What is a Hackathon? Understanding the core idea

What is a Hackathon? Understanding the core idea Does hearing the word Hackathon, remind you of a hacker wearing a hoodie in the dark, facing his laptop? Does give you the vibe of tech bros being competitive and obnoxious? Well, you are not the only one who has that opinion. We at i4C are here to tell you about what Hackathons are really about. Hackathons are events where several teams of students or professionals get together to solve a particular set of challenges within a short span of time. The answer to these challenges can’t be ideas but proper solutions that are built, usually ending up developing software or an application. Origins of Hackathon: from Calgary to India The term ‘Hackathon’ is believed to be coined by Niels Provos of OpenBSD, in 1999, in Calgary, Canada. The event was for two days from June 4-6, 1999, where a group of 10 developers got together. Incidentally Sun Microsystems had a conference 15 days later, challenging developers to write a Java program for their new Palm V, a personal digital assistant. Since then, hackathons have been a staple in the tech community across the world. Today in India, thousands of hackathons happen every year. It is hosted by academic, corporate, and government institutions. i4C conducted India’s first hackathon in 2015 under the banner of Digital Pune Hackathon. i4C is the co-host & organizing partner of the Smart India Hackathon along with the Government of India. Smart India Hackathon is one of the largest hackathons in India. Every year, under 20 themes and 300+ problem statements are introduced. Each problem statement is a hackathon in itself. Purpose of a Hackathon The purpose of a Hackathon is to build a working solution (prototype or proof-of-concept) for a particular problem statement. The core ideology of a Hackathon is to build effective and implementable solutions to issues at hand. Hackathons are not just for the IT industry; they are for all industries. Since, all industries face problems or hindrances, finding solutions to resolve them is important. If solutions are not ready at hand, they need to be constructed. The true purpose of a hackathon is innovation. Innovative solutions are new only in the beginning but become normal soon. Constantly evolving is what keeps companies and industries alive. Who can participate in a hackathon Now, it gets interesting!! Hackathons are not always only for developers. Some hackathons also involve people from design, project management and subject matter experts. It is not just about coding and creating a solution. A hackathon is to simulate a real-world scenario where the solution built has multiple aspects. Developers build the software or the solution. Designers make sure the solution is user friendly and inviting. Subject matter experts provide domain knowledge for the solution. Project managers will work on timelines and schedules For example, if you are building a payment solution, the developers make sure the transactions happen and all transactions are accounted for. Designers will work on making the payment solution interface user-friendly and a pleasant experience. Subject matter experts will consult on providing knowledge about payments. Such as, the lifecycle of a transaction, information people should have access to about each transaction and much more. Finally, the Project Managers, breaks down the whole project into small tasks, assigns resources and timelines for each task and manages them. Types of Hackathons Today, hackathons are not just for corporate. Over the years, they have grown into providing prototype or proof-of-concept based solutions for various industries. Now we will talk about hackathons with respect to arrangement and not various themes of hackathons. Internal and External Hackathon Internal hackathons are from the organizations to its employees/ students. These are done to crowd source solutions or encourage solution developing. Since employees in each team will be working much closer, a deeper relationship develops too. Engineers/ engineering students would also get a chance to invest themselves in, other than just work or their studies. External hackathons are for the public. Anyone can register and participate in these kinds of hackathons. There are external hackathons for both corporate and academia. External hackathons builds community. External corporate hackathons can also be conducted to hire new talent. i4C co-hosts Smart India Hackathon, which is India’s largest external hackathon. 30000+ teams participate in Smart India Hackathon. i4C ensures the smooth flow of its operations from registration to announcing winners. Virtual and In-person Hackathon Hackathons usually are an in-person event. Teams get together, spend time planning, and build solutions for the hackathon. Venue is booked, food is arranged, people are bustling with energy. People also attend in-person hackathons to network. The only other time developers or engineering students can network is through conferences. Building relationships in the tech world is important, and in-person hackathons serve it. Hackathons are also great resume. As a student, it shows that you are serious about creative solution building, as a corporate employee it shows that you are willing to learn more or even have an entrepreneurial spirit. Winners are highly regarded and their fame soars in the tech community. Teams who do not win also learn a lot. Ushering creativity in a small amount of time and channeling it into productive solution is thrilling. Virtual hackathons are also picking up the pace. They solve the problem of a hackathon being bound by a geographical region, unless the hackathon is for a longer period of time. Networking can be difficult in virtual hackathons. Hybrid hackathons also exist. This allows participants to travel to the venue or join online and participate. How long are hackathons Hackathons have varying lengths of time. Depending on the difficulty of the problem statement, hackathons can range from 1 day to several months. Most hackathons range from 24 – 72 hours. They focus mostly on building a solution as soon as possible. These solutions are mostly the core of the software or the prototype. Smart India Hackathon co-hosted by i4C, goes through for months. Why hackathons are needed Hackathons are not

The Dynamic Hackathon 2025

The Dynamic Hackathon 2025 has reached an exciting milestone! With an
overwhelming response from students across India—550+ teams and 300+
innovative ideas submitted, we have officially entered the evaluation phase.