what INDIV IDUALS
outcomes and impact you can expect from the (UNIV ERSITY )-BASED
hackathon.
STARTUPS & EARLY-STAGE
BUSINESSES
MENTORS
Role of the mentors in a hackathon is to help participants
to find focus, give advice and perspective; connect
participants with their networks, people and resources;
and be a person with whom participants can test ideas.
An organizer can involve various mentors from different
backgrounds to build a pool of experts within relevant
theme.
For example, you can bring your own staff members, as
well as external experts, such as entrepreneurs,
ecosystem players, representatives from the partners / co-
organizers or challenge-owners onboard. You can also use
your alumni as mentors.
CO-ORGANIZERS AND PARTNERS
Anyone with resoures and passion can organize a
hackathon. However, this handbook assumes either an
university or innovation support organization is the
primary organizer.
Hackathons are an excellent tool to create and nurture
partnerships in themes that are relevant for you. This
doesnÕt mean that you cannot have co-organizers /
partners alongside your own organization in a more
official role. They can bring in additional resources at your
disposal.
EU for Innovation
B E FO R E HACKATHON
PHOTO: EU for Innovation project
KEY POINTS TO CONSIDER BEFORE
HACKATHON
¥ How to formulate the challenges?
¥ Hackathons are starting point for new beginnings
¥ Recruit co-organizers, partners and mentors strategically
¥ What are roles within organizer team?
F I N D A G OOD BA LA NCE FOR YOUR CHA LLENGE
A BROAD CHALLENGE
e.g. What is the future of structural engineering?
VS.
A SPECIFIC CHALLENGE
e.g. How to improve effectiveness of our process by 30%?
A challenge that is too narrowly defined tends to limit the
imagination and interest of participants.
A GOOD HACKATHON
CHALLENGE SHOULD BE
Relevant: Finding solutions to the challenge
€
addresses the strategy of the challenge-owner.
Actionable: Challenge-owner has resoures and
possibility to implement / make use of new solutions.
Meaningful: Challenge is interesting for participants
from different backgrounds, as well as for the
organizer.
Think of hackathon challenge as a resource magnet!
EXAMPLE: A MEANINGFUL CHALLENGE
INSPIRES AND BRINGS TOGETHER RESOURCES
Hack the Crisis Albania hackathon
looked for solutions to help Albania
cope with covid-19 crisis to save
communities, businesses and lives
Within 1,5 weeks, the event gathered
over 200 participants, 30 partner
organizations and over 40 mentors
who contributed their time and
expertise.
HACKATHONS SHOULD BE
UNDERSTOOD AS A CATALYST
FOR NEW BEGINNINGS
ROLE OF HACKATHONS IN INCREASING UNIVERSITY-
+ BUSINESS-COOPERATION
INVESTMENT
RESOURCES REQUIRED FROM THE INDUSTRY
JOINT R&D & PROJECTS
PILOTING RESULTS FROM ACCELERATING
HACKATHON HACKATHON TEAMS
MENTORING & SPARRING
SHARED SPACES &
STUDENT RESOURCES
HACKATHONS
COOPERATION
RESOURCES REQUIRED FROM THE UNIVERSITY
+
Oftentimes the biggest failure of hackathons is not the event themselves,
+ but the fact there is no effort or plan in leveraging the results further.
INVESTMENT
RESOURCES REQUIRED FROM THE INDUSTRY
JOINT R&D & PROJECTS
PILOTING RESULTS FROM ACCELERATING
HACKATHON HACKATHON TEAMS
MENTORING & SPARRING
SHARED SPACES &
STUDENT RESOURCES
HACKATHONS
COOPERATION
RESOURCES REQUIRED FROM THE UNIVERSITY
+
HACKAT H O N S B U I L D A N D N U RT UR E
POSI T IV E U N IV E R S I TY- B U S I N ES S -
CO OPE RAT I ON C U LT U RE
PHOTO: EU for Innovation project
HACKATHONS
I NSPIRE PEOPL E
PHOTO: EU for Innovation project
HACKATHONS S H OWCAS E
UNIV ERSITY TA L E N T
PHOTO: EU for Innovation project
HACKATHONS INCREASE I M PAC T-
T H I NKING & UNDERSTA N D I N G O F
M I SSION-DRIV EN A PPROAC H
PHOTO: EU for Innovation project
HACKATHONS TEACH
E N TREPRENEURIA L S K I L L S
A N D DESIGN THINK I N G
PHOTO: EU for Innovation project
HACKATHONS CREATE S TRONGER
BUSINESS LIN KAG ES
IN RELEVA NT T H EM ES FO R T H E U N IV E R S I TY
PHOTO: EU for Innovation project
IF YOU A RE O RGA N I Z IN G A HAC KAT H O N,
RECRUIT ST RAT EG I CA L LY
¥ With whom do you want to strengthen cooperation and build ecosystem?
¥ Who are enthusiastic and commited about creating impact with you?
CHALLENGE- CO-ORGANIZERS
PARTICIPANTS MENTORS
OWNERS & PARTNERS
ROLES W IT HIN HACKAT HO N
ORGA NIZIN G T EA M
¥ Hands-on organizer / producer: Takes care of practical
arrangements, ensures delivery
¥ Stakeholder communicator: Ensures that challenge-owners,
partners, co-organizers and mentors are up to date
¥ Content designer and facilitator: Makes sure the event goes
smoothly
Remember that different organizations can participate in the
organizing team.
