Hackathon: collaborative innovation at the service of technological challenges

A hackathon is a collaborative event in which programmers, designers, and other professional dedicated to software and hardware development take part, who over several days provide solutions to specific projects and challenges. These meetings, whose name comes from the words "hacker" and "marathon", are very popular in the university community and technology industry.

Hackathons normally last two days, although they can be from a few hours to several weeks. There are both in-person and online hackathons. In addition to learning and project development, the hackathon allows participants to meet professionals from other branches of the same field, collaborate with them, and generate valuable contacts.

The format of the hackathon (an intense activity during a certain period of time) promotes creativity and innovative solutions. This is also due to the way a hackathon works, since its format promotes collaboration and the emergence of ideas that could not be developed in other contexts.

Participants in the hackathon are divided into groups of two to five people, from different profiles and with a supervisor to develop the project, from a challenge or specific objective, or various. Through creative solution techniques, group members present their ideas and start working on a prototype that responds to the challenge posed.

Both the in-person hackathon and the online hackathon start with a welcome ceremony, in which the organizers set out the goal to be achieved with the event and give an account of the other parallel activities offered at the hackathon, such as conferences by experts.

In a two-day hackathon, in the afternoon on the first day, the teams already present how their prototypes are progressing, so that participants can share ideas with each other to enrich the work. At the end of the second day, with a more advanced prototype, the teams present their work to a panel of judges, who evaluate it and award the organization's prizes, which can be a reward or a collaborative project.  

At the end of the hackathon, the prototypes created will be exhibited, a final conference is offered as a summary, and usually to finish a networking activity is also carried out.

Given the advantages of organizing a hackathon, it's no wonder that companies like Google have been using them for years to find innovative solutions. Here are some of them:

• The organizing organizations find in the hackathon a formula to achieve innovative solutions to complex challenges different from usual, thanks to that in it people from different areas of knowledge and skills, with a heterogeneous profile take part, and to the dynamics of the meeting, which favors creativity and innovation.
• As a result, new technological projects arise from the hackathon to be developed in the field of business or research.
• The hackathon allows not only the development of projects, but also to enrich debate with the contributions from professionals in different areas. It also allows feedback to be obtained on products, services, or ideas, which can be very valuable in the technology industry.
• For people who take part in this type of events, the hackathon is a chance to learn from other professionals from their own or a different field, in a collaborative and practical manner, as well as increase their expertise and develop skills.
• Both for the participants and organizers, the hackathon is an occasion to strike up contacts with companies and professionals in the sector aligned on certain technologies or challenges. 
• For the organizing companies, these events are an occasion for attracting talent, and at the same time, participation in hackathons is an incentive for the résumé of professionals.

At Repsol, we are also aware of the benefits of the search for creativity and talent. It is for that reason that our company has launched its Competence Center for the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the first in Europe from an energy company, within its aim of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The facilities are in addition to other clear commitments of the organization for the promotion of these new technologies, such as HackIA, our AI case accelerator, through which in a short period of time both internal talent and partners and collaborators compete to achieve viable solutions to real business cases.

On the other hand, in March, the first Repsol Foundation University Challenge also ended with a hackathon with the aim of finding solutions for the energy transition. To address this aim in the Repsol Foundation hackathon, solutions were sought to the following challenges: 'Sustainable and decarbonized cities', 'Sustainable and decarbonized mobility', 'Circular economy as a driver for decarbonization', 'Sustainable and decarbonized industry', and 'Energy transition and society'.

The Repsol University Challenge is a national competition aimed at university and Master's students from different disciplines, who get a certificate for taking part in it and are eligible for one of the five 12,000 euro prizes for the winning projects.