International Journal of Information Management 69 (2023) 102472

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Journal of Information Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijinfomgt

Research Article

Digital innovation and entrepreneurship transformation through open data

hackathons: Design strategies for successful start-up settings
Fotis Kitsios *, Maria Kamariotou
Department of Applied Informatics, University of Macedonia, 156 Egnatia Str., 54636 Thessaloniki, Greece

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The organization of open data hackathons or digital innovation competitions is a significant opportunity for
Entrepreneurship ecosystem nascent entrepreneurs to collaborate with external partners, promote new ideas and extend their applications to
Start-ups a new start-up. Prior studies have not thoroughly compared the execution of different strategies in many
Digital technologies
hackathons or digital innovation competitions. They only focus on the actions that the organizers of a specific
Open data hackathons
hackathon have implemented or the challenges they have faced. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine
Innovation
goals and design strategies that contribute to the successful execution of open data hackathons and innovation
competitions. Six case studies of open data hackathons and innovation competitions held between 2014 and
2018 in Thessaloniki have been explored to understand the co-ordination between the multiple stakeholders of
these events and improve the execution of open data hackathons and innovation competitions. The outcomes
indicate that the most critical design strategy was the involvement of mentors in the event and the level of
support provided to nascent entrepreneurs to accelerate their creativity, develop applications and launch their
prototypes on the market.

1. Introduction Rossi, 2014; Pappas, Mikalef, Giannakos, Krogstie, & Lekakos, 2018). In
the current literature, the advantages of entrepreneurs utilizing open
The innovation potential of digital and data-driven technologies has data have been identified. Open data helps them develop new business
emerged as a significant area of interest in recent years. In today’s models and boost innovation, profitability and competitiveness. Another
competitive context, entrepreneurs focus on learning how to exploit the benefit is developing innovative products and digital platforms built on
knowledge and potential value of open data to design and implement open data that increase innovation (Bresciani et al., 2021; Conradie &
innovation in products and services (Bresciani, Ciampi, Meli, & Ferraris, Choenni, 2014). Nascent entrepreneurs can use software to visualize
2021; Kallinikos, Aaltonen, & Marton, 2013; Zeng & Glaister, 2018). The data to make more effective choices in the creation of digital platforms
sharing of open data provides several opportunities for nascent entre­ for the public (Barrett, Davidson, Prabhu, & Vargo, 2015; Kitsios &
preneurs, and the use of data from multiple sources leads to the creation Kamariotou, 2019a, 2019b). Therefore, open data should be part of a
of new datasets, information and applications. Moreover, the use of open whole ecosystem to enable innovative products and services and
data increases innovation. It provides opportunities to application de­ improve the efficiency of existing businesses or public organizations
velopers, nascent entrepreneurs and businesses to collaborate and through the utilization of enabling platforms (Ayele, Juell-Skielse,
develop new business models based on open data for economic and Hjalmarsson, Johannesson, & Rudmark, 2015; Pope & Greene, 2003;
social gains (Bresciani et al., 2021; Sadiq & Indulska, 2017; Zuiderwijk Rosell, Kumar, & Shepherd, 2014). Their involvement in open data
& Spiers, 2019). hackathons is an essential opportunity for public institutions and com­
The value of published data is not only for public organizations, but panies to cooperate in order to create a win-win scenario for them.
this value is distributed by all the actors of an open data network. These Open data hackathons or digital innovation competitions are events
actors may be public sector organizations, data providers, service and where people from various sectors collaborate to build platforms that
infrastructure providers, businesses, developers, research centers and will provide benefits to the public, creating a win-win scenario for all the
academic institutions and nascent entrepreneurs (Lindman, Kinnari, & actors involved. In the hope of promoting digital services, which could

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (F. Kitsios), [email protected] (M. Kamariotou).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2022.102472
Received 23 February 2021; Received in revised form 10 January 2022; Accepted 12 January 2022
Available online 17 January 2022
0268-4012/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
F. Kitsios and M. Kamariotou International Journal of Information Management 69 (2023) 102472

