Maximising Hackathon Impact: A Comprehensive Framework for Sustaining Post-Event Outcome

Abstract

Since 2020, numerous guides and tools have been available for designing, planning, and running hackathons in fields such as software engineering, ICT, and healthcare. However, a substantial gap is observed in the post-event phase of hackathons' life cycle, directly affecting the sustainability of results. This bears significant implications for hackathon events per se, as well as for ecosystem stakeholders, in medium-term and long-term perspectives. This paper addresses the issue of low valorisation of hackathon-derived solutions and assists their direct exploitation. We aim to provide a framework for hackathon organisers, managers, policymakers, and intermediary bodies maximising impact of such events. To achieve this, we investigate the relationship between event-level success and ecosystem-level impact. We draw upon the practices and data from the ENTREPRENEDU project hackathons, a Horizon Europe-funded program coordinated by the E. Amaldi Foundation. This series of hackathons, held in three different countries, helped identify key aspects for further investigation and served as the groundwork to define/frame our research question. We conducted literature review, examining papers and reports to explore how hackathon-derived knowledge is valorised within entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems. Our research aimed to identify how the already known success factors of a well-designed event contribute to the sustainability of outcomes and assess their relationship. We link hackathon success indicators juxtaposed to relevant factors. While acknowledging the complexity and multifactorial nature of innovation process and knowledge diffusion, we believe that our study advances the potential for hackathons’ greater impact by providing a cohesive framework.