The Hackathon Playbook

A hackathon is an event that brings together experts and creates a collaborative environment for solving a certain problem. This playbook is focused on data-driven, technical hackathons that aim to produce novel digital tools and prototypes, rather than non-technical events, such as those hosted by Policy Lab, which focus on ideation and systems thinking.

These hackathons should focus on bringing together data and expertise from within and across departments, linking together disparate datasets in novel ways to generate impactive insights or identify opportunities to improve government through technology and automation.

This playbook walks you through the key steps in running a hackathon. It is a set of guidelines/patterns that have proved effective, so feel free to vary according to your needs!

<aside> ⚠️ Do I really need a hackathon? Before you start planning, make sure a hackathon is the right answer to your challenge: they are open, collaborative events, that aim to rapidly crowd-source technical solutions to a specific theme or question. Do you have a narrow question (such as linking two datasets or forecasting an outcome), or a digital solution already in mind (like a new digital platform for your staff)? Consider a sprint or project instead! As a rule of thumb, if you already have a good idea what your winning entry might look like, then a hackathon probably isn’t the most effective way of getting to it

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Master Checklist

In a rush? Make sure you have the below done!

• [ ] A theme - policy or problem to focus on that will deliver impact
• [ ] A venue - make sure it's big enough for people to present, but also allows people to focus on work in teams
• [ ] A Senior Champion to excite, policy experts to inform, and practitioners to explain the data
• [ ] A senior panel of “dragons” to act as judges and pick your winners
• [ ] Datasets that have not been linked before, have not been available before, or have not been exploited in a particular way (this should be fun and exciting, not just redoing your day job!)
• [ ] Necessary data access thought through and agreed (ensure any legal or data protection challenges are covered)
• [ ] A broad mix of participants with the right mix of skills for your event, a way of ticketing and organising them into teams where they can complement each other (eg, by preferred programming language)
• [ ] An analytical environment where people can collaborate and work on their data (ideally using R, Python, or other open source tooling in line with best practice around government analysis)
• [ ] An end of hack event/panel with prizes and next steps!

<aside> 🔥 We’ve found a strong panel of senior judges and well laid out venue for your event are those tasks that are most crucial to do early: no matter how exciting your theme is, you’re not going to find a room for a hundred participants to hack in or be able to book a minister for an afternoon of judging if you ask from one week to the next! Make sure secure a spacious venue with a layout that suits your participants, and a mix of technical participants with the senior and technical “oomph” to judge and energise as early as you can.

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Before the Event