be the fundamental element of developing new start-ups, government (Schneider & Spieth, 2013; Spieth, Schneckenberg, & Ricart, 2014).
agencies coordinate such events. This is an outstanding way of growing While innovative business models positively influence the performance
entrepreneurship (Komssi et al., 2014). In this way, developers could of entrepreneurial firms, a better understanding of the phenomenon is
extend their applications to a new start-up as they can efficiently required (Foss & Saebi, 2017). Therefore, hackathons offer significant
collaborate with the help of organizers because they have access to the opportunities for nascent entrepreneurs to use technological resources
required infrastructure in terms of increasing entrepreneurship, and and collaborate with many stakeholders (individuals, government,
hackathons can be an excellent experience as nascent entrepreneurs businesses, institutions, etc.) to innovate and create value, products and
cooperate with external partners to promote new ideas (Zhao, Sun, & services (Bacon, Williams, & Davies, 2019; Bresciani et al., 2021).
Xu, 2016). Unfortunately, many applications produced in hackathons Hackathons are internal or external events including various goals or
are discarded only by providing access to open data that is not enough to implementation processes, including essential attributes and structure,
boost economic benefits (Ayele et al., 2015; Frey & Luks, 2016). where small teams collaborate to develop digital prototypes in a
Given the popularity of hackathons, prior studies have not thor­ restricted measure of time. The critical subject of hackathons is tech­
oughly concentrated on the planning and assessment processes of these nology, and individuals are spurred to participate in these events to
competitions (Alba, Avalos, Guzmán, & Larios, 2016; Komssi et al., collaborate with new teams and get familiar with technological ad­
2014; Rosell et al., 2014). Scholars have not compared the execution of vancements. Internal hackathons are coordinated by organizations that
different strategies in many hackathons or digital innovation competi­ intend to help teams create novel ideas in software engineering. These
tions. They only focus on the actions that the organizers of a specific hackathons are innovative-oriented because they center around the
hackathon have implemented or the challenges they have faced. In creation of novel ideas. Hackathons are typically technologically ori­
addition, these researchers have concentrated only on executing these ented, but this does not preclude from developing prototypes based on
contests overlooking the design strategies that lead to their success. hardware. There are likewise different classifications of hackathons,
Moreover, these factors have not yet been explored in open data, even relying upon application type, on API or language utilized or on the
though researchers concentrate on them because they influence the demographic attributes of the attendees. Another type of hackathon is
decision of nascent entrepreneurs to build a start-up (Lee, Almirall, & civic or socially-oriented hackathons. The key purpose of this type of
Wareham, 2015; Rosell et al., 2014). The main research question of this hackathon is to enhance digital services for citizens (Adamczyk, Bul­
paper is: How can hackathons and innovation contests be organized to linger, & Möslein, 2012; Komssi et al., 2014).Krishnamurthy and Awazu
achieve specific goals? Information about how to organize a hackathon (2016) mentioned that civic hackathons are time-restricted events
can be easily found online, but most of these data does not present the where employees from public organizations, businesses and citizens
perspectives of different stakeholders involved in these events does not cooperate to create digital services that enhance citizens’ life. Civic
consider the continuation of hackathon projects afterwards. Further­ applications based on open data increase civic engagement, innovation
more, studies do not compare hackathons across different design ele­ and create economic and social value. Rosell et al. (2014) highlighted
ments to assess their success regarding to the intended goals of the that hackathons give numerous chances to organizations, since they can
events. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine goals and design evaluate their new products and services and create novel ideas. The
strategies that contribute to the successful execution of open data technology which is viewed as being given to attendees is a solid
hackathons and innovation competitions. Six case studies of open data inspiration to participate because they will gain some useful knowledge,
hackathons and innovation competitions held between 2014 and 2018 and teams are stimulated to create new platforms.
in Thessaloniki have been explored to understand the co-ordination According to existing literature, organizers use three main stages to
between the multiple stakeholders of these events and improve the host a hackathon or an innovation contest. In the first stage, organizers
execution of open data hackathons and innovation competitions. In this need to identify the objectives and goals of the event. At that point, they
article, we examine several goals around which a hackathon or an need to announce the competition through social media, emails, posters
innovation contest can be hosted, and then some of the design strategies and send invitations to enhance engagement. The third stage in­
that can be implemented to achieve such goals. Our discussion is based corporates tasks regarding the planning of the competition (or example
on our empirical studies of six hackathons and innovation contests, technical resources, software libraries, APIs, Wi-Fi access, networking
including different types of events. Multiple stakeholders who have facilities, physical space, small breakout conference rooms, and the lo­
participated in these events provided their experience about the main gistics of the contest). As all hackathons have a prize for winners and a
challenges, obstacles and barriers in organizing these events. set of criteria, these must be identified in this stage. Finally, the members
The structure of this paper is the following. The first section presents of the jury committee that will assess the new digital platforms and the
a brief introduction to the area and demonstrates the significance of this sponsors that will support winners must be invited (Kitsios & Kamar­
study and the research gap. The second section presents the theoretical iotou, 2018; Zuiderwijk, Janssen, Poulis, & van de Kaa, 2015; Zuider­
analysis of the paper. The third section introduces the methodology wijk, Janssen, & Dwivedi, 2015).
used, and the fourth section discusses the outcomes of this analysis. Specifically, Rosell et al. (2014) suggested a model which includes
Ultimately, the final section concludes the paper and suggests avenues six activities to design a hackathon. The first one refers to the definition
for future research. of goals and objectives of the hackathon. The second activity includes
the promotion of the event. The third activity describes the time plan of
2. Literature review the event. The fourth and fifth activities refer to technical resources that
are necessary during the hackathon. Finally, the sixth activity includes
2.1. Organization of open data hackathons the preparation of networking facilities and small breakout conference
rooms. Komssi et al. (2016) presented a model which contains three
Business model innovation literature has become an important activities to organize a hackathon and the last activity is not included in
research area in recent years. Business models are critical aspects for the previous model. In the first activity, organizers invite participants to
entrepreneurs in order to create and deliver value to customers. An register to the hackathon and describe their entrepreneurial ideas. The
innovative business model can be a source of competitive advantage for second activity refers to resources that are necessary during the hack­
different ventures (such as start-ups) and support them to transform athon. The last activity includes post-hackathon events where partici­
processes, products or services to increase value (Zott, Amit, & Massa, pants have to find funders to expand their ideas and develop innovative
2011). Business model innovation is a source of value creation and products or services. In this view, Alba et al. (2016) presented a model
competitive advantage, and it is essential to understand the challenges which is similar with the previous one. However, he highlights to the
that represent changing the key elements of a firm’s business model definition of goals and objectives of the hackathon in the first activity.

