“Hackathon” has become a trendy word in today’s business vernacular, and for good reason. The word “hackathon” comes from both “hack” and “marathon.” If you think of a “hack” as a creative solution and “marathon” as a continuous, often competitive event, you’re at the heart of what a hackathon is about. Hackathons enable creative problem solving through an innovative and often competitive structure that engages stakeholders to come up with unconventional solutions to pressing challenges. Hackathons can be used to develop new processes, products, ways of thinking, or ways of engaging stakeholders and partners, with benefits ranging from solving tough problems to broader cultural and organizational improvements. Let’s talk about what problems hackathons can (and can’t) address, how to curate the right cyber / data science / UI/UX crowd, and what new formats are in the pipeline.

[Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.]