CHECKL I S T
¥ Formulate a challenge that balances well between broad / speciÞc, and
remember to make sure it is meaningful and inspiring.
¥ Use hackathons as a catalyst for further cooperation with desired
organizations and stakeholders. Have a plan for how results are used.
¥ Recruit strategically the right challenge-owners co-organizers, partners,
participants and mentors.
¥ Cover key roles: hands-on organization, stakeholder communication and
facilitation.
EU for Innovation
D U R I N G HACKATHON
PHOTO: EU for Innovation project
THINGS TO CONSIDER DURING HACKATHON
¥ Structure of the hackathon according to Ódouble
diamondÓ process.
¥ You can also organize an online hackathon, but remember to
keep tools straightforward.
¥ How will the solutions be presented and evaluated?
DOUBLE DIAMOND PROCESS
R
EL
P
VE
LO
EF
IV
CO
E
E
IN
EV
R
IS
E
D
D
PROBLEM DEFINITION SOLUTION
Love the
Prototyping,
problem, not
build & learn
the solution
Ideal length of a hackathon is around 24-48 hours
D O U B L E D IA M O N D P RO CESS IS
A L L A B O U T D ES I GN-TH INK ING
PROBLEM: Start the hackathon by focusing participantsÕ efforts on Ólove
the problem, not the solutionÓ. DonÕt let them fall in love with their idea!
Help them to understand what is the real need / opportunity they are
solving, whose need it is and how it impacts the user / customer.
DEFINITION: After this, shift participantÕs attention to ideating early-
stage ideas and alternative approaches to solution. They test their ideas
with mentors, prioritize and finally they choose the best potential
approach, and start creating a prototype.
SOLUTION: You should end hackathon by allowing teams to present the
solution (e.g. short pitch). Give them training on how to deliver a basic
pitch.
FROM W HY . . . . . . TO H OW
( PROBLEM AWARE NE SS) ( S O LU T I O N AWA R E N E S S )
R
EL
P
VE
LO
EF
IV
CO
E
E
IN
EV
R
IS
E
D
D
PROBLEM DEFINITION SOLUTION
Love the
Prototyping,
problem, not
build & learn
the solution
e.g. DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3
IF YOU ARE RUNNING ONLINE
HACKATHON, KEEP THE TOOLS SIMPLE
Tool for live events Tool for team interaction
Optional tools: Mentor matchmaking, online whiteboard, etc.
MAKE PARTICIPATION VISIBLE IN ONLINE HACKATHON
CREATE SHOW AROUND
PRESENTING & EVALUATING
SOLUTIONS
PHOTO: EU for Innovation project
(C) Team Nomana
EX A MP L E O F EVA LUATIO N
C RI T E RIA I N E U FOR
I N NOVAT I ON HAC KATHO NS
NOVELTY: How innovative the solution is?
ACTIONABILITY: How realistically the solution
can be tested / piloted in practice? How
sustainable the business / operational model is?
IMPACT: How clear benefits the solution has
for the challenge?
Remember that in addition to a short 3-5 min
pitch, you can include Q&A segment as well
as ask teams to include additional material
that will be used in evaluation.
PHOTO: EU for Innovation project
CHECKL I S T
¥ 24 - 48 hours is generally a good hackathon length
¥ Consider using the Ódouble diamond processÓas a way to
structure the hackathon agenda
¥ Online hackathons work - but keep tools and process simple
¥ Create show around pitches and storytelling
EU for Innovation
A FTER HACKATHON
PHOTO: Crazy Town
KEY POINTS TO CONSIDER AFTER HACKATHON
¥ How will you offer support for top-performing teams?
¥ How will you follow-up with the teams and challenge-owner
on co-development, piloting and implementation of
solutions?
¥ What is your stance on IPR (intellectual property rights)?
Offer support for top-performing teams and donÕt forget the importance of follow-up: Give
teams have a homebase, where to continue development after the hackathon. You can connect
them with your business development services / accelerator, or link them with services offered
ecosystem partners / co-organizers. Remember that if you have the right kind of partners
onboard with you as mentors, partners and co-organizers, they can offer also support for teams.
Plan in advance with the challenge-owner how they will be involved in co-development,
piloting and implementation of the solutions. For participants, an opportunity to test and
deploy their ideas with the challenge-owners can be one of the biggest benefits.
Keep IPR and ownership of ideas transparent and straightforward: Typically, hackathon
participants retain all reights to intellectual property created at hackathons. Note that mere
ideas cannot be protected. If the team does not want to continue working on their solution, it
can be agreed so that challenge-owner or the organizer have possibility to continue working on
it either independently or with another partner. This should be clearly communicated from the
start.
MONETARY PRIZES ARE GOOD
BONUS, BUT SUPPORT FOR TEAMS
IS MORE IMPORTANT
PHOTO: EU for Innovation project
M ENTORS, PA RTNERS A ND
OTHER ECOSYS TEM PLAY E R S
CA N A LS O CO N TR IBUTE IN
F URTHER SUPPORT OF ID EAS
EU for Innovation
The contents of this handbook are sole responsibility of the authors.
Mikko Korpela
+358 400 499 242
[email protected]
Toni Pienonen
+358 400 737 238
[email protected]
