10 Definitions of a Hackathon from leading organisers
Types of Hackathons can be very broad and the only consensus that there is no consensus on what the definition of a Hackathon is. Here are some common definitions of Hackathons from leading Hackathon organisers across the world.
“A hackathon is best described as an “invention marathon”. Anyone who has an interest in technology attends a hackathon to learn, build & share their creations over the course of a weekend in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. You don’t have to be a programmer and you certainly don’t have to be majoring in Computer Science.”
2. American Psychological Association
“Hackathons are events in which community members collaborate to solve problems. They assume many different forms, but most are designed to bring researchers from various career stages and backgrounds together to create shareable solutions to problems of common interest.”
3. Sage
“A hackathon is a social coding event that brings together computer programmers and other like-minded people to improve or build software.
Sometimes hackathons are set up for specific goals but they are mostly intended for businesses to draw out employee-driven, out-of-the-box ideas in an environment that has more freedom and less corporate risk.”
4. Hackerearth
“Hackathon is a tool to drive sustained innovation and crowdsource solutions to address pressing real-life business problems and social issues. A hackathon is typically a time-bound competitive event where participants collaborate to build proofs of concept and minimum viable products for a specific pre-defined problem or to innovate.”
5. Korum Legal
“A hackathon is exactly what it sounds like, a race like event (normally ranging from 48 hours to a week) of intense innovation, teamwork, grit and grind… to ‘ta-dah’, a new finished working tech product which could change and enhance the relevant industry. Key to a hackathon is that there must be a working product by the end, not just an idea. Traditionally, hackathons involved computer scientists, those who could code, graphic designers and interface designers. But more recently in also involves, project managers, subject matter experts and any other interested parties. So the good news is… there’s the potential for a “hacker” in all of us!”
6. Apiumhub
“During a Hackathon, you spend a short period of time, usually between 24–48h (can go up to a week), building, creating and delivering a product. The idea is to collaboratively code in an extreme manner, to start from scratch and end with a working prototype. It’s often a sort of competition, where teams of programmers, developers, designers and project managers come together to design & build a nice product, a software project.”
“The word hackathon is a combination of the words “hack” and “marathon” where hack stands for experimental, creative problem solving with a playful approach and marathon stands for the duration of the event. The hackathon has its origin in software and hardware engineering, but the concept is now also successfully applied in other industries for developing innovative solutions.”
8. Search CIO
“A hackathon, also known as a codefest, is a social coding event that brings computer programmers and other interested people together to improve upon or build a new software program. The word hackathon is a portmanteau of the words hacker, which means clever programmer, and marathon, an event marked by endurance.”
9. TechSoup Europe
“A hackathon (hack-a-thon) may be defined as a manner of work that is strongly connected with new technologies. “A programing sprint (also referred to as a hackathon) is a type of a workshop, where the participants co-design and put into practice internet and IT projects” — writes Michał Mach, an activist and computer programmer, in an article “Hackerski wolontariat” (“Hacking as a voluntary action”). The most important aspect of such a work is to focus on defining and executing the things (in this case understood as both tasks and specific results, e.g. creating an application) in a given space-time continuum.”
“A hackathon is a program that brings a large number of people together to develop a tested solution to a central challenge.”