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F. Kitsios and M. Kamariotou International Journal of Information Management 69 (2023) 102472

The second activity refers to marketing campaign to promote the event. purpose of each event. Furthermore, post-hackathon events are useful
The third activity includes processes regarding to the execution of the for participants to find funding and expand their ideas. Support provided
hackathon and the fourth activity contains post-hackathon events for by the organizers of these events is important and help participants
participants. develop a network in order to face challenges and barriers and develop
The prototypes that are created during competitions remain the innovative products or services. Many events have been implemented in
property of the developers. They have the chance to offer them to citi­ several cities to enhance innovation and entrepreneurship. During these
zens or potential customers once the event is finished. For example, events developers have the opportunity to gain prizes to develop their
Hielkema and Hongisto (2013) mentioned that in Helsinki, there are platforms. However, these events are only good in locating the best
sales channels for mobile platforms and online markets (e.g. iTunes and solutions and providing initial support for promising startups. Orga­
Ovi Store) which support the developers of mobile platforms to sell their nizers of hackathons do not provide a sustainable way to developers to
applications without huge costs in distribution and permit practically expand their concepts and launch their platforms into the market on a
unlimited upscaling of the utilization of digital services. In particular, long-term basis. However, existing studies did not discuss the perspec­
Juell-Skielse, Hjalmarsson, Johannesson, and Rudmark (2014) imple­ tives of multiple stakeholders who participate in these events to un­
mented a survey of attendees of an open data hackathon, and they derstand the co-ordination between them and to improve the execution
highlighted that, notwithstanding the fact that over 80% of participants of open data hackathons and innovation competitions. Therefore, in this
wanted to expand their applications further, just 33% had accomplished paper our analysis is based on case studies of six hackathons and inno­
the development after the event. This could be disclosed because of the vation contests, including different types of events. Multiple stake­
restricted help to participants by organizers after the competition. Lee holders who have participated in these events provided their experience
et al. (2015) asserted that when organizers of open data hackathons are about the main challenges, obstacles and barriers in organizing these
informed about participants’ motivations, they could include investors events to increase the level of their success.
and venture capitalists among the jury committee members. Besides,
they could host contests and closing ceremonies that elaborate on po­ 3. Methodology
tential funders. In this manner, participants will have numerous possi­
bilities to broaden their prototypes because they can present them in A case study is an approach that aims to present an understanding of
real-time, discuss their attributes and get sponsorship. the dynamics based on a single setting. This approach involves either
single or multiple cases and combines either qualitative or quantitative
2.2. Individual motivations and objectives data collection methods. This approach has been implemented because
little is known about the design strategies implemented in hackathons or
The current motivations for attendees who engage in innovation innovation competitions (Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007; Eisenhardt,
competitions are the integrity of the judgment method, collaboration, 1989; Lee, 1989).
training, and new knowledge (Rosell et al., 2014). Also, factors that In this paper, the case study approach aimed at selecting cases that
inspire attendees to participate in innovation competitions and convince vary from context to context includes groups that serve various roles in
them to pursue ideas that require high market technical uncertainties Thessaloniki’s hackathons and can evaluate the execution process
may be fun, intellectual challenge, enjoyment, status and reputation, within each hackathon and how design choices impact their
professional and personal identification, empowerment, learning and performance.
skills growth, funding, extrinsic reciprocity, user need, signaling and Interviews were conducted with the actors participated in hack­
career opportunities (Adamczyk et al., 2012; Immonen, Palviainen, & athons and innovation competitions held in Thessaloniki. The standard
Ovaska, 2014a, 2014b; Komssi et al., 2014). duration of each interview was 53 min with a scope of 45–60 min. The
Nevertheless, individuals who engage in open data hackathons or interview protocol is presented in Appendix. Participants in hackathons
innovation competitions are faced with several difficulties that incom­ were chosen because digital contests are events where individuals create
mode the utilization of open data. These difficulties are connected to the teams to cooperate and develop digital services and platforms for the
