HACKING AND COHACKING

The cooperation-based hackathon represents the next step of the classic hackathon. In the classic version the company or the organization invites several developers and designers to create an application based on the some specific briefing. The participants compete either alone or in teams to win a prize in a given time. They are requested to show an alpha demo of their innovative application. The award is assigned by an external jury or directly by the client itself. Nevertheless, the competitive aspect of the hackathon has the negative effect to make all the losing participants disappointed and unwilling to share the event outcome, while sociologists point out hackathons may be seen as a form of exploitation.

HACKING THE HACKATHON

In the Cohackathon the competitive side is used only in the selection of the best ideas. Being a transparent process, sometimes this can lead to an integration that makes more ideas to merge and become more powerful. The realisation of the prototypes and the final presentation are developed by everyone who wants to continue after the idea selection. The final award will be collectively achieved and distributed among the participants, who will celebrate together the common accomplishment.

THE PLEASURE OF HACKING TOGETHER

The Cohackathon leverages on the full diversity potential of the present participants. The same innovation output of the hackathon, if not even more, is achieved, with the advantage to focus all the available resources on the ideas development and realisation. Avoiding a single winner, moreover, generates a satisfactory feeling in all the attendants, which participate in the future dissemination of the output.

When the company does not need an application solving its specific indications right away, a different, live, open meeting is possible: the Open Space Cooperation.