Hackathons

Some frequently unanswered questions.

What is a hackathon?

n. a design sprint-like event; often, in which computer programmers and others involved in software development, including graphic designers, interface designers, project managers, domain experts, and others collaborate intensively on software projects. (Wikipedia)

Here is a popular introduction by Oleg which, in his humble opinion, and in spite of - or perhaps even with thanks to - the ponies, has aged well: https://forum.opendata.ch/t/make-the-most-of-hackathon-season/167/1 🐴

What roles are involved?

Every hackathon tries in its own way to mix and match participant profiles. The traditional make.opendata.ch hackathons had only three roles: Ideator, Developer, Designer. At geohackmin, the first cividi-organized hackathon, we defined the following roles:

• 🖍️ Designer (30%)
• ⚙️ Coder (30%)
• 🏢 Urbanist (30%)
• 💡 Challenger (5%)
• 🛡️ Operator (5%)

Where to join an event?

See Opendata.ch Forum and Calendar | Hackalist | Devpost | Hackathon.io | Near me | MIT | ChallengeRocket | SparkBoard

Running an event

There are excellent handbooks out there that cover this in detail. You can find the links at https://github.com/hackathons-ftw/awesome-hackathon

To read about events which are specific to geodata, see:

• https://geohackweek.github.io/preliminary/00-geohack-intro/
• https://www.dresden.de/de/wirtschaft/wirtschaftsstandort/projekte-kooperationen/open-data-camp-2019.php
• https://cividi.ch/geohackmin