lack of technical readiness to use data sources due to complex data public (Ayele et al., 2015). Therefore, these actors can give data con­
formats or interfaces, ambiguous authorization of open data, techno­ cerning collaboration between them and create platforms and digital
logical barriers to data publishing platforms, lack of local data and services using open data (Soltani, Pessi, Ahlin, & Wernered, 2014;
utility of open data, the willingness of users, application developers and Walsham, 2006). Fig. 1 presents the actors who participated in these
companies to take advantage of open data opportunities to use data and events and summarizes the main activities of each one.
create digital applications. According to Jaakkola, Mäkinen, and Data providers are either organizations that provide data “for free”
Eteläaho (2014) and Kitsios & Kamariotou (2019b), other difficulties without any limitations or with some licenses. Organizations that
include legal problems, like data that is not ceremonially opened by the distribute data “for free” are the local government or other public en­
owner’s decision, the lack of good data sources for application purposes, tities that have a vast amount of data but no ability or resources to use it
the lack of data quality and the lack of accessibility of local data sources to develop services. These organizations distribute data to improve the
for application development. To use open data, literacy, experience of national economy, involving businesses and citizens in exploiting data.
users, citizens and companies, and government maintenance are Data already processed can be bought directly from data providers when
required (Pope & Greene, 2003). Moreover, Juell-Skielse et al. (2014) service providers cannot perform the data procession task by them­
point out that the most critical obstacles facing organizers and partici­ selves. Therefore, to provide services, providers have to recognize cus­
pants in hackathons are insufficient time or funds, the lack of promo­ tomers’ needs, produce data from input (data) to a particular context or
tional integrity, the lack of external support, the lack of data, the domain and represent the produced data in a usable way.
difficulty of licensing API’s and other services, the lack of partner Service providers do not essentially offer a complete service for end-
collaboration for technical development, the lack of technical expertize users. They can provide them with a part of a service chain, though.
and innovation experience, barriers to current service-dependent plat­ Infrastructure and tool providers provide other participants in hack­
forms, the high market competition and challenges in identifying qual­ athons with the necessary tools, support them and receive revenues from
ified colleagues. the use of services and applications. Application developers collaborate
To conclude, many models have been suggested and include several with the participants of hackathons to create innovative applications out
activities to organize a hackathon or an innovation contest. There are of open data usage. At the same time, by using applications and services
differences among models. For example, the definition of goals can be a developed based on open data, users consume them. In addition, ICT
significant process because participants will be informed about the experts, companies and mentors should participate in innovation

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F. Kitsios and M. Kamariotou International Journal of Information Management 69 (2023) 102472

Fig. 1. Actors participated in open data hackathons.

contests to help developers expand their concepts into platforms or

services which meet citizens’ needs and gain revenues from them. Thus,
end-users can be classified as consumers, citizens or enterprise users.
The key themes of interviews that are presented in the next section
refer to the description of each event, the role of each stakeholder, the
design strategy of each event and the challenges that organizers and
participants face. Fig. 2 presents the main themes of the analysis.

4. Results

The events examined were “Hackathess”, “Apps4Thessaloniki” and,

“Apps4thessaloniki tourism edition”, all coordinated by the Municipal­
ity of Thessaloniki in collaboration with the Greek Open Knowledge
Foundation (OKFN) and the Urban and Regional Innovation Research
unit. The “Afixis Hackathon” organized by the NGO Afixis was also
analyzed. Finally, two hackathons were held by universities in Thessa­
loniki; “Let’s have a Hackathon!” was coordinated by the Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki, and the University of Macedonia organized
“Datathon 2018′′ . In each event, 11–25 teams containing 2–4 de­
velopers/students took part and created their projects. Table 1 presents
the design strategy for each hackathon.
According to the data provider, the portal of the municipality is used
by data providers as a channel of communication to make data available.
Although this is a common solution, it should be improved because the
portal where the data is published is not clear. In addition, the service
Fig. 2. The main themes of analysis.

