When anyone thinks of hackathons, the only thing that comes to mind is coding. No doubt, that is where the idea of hackathons came from. But now the situation is different as hackathons are taking a new meaning.  

Hackathons connect ideas from around the globe, harness technology, and bring various breakthroughs, ultimately driving real-world changes. That is why many sectors, including education, healthcare, and sustainability, now use hackathons.

Unarguably, hackathons have the potential to bring real-world changes, but how? To find a detailed answer to your query here, continue reading!

Understanding Hackathons And Their Types

A hackathon is a social occasion where individuals around the globe get together to find solutions to problems. It can also be considered an innovative marathon, where creative minds collaborate and devise inventive solutions within a limited timeframe.

Though hackathons can occasionally be organized to achieve a specific goal, their primary purpose is always to provide a forum for creative minds and employees to brainstorm and generate out-of-the-box ideas, which carries a lower overall risk for the company.

Remember, there is always a timeframe, either 24 hours or a weekend. Therefore, the participants must complete their tasks quickly to win this marathon!

Types of Hackathons

So, for now, you have a better understanding of hackathons; now let's look over the different types:

— Online Hackathons: Virtual or online hackathons are held online. These events let the participants join in and collaborate from anywhere worldwide. Companies can also locate and recruit talented individuals through these hackathons without geographical restrictions. You can easily participate in online hackathons through Mural, Zoom, Whiteboard, Skype, and many more. These hacks are the best choice for smaller teams that don't have the funds to showcase and sell their brand worldwide.

— Offline Hackathons: Offline hackathons are traditional in-person events at a specific venue. All the participants can interact with each other at the venue or a physical location. The strength of physical hackathons lies in the networking potential that arises from collaborating in person and real-time problem-solving capabilities. Such hackathons usually last for days and can be conducted by different universities, community groups, or companies.

— Corporate Hackathons: The meaning of hackathons has changed, and now they have become a means of recruiting technical candidates. Corporate hackathons are one of those. These events link recruiters with the top talent who have a point of view on their industry and the potential to bring innovation to their defined products, procedures, and technology.  

— Internal Hackathons: An internal hackathon is an event hosted by an organization or company for its employees. These hackathons aim to develop products, address internal challenges, and address ideas. During these hackathons, employees usually enjoy the freedom of thinking, which boosts their job satisfaction. Also, the employees try to build something that is not part of their immediate responsibilities.

— Competitive Hackathons: Suppose there are thousands of computer programmers and every one of them is working on their computer constantly throughout the coding marathon. These participants can work alone or within teams to solve problems or develop products. Within 24 to 48 hours, all the programmers compete with each other for a set prize, which can be money, internships, or highly coveted jobs. Above all, they get a golden chance to boost their accomplishments.

— Hybrid Hackathons: These hackathons combine offline and online activities. Participants can select a convenient way to participate in such events. For example, they can join online if they cannot attend physically. Therefore, these events cater to a large audience and allow organizations or companies to benefit from in-person and virtual events.

— Industry Hackathons: Organizations across various industries run different types of hackathons. These events can combine both technical and non-technical talent to solve any industry-specific challenge. Such events can be structured in different ways, whether virtually, hybrid, or in-person. Let's take the example of the NASA International Space Apps Challenge. The event is held in October at 320 locations for 48 hours. The purpose of this hackathon is to address the real-world problems regarding Earth and space. During this event the free and open data of NASA can be used.

— Coding Hackathons: These are the most common type of hackathons. During hackathons, tech professionals, programmers, and designers focus primarily on tech projects or challenges. The employer or university can sponsor these events. All the participants collaborate on a project to build websites, applications, or algorithms. The team members aim to create something innovative and functional within a limited period. Remember that these events aim to produce prototypes or technical solutions, but non-technical persons can also participate. The perspective of non-technical persons (product managers, marketers, or business developers) can also be useful for the engineers.

How Hackathons Can Drive Real-World Changes?

Yun can never underestimate the power of a small group of people who are enthusiastic, committed, and determined to change the world. Hackathons have proved it and that is why they are driving real-world changes. But, how hackathons are doing that, let’s find it out here:

1. Hackathons Build Community

Hackathons build communities within specific interest groups or the tech industry. Through hackathons, like-minded individuals come together on the same platform, exchange their knowledge, and support each other in pursuing the same goal.

When people with different backgrounds work as a team, they benefit from each other's skill sets, which ultimately helps them develop new products or services. It is extremely helpful for early-stage companies and internal hackathons with specific problems. For instance, the companies can develop prototypes, products, or features there.

2. Fostering Skills

During hackathons, developers are asked to solve a problem within a limited time. Under such tight deadlines, you can easily learn new skills quickly, whether you are a curious beginner or an experienced coder. All the skills you learn, from prototyping to debugging, help you develop actionable products that ultimately bring real-world changes.

3. Building High-Performance Teams

Hackathons bring experts of different backgrounds and skill sets together. The teams created this way are highly capable and adaptable of working together and can efficiently achieve common goals. These teams can benefit companies working quickly in a rapidly changing environment. Companies can choose their teams through hackathons and later use them to develop products or get solutions that bring positive changes in the real world.

4. Rapid Prototyping And Immediate Feedback

The digital virtual hackathons enable quick prototyping with the tools. Resultantly, the experts can make the needed adjustments quickly (based on the feedback obtained from the global audience). The immediate validation accelerates the innovations multiple times and lets the teams quickly turn their ideas into solutions or products, benefiting the world and people.

Hackathons Trying to Change the World: Real-Life Examples

Over the last few years, hackathons have helped city governments build new mobile and web apps that provide different services. But it does not end here. Many other real-life examples clearly show how hackathons are changing the world. So, let's look over a few of them here:

1. Code For America

Code of America is a non-profit organization founded in 2009. When the heavy snowstorm hit Boston, Code For America took advantage of hackathons and created mobile apps that helped parents find their kids' school buses. These apps benefitted not only the parents but also community groups. They were also repurposed for many other cities.

2.Creative Currency

Creative Currency has conducted a hackathon-style brainstorming event in San Francisco. Various teams of tech talent, social service experts, and community workers participated in this event. They worked together to solve the problems of the neighborhoods with the highest poverty rates.

3. MITX Up

MITX is a non-profit trading association (at the intersection of technology and marketing). The association launched MITX Up, the very first hackathon of its type. The hackathon assembles teams of technology and marketing experts to give startup founders their attention for a specific time.

During these events, the hackathon participants identified the startup's key audience and developed strategies to reach them. In one of the recent gatherings of MITX Up, the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts were featured. Both of them were interested in attracting students and startups to the region.

4. Health Buddy

Health Buddy is an app developed during a hackathon. The app uses open-source data, such as local medical facility types, mapping, and transport options, to help people determine where to go for non-threatening ailments or injuries.

For example, various government checklists list places where patients can go, like a community care center or a pharmacy. The app brings all of these places together. It suggests where you should go in an emergency, depending on the availability of beds and current waiting times in the emergency departments. You can also find out which place is near you.

Conclusion

Hackathons have become powerful platforms that bring various teams together from all around the globe. The right resources, technology, vision, and mentorship empower the teams. All the team members brainstorm ideas and take advantage of available resources to provide innovative solutions that go beyond the digital space and bring changes in the real world.

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