In reality, hackathons are much more innovative – and they could hold the key to unlocking your company’s true potential.
We spoke to Aurelie Wen, managing director North America at Agorize, who revealed how she’s reinventing hackathons, and explained just how HR can harness their power.
“There’s a big misunderstanding around hackathons,” she explained. “The term hackathon is a combination of the word hacking, in terms of finding a smart inexpensive solution to a problem, and the word marathon.”
The popularity of hackathons has grown massively over the past few years, so much so that the Vatican hosted their own earlier this year.
“The Pope is really openminded,” added Wen. “The Vatican has a Department of Innovation and a whole load of funding behind it. It was only a matter of time before they would be launching their own hackathon. They already have an startup accelerator inside the Vatican.”
Mark Zuckerberg is probably the one who has mostly contributed to promote hackathons. Facebook’s hackathons have become one of their oldest and most important traditions. Both the “Like” and “Tag a friend” features have been created during a Facebook hackathon.
“The way that hackathons have evolved is really interesting,” explained Wen. “Here at Agorize, we’re instrumental in this evolution; helping companies to realize the benefits of organizing a hackathon.
“They’re not just for coding, they can be used to hack any kind of problem. It could be anything from railway maintenance, to convincing men to use more cosmetics to creating a more innovative shopping experience for customers. You can apply hackathons to any kind of issue in any kind of industry.”
Article Written by: Emily Douglas
Article Published by: Human Resource Director Canada - April 16, 2018
Article Spotted by: Louise Burden
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