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F. Kitsios and M. Kamariotou International Journal of Information Management 69 (2023) 102472

Table 1
Design strategy.
Hackathon Organizers Design strategy Organizers’ goals Participants’ goals

Hackathess Municipality of Organizers built a forum for registering citizens and The creation of new applications based Win prizes
Thessaloniki submitting their ideas that could motivate on open data in order to enhance the Seek an opportunity for project
developers to create new applications life of citizens continuation
Prizes for winners
Mentors’ participation: Satisfactory communication
with participants
Juries: professionals, scholars, potential customers,
mentors, investors, senior managers of local
companies and members of the Municipality of
Thessaloniki
Developers had to
use open data published by the local community and
develop applications based on submitted citizens’
ideas
Apps4 Municipality of Organizers built a forum for registering citizens and The development of web and mobile Win prizes
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki submitting their ideas which could inspire teams to applications that enhance many Seek an opportunity for project
develop new applications functions of the Municipality and the continuation
Prizes for winners city
Mentors’ participation: Satisfactory communication
with participants
Juries: professionals, scholars, potential customers,
mentors, investors, senior managers of local
companies and members of the Municipality of
Thessaloniki
Developers had to
use open data published by the local community and
develop applications based on submitted citizens’
ideas
Apps4 Municipality of Participants had to create an application that would New prospects for tourists Win prizes
thessaloniki Thessaloniki serve the contest’s intent Tourists’ new encounters Seek an opportunity for project
tourism edition Prizes for winners Incentives for tourists continuation
Mentors’ participation: Satisfactory communication The competition offered the chance
with participants for winners to compete in a contest
Juries: professionals, scholars, potential customers, for startups at Tel Aviv
mentors, investors, senior managers of local
companies and members of the Municipality of
Thessaloniki
Developers had to
use open data published by the local community
Afixis Hackathon Afxis Participants had to create an application that would Creation of innovative educational Creativity and innovation
serve the contest’s intent programs for students
Small venture capital
Mentors in place
Juries: academics, companies and professionals
Let’s have a Aristotle Participants had to create an application that would Development of digital capabilities Learning
Hackathon! University of serve the contest’s intent Having fun
Thessaloniki Voucher
Certifications
Mentors in place
Juries: academics, companies and professionals
Datathon 2018 University of Participants had to create an application that would Generation of ideas and creation of Learning
Macedonia serve the contest’s intent applications for improving everyday Creativity and innovation
Certifications struggles Having fun
Mentors’ participation: Acceptable interaction with
attendees
Juries: academics
Developers had to
use open data

provider uses the OKFN portal to publish data. Application developers format of published data is static. Service providers develop tools to
use the Google store, the App Store or many European platforms to share data among the participants of hackathons. The technical char­
launch their applications. Developers highlight that the development of acteristics of data are not a barrier to increase entrepreneurial activities.
new websites is required to provide datasets and tools which will be The most significant obstacle is the lack of education for users about the
useful for them: use of data, as a service provider states:

“The portal of the municipality is used by data providers as a channel of “We collaborate with academic institutions, research institutes and other
communication to make data available. However, the portal should be public organizations to provide data However, many users are not
improved because data is not updated. We use the Google store, the App knowledgeable of the value of open data. They ignore its significance for
Store or many European platforms to launch our applications. New entrepreneurship and innovation. Educational programs should be
platforms should be created to launch our applications”. developed to learn about the how to use and analyze open data to create
innovative platforms”.
Data is published in the following formats:.doc,.xls,.pdf and.jpeg.
Data providers aim to increase data quality and update it. However, the Application developers highlighted that they use open data to

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F. Kitsios and M. Kamariotou International Journal of Information Management 69 (2023) 102472

develop platforms, but they do not have significant value because data is broaden and monetize their applications.
not updated. In addition, they indicated that they should have access to Winners of hackathons organized by Greek Universities, on the other
more data, and their format could be improved, as the following hand, did not receive monetary compensation. A reason may be that the
developer states: developers did not create final solutions but rather prototypes. In these
instances, it is more challenging for winners to broaden their applica­
“We use open data to develop our applications but data the format of
tions and launch them into the market. Beginning with a design or
published data is static. Data is not updated. We are not informed of
prototype means further software development tasks may be required to
citizens’ requirements to develop innovative solutions for them and
create a solution with a minimal collection of functionalities and to
improve the quality of their lives”.
deliver it to customers. One winner participated in a hackathon orga­
The organizers of these competitions concluded that the duration of nized by a Greek University stated:
these competitions is 1–3 days. The organizers are responsible for
“We did not receive monetary compensation. We cannot expand our
organizing the competition (e.g. scheduling, physical venue, technical
prototype to final solution without funding. We need more resources.
resources, and logistics). Then, participants create their applications,
Collaboration with consultants and support from non-government orga­
and the members of the jury committee review them. Ultimately, to pick
nizations are also required”.
the most revolutionary prototype, the crucial part of each event finishes
with a final pitch in front of the jury committee members. The most Another reason may be that developers cannot develop entrepre­
innovative application should be further expanded to become a viable neurial activities because they do not have the appropriate tools. Many
product for potential customers: hackathons have been implemented in the city, but there is a lack of
entrepreneurial opportunities. The developers who have been involved
“We are responsible for organizing the event. Developers build their teams
in hackathons have developed business models for their services or
and create their applications. Then, the members of the jury committee
platforms, but they are not commercial. There is a need to boost
evaluate them. The developed applications are not a viable product, but a
entrepreneurship through hackathons, but the efforts which have been
prototype that only requires a minimum collection of main features and
implemented are limited.
must offer value to its prospective customers and enables acceptance as­
Many participants indicated that collaboration among the munici­
sessments. Mentors, businesses, startups, consultants, and academic in­
pality, research institutes, academic institutions, laboratories and or­
stitutions should participate in hackathons to support developers to
ganization of the private sector is necessary to provide more data to
expand their applications and provide funding to them to launch their
developers and enhance the entrepreneurial opportunities for their
services into the market”.
platforms. Data providers collaborate with academic institutions,
Organizers mentioned that there are several variations between research institutes and other public organizations to publish data and
hackathons in the planning process. Hackathess and Apps4 Thessaloniki distribute it to developers to develop their platforms. Furthermore, new
were civic and socially-driven. The Apps4 Thessaloniki tourism edition stakeholders can be involved in hackathons, such as new startups,
was a single-application hackathon. However, the last event was an infrastructure providers and intermediaries (consultants for application
innovation-jam hackathon. The developers used open data supplied by developers and startups). These new stakeholders can increase the
the local community to create solutions focused on this field. The or­ entrepreneurial activities of developers. Businesses and intermediaries
ganizers defined concept of each contest, and it was conveyed via the should be engaged in innovation competitions because they could sup­
event website to participants. The participants, therefore, had in mind port new platforms or digital services to be launched, and developers
the perfect solution. Developers have concluded their enrollment for could start new startups. Another significant stakeholder of the open
each hackathon or innovation competition, and then they built their data ecosystem is the non-government sector. This sector provides
teams in order to cooperate and create digital platforms. Developers consultative and administrative services to citizens, developers, gov­
with different skills and experiences cooperate, create a team and ernment agencies as well as other non-governmental organizations and
compete with other teams to generate new ideas, create prototypes and offers many funding options for the development of platforms or digital
develop new solutions. services based on open data for the local and national economy. The
The prototype is based on the needs of users and provides benefits to social value of open data aims to help developers create startups and
them, but, it also considers its commercial dimensions. Various abilities enhance networking and engagement of citizens in related decision-
and competencies are also essential and crucial to participating in making processes.
hackathons, internally or externally, for open-minded and hands-on The value of products based on open data has been increased and
individuals to create digital platforms. The developed applications are competitions support the development of these products or services that
not a viable product, but a prototype that only requires a minimum do not compete against a business’s products. Thus, open data is
collection of main features and must offer value to its prospective cus­ considered as an effective way to increase competitiveness. Therefore,
tomers and enables acceptance assessments. For developers, it is a sig­ companies’ engagement helps developers generate new ideas, visualize
nificant challenge to build a team that can cooperate reasonably in just a products and provide a new kind of essential function and new data-
limited period to produce valuable outcomes. based content. Although, these contests were successful and new ap­
As far as the winners’ prizes were concerned, organizers highlighted plications were created, an important finding is that organizers did not
that all competitions had a form of award for the winning team that was take feedback form participants to improve future events. Furthermore,
not the same in all events. In hackathons that the Municipality of The­ the organizing committee did not support the winners in trying to
ssaloniki has organized, the central part of each hackathon ends with a expand their applications and create startups. They should enlist men­
final pitch in front of a jury committee to select the most innovative tors to assist participants in obtaining funding and launching their ap­
prototypes, which should be further developed to become a viable plications to the market.
product for customers. In each jury committee experts, academics, po­
tential customers, mentors, investors, senior managers of local com­ 5. Discussion and research propositions
panies and members of the Municipality of Thessaloniki participated. In
addition, a wider audience, including other colleagues and test cus­ Hackathons are efficiently used as a modern means of coordinating
tomers, can be invited and involved in the iterative approach at the product innovation concerning new market demands and technological
beginning and the decision-making process at the end. In the Afixis developments thanks to their capacity to develop prototypes and
Hackathon, winners have accumulated a modest investment capital to determine their viability within a minimal timeline. Organizing a

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F. Kitsios and M. Kamariotou International Journal of Information Management 69 (2023) 102472

hackathon, nevertheless, requires cautious strategic preparation and platforms and services can be considered as an efficient tool to increase
acknowledgment of the objectives set for themselves and participants. networking between organizations of both the public and private
Thessaloniki’s attempts to organize open data hackathons have built sectors.
several obstacles to the effectiveness of handling them. The key barriers
Proposition 2. Organizers should fully realize the knowledge and
include the alignment of mechanisms. Besides, rather than having
insight creation potential of hackathon execution, develop explicit
developed applications, there are no powerful diffusion channels.
knowledge management mechanisms, and evolve their ability to exploit
Furthermore, data is not accessible via open standards or at no costs, and
this potential within the different phases of hackathons entirely.
as a result, software applications restrict access. Another significant
issue is that data is not disclosed in its initial form, is not modified, and is Organizers should realize the full potential of digital technologies in
not presented in an accessible format. Therefore, users are unable to tracking stakeholders’ needs and feedback instantly. In this connection,
verify the quality and usefulness of the data. A significant challenge, it has become fundamental for organizers to develop a transparent open
considering the technological barriers, is that many companies are not data-driven culture, strong corporate open data-driven values, and a far-
prepared to open data, and hackathon attendees can also create reaching, long-term open data-driven strategic orientation.
applications.
Proposition 3. There is not a single way of how to organize a hack­
In the existing literature, Immonen et al. (2014a) highlighted that
athon or an innovation contest, but the whole set-up must be defined
although the developers of applications could greatly benefit from the
specifically for the needs of each public institution and should even be
business opportunities of open data, the lack of value networks and
adapted for each specific use case.
business models has been highlighted as the significant challenge to data
utilization in services and applications. It is because of the weakness of The results of this paper share practical experience with academics
developers to use data to develop new businesses as well as of the lack of and researchers by providing new insights regarding to the preparation,
technical readiness in terms of using data sources related to complex the implementation and the evaluation of contests. The outcomes imply
data formats or interfaces that the mentioned challenges and problems a more robust impact which enables collaboration and commitment
usually stem from (Jaakkola et al., 2014). Furthermore, Immonen et al. between the actors in the city’s ecosystem towards reaching the goal of
(2014b) added that along with these issues, the difficulty of generating improving their quality of life. The findings expand the knowledge of
relevant data for application purposes, the insufficient access to regional how innovation contests are managed. Furthermore, they help re­
data sources to create applications or local services, the unclear searchers plan digital contests that meet the organizers’ objectives and
licensing of open data, legal issues, technical limitations regarding data help participants increase their entrepreneurial activity. Hosting hack­
publishing platforms, the guarantee of data quality and reliability, and athons is an excellent way for empowering and engaging citizens to be
finally the lack of availability and usefulness of local data could be aware of how their active involvement can positively improve the
attributed. quality of life in their cities by developing new applications. As more
These challenges are similar with existing research – see for instance open data hackathons are hosted in Thessaloniki and used as drivers of
Jaakkola et al. (2014), Juell-Skielse et al. (2014), Kitsios and Kamar­ innovation, organizers need to collaborate with universities, govern­
iotou (2019b) and Pope and Greene (2003) who argue that the most ments, application users and other actors of the city’s ecosystem.
critical obstacles facing organizers and participants in hackathons are
the lack of external support, the lack of partner collaboration for tech­ 5.2. Theoretical contributions and implications
nical development, and the lack of technical expertize and innovation
experience. They also highlight other difficulties such as legal problems, This paper makes original contributions in at least two different di­
like data that is not ceremonially opened by the owner’s decision, the rections. First, our analysis contributes to overcoming the diversity of
lack of good data sources for application purposes, the lack of data design strategies existing among the different paradigms of open data
quality, the lack of accessibility of local data sources for application hackathons. Based on our findings, we claim that a critical design
development, insufficient time or funds, the lack of promotional integ­ strategy is the recognition of the intent of each competition since it al­
rity, and the lack of data. lows participants to provide a reference to create their applications. This
design strategy may impact others, so that the consistent understanding
5.1. Research propositions and communication of each competition’s intent can be a win-win sce­
nario for both organizers and attendees. Previous researchers concluded
A number of research propositions are developed based on the to similar findings (Alba et al., 2016; Kitsios & Kamariotou, 2019; Rosell
literature review and the analysis of the interviews to guide future et al., 2014). They mentioned that it is necessary to define specific ob­
research concerning design strategies that contribute to the successful jectives and plan a professional hosting of the competition and follow-up
execution of open data hackathons and innovation competitions. activities to develop and launch a viable service for citizens.
Second, collaboration processes have to be managed by contempo­
Proposition 1. It is required for businesses, policymakers, citizens,
rarily harmonizing the needs and practices of different actors (in­
practitioners and developers to create strong collaboration to publish
stitutions, developers, companies, customers, public and government
and reuse data sets because they aim to gain digital services, platforms
actors, etc.). Collaboration with academic and research institutions and
and information from cooperative ventures.
other government agencies is vital for the publication of accessible data.
Developers play, in this context, a significant role among all the In addition, companies and consultants should participate in innovation
actors in the open data ecosystem. They have enthusiasm, and non- competitions to inspire participants to develop their ideas and create
government sectors or businesses often support them to develop digi­ services that meet citizens’ needs and raise funds from them. Previous
tal platforms and services based on open data. For companies, this researchers highlighted that these actors should participate in hack­
participation provides a significant chance to increase collaboration athons in order to help organizers in hackathons achieve their objec­
among public sector organizations, businesses and local governments to tives. Furthermore, the collaboration among these actors stimulates the
gain benefits from e-commerce ventures and associated collaboration development of valuable open digital services by developers who
networks. Open data platforms and services may aim to foster open and participate in hackathons (Hielkema & Hongisto, 2013).
cooperative governance. On the contrary, non-government organiza­
tions may aim to create new channels of public relations with citizens 5.3. Implications for practice
and the government, and they have the opportunity to use data sets and
make inquiries and assessments. Thus, the evolution of open data The findings of this paper have managerial implications for the

