The Power of Hackathons as an Open Innovation Strategy
The power of hackathons as an open innovation strategy
A growing number of segments are adopting strategies for open innovation, a methodology created in 2003 at the University of Berkeley for application in organizations seeking to foster ideas, processes and open research in order to improve their products and services, identify and take advantage of talent, become more efficient and to serve their clients better.
Among the different ways of using open innovation, Hackathons (programming marathons) have become very popular in recent years as a birthplace of innovative ideas such as prototypes, leading to transformational benefits for companies and institutions.
In this panel, we will get an insight into the experiences of four professionals from different areas with open innovation / hackathons, as well as an understanding of why the adoption of more centralized innovation models, focused on collaboration, has become fundamental for organizations in the world today.
Chair: José Salustiano Fagundes - CEO - HXD OTT Solutions
Entrepreneur in the area of technological innovation, founding partner of HIRIX Software Engineering and HXD Smart Solutions, a company that since 2007 has been "thinking and making the new television in Brazil". He was a member of the SBTVD-T Forum Council and participated in the work to adopt the interactive component in digital TV. He participates in the Technology Committee of the Brazilian Society of Television Engineering (SET), is a guest researcher at CITI (Interactive Center for Interactive Technologies) and LabArteMidia-Laboratory of Art, Media and Digital Technologies, both from the University of São Paulo (USP) ; and Ambassador of Campus Party, an organization that brings together a worldwide community of developers and makers with a mission of "building a new source code for the world."
HACKATHON: You should go to one!
Why should you watch or take part in a hackathon?
The hackathon experience has shown itself to be strategic for those needing innovation!
Hackathons have created a huge opportunity for catalyzing the creation of big bang ideas, and they are becoming a common occurrence in Brazil at institutions and companies in various segments.
The challenge of putting to the test the efforts and agility of teams who, in a short space of time (usually between 24 and 72 hours), need to develop innovative functional prototypes, has become a major favorite among increasing numbers of participants from areas such as IT, design, management, marketing and communication, as well as entrepreneurs of start-ups.
In this presentation, we will describe a little of our experience with hackathons in recent years, demystifying them and encouraging their use within the broadcasting sector.
Speaker: Fernando Tomé - Partner - Comnaction Inteligência Social
Fernando Tomé worked for 17 years in Foreign Trade until undertaking his own consultancy. Founded three startups and today runs Comnaction - Social Intelligence, creating and organizing initiatives for innovation and digital entrepreneurship. He is Lead Brazil Ambassador of AngelHack and believes that hackathon is great tool for open innovation and experiential education, has made hackathons in all regions of Brazil to companies, government and NGO´s. He studied Economics, International Relations and Management & Innovation.
Hackathon Globo: 4 successful editions
In 2015, Globo's areas of technology and human capital have come together to organize a Hackathon and since then every year this event has been taking place. More than an open innovation event, Hackathon Globo, which is hosted in the BBB program house, promotes the rapprochement of young audiences, culture transformation and a great brand experience. In this talk we will show the concepts and formats behind this event and share a little of the experience in those 4 years of Hackathon.
Speaker: Daniel Monteiro - R&D Manager - TV Globo
Electronic Engineer by UFRJ and M.Sc in Digital Signal Processing by Coppe / UFRJ, having the area of video compression as a research topic. He has been working in the Research and Development / Innovation area of TV Globo's technology since 2000, where he currently serves as the sector manager. In 2002 he worked in the research center of Japanese TV NHK conducting research with the H.264 compression standard, in the occasion in the stage of standardization. Passionate about new technologies and innovation management, with many years of experience in software development, today leads a creative team that conducts research and projects mainly in the areas of signal processing, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, computing, electronics and IoT.
The importance of challenge and co-creation for innovation
When we see the word “innovation”, we immediately think of breaking ground in state-of-the-art, with feats such as a cancer vaccine or water-powered cars – this is Innovation with a capital “I”. But there is also iNNOVATION with a small ‘I’, which involves solving our day-to-day challenges. This iNNOVATION relies for support on technologies that already exist, but which are no less complex. Advocate of the slogan “less is more”, digital iNNOVATION in many cases involves complexity that can be resolved using a cell phone application, for example.
PUC-Rio applies the challenge-based learning (CBL) methodology with lean co-creation cycles in which multidisciplinary groups explore opportunities and come up with transformational solutions for different industries. In this talk, we will share some of these challenge-based experiments and their results.
Speaker: Rafael Nasser - Technical Coordinator of the Information Technology Department of PUC-Rio
Consultant, researcher, professor and entrepreneur in the Technology field. He holds a degree in Computer Engineering, as well as a doctorate and a master’s in Information Technology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). Technical Coordinator of the Information Technology Department of PUC-Rio, where he is particularly dedicated to strengthening university-business cooperation and multidisciplinarity. He heads up the emphasis on innovation at different centers and initiatives at PUC-Rio, such as the Software Engineering Laboratory (www.les.inf.puc-rio.br), and the Legalite law and technology center (www.puc-rio.br/legalite), the Technological Innovation programs (e.g. www.globolabdados.com.br and www.puc-rio.br/insurtech) and the ECOA PUCRIO democratic, free digital education initiative (www.puc-rio.br/ecoa). His current teaching and research priorities include: Blockchain/DLT & Smart Contracts; Data Science & Artificial Intelligence; Internet of Things; and Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
The power of hackathons applied to internal teams
Based in Geneva, Switzerland, MCI is present in over 31 countries with 60 offices. In Brazil, where it set up in 1987, it has been serving the corporate events market with live, hybrid and digital experiences for creating inspirational solutions for their clients.
In a setting where we need to be connected to technology, innovation and the advances of the market in order to unite and enchant our audience all the time, organizing hackathons for the company’s in-house teams has been a strategic experience for fulfilling our mission.
Speaker: Ney Neto - Director of Innovation at MCI Brasil
Ney Neto had an early start to his career in the MICE segment at Maringá Turismo, in 1994, following a family tradition in which several relatives had worked in the travel sector. Geek and videogames fan, he has always been a technology enthusiast and had the chance to become involved in implementing systems such as Sabre and the event management and reporting tool, SMMP. A musician, bass guitar player and recognized producer of shows and festivals, he was one of the early talents to hook up with MCI in Brazil, moving from Alatur where he had worked as medical events manager, to the multinational agency specializing in conferences and events. Today, as director for innovation, he is the agency’s connection with the start-up and developer ecosystem Director of innovation and resident speaker at Campus Party, Ney is proud of his career where MUSIC, technology and creativity exist side by side.