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practical design and implementation of hackathons by all the actors in point for future studies investigating the participants’ or organizers’
open data ecosystems. First, dialog and cooperation involving high experiences that will assist practitioners in analyzing how each one
levels of awareness of all the collaborative actors are required. Partici­ could be implemented because hackathons vary in intent, planning,
pants should have adequate sustainable skills and abilities to collaborate implementation and follow-up activities. In addition, related cases from
and develop prototypes focused on each event’s intent. Technical other cities or countries may be investigated to construct a compre­
expertize alone is not an adequate element that contributes to a hack­ hensive development process for hosting hackathons and generalize the
athon’s performance. To create an idea, extend it to an application, results of this article. Future researchers may also evaluate the perfor­
create a prototype and release it to the market, each group needs to mance of each hackathon during both the contest and even after the
collaborate effectively and develop a range of skills. In this connection, event. There are no results in the current literature concerning the
our findings suggest, the presence of mentors during the hackathon to satisfaction of organizers and attendees at the end of the competition.
facilitate participants developing their applications is another crucial The assessment of participants’ or organizers’ satisfaction could assist
design strategy that integrates with the preceding one. Mentors could be decision makers in determining and taking specific actions to maximize
scholars, professionals, experts or representatives of the public sector. the strong and weak points of the contests. Identifying the criteria that
Second, and closely related to the above, the collaboration between can evaluate a hackathon’s success is critical. This could allow orga­
academic institutions, research institutions and public community is nizers to prepare and execute each competition in a strategic way more
expected to disclose accessible data and to assist participants in the efficiently.
creation of their applications. Kitsios and Kamariotou (2019) mentioned The fact that many organizations are not willing to use open data
that winners should be encouraged by both mentors and jury committee may be the result of a variety of factors, such as the fact that the data
members to broaden their platforms and launch them into the market may negatively influences specific social groups, that there are no
after the contest. Awards, on the other hand, are not a critical design copyrights concerning the reuse of data that the legal framework offers
strategy that significantly influences a competition’s success. To launch from country to country and that the cost of data can be high. To in­
applications into the market, participants require investment funds crease users’, citizens’ and businesses’ experience of using open data, all
because hackathon prizes are not adequate. these entities should be educated. Also, education is necessary for data
Third, the organizers of hackathons may be interested in this article users to expand the capabilities of statistical techniques which are used
because they could be knowledgeable of the design strategies that in­ for the collection, analysis and visualization of data. But these efforts
fluence the successful execution and performance of these competitions. should be supported by governments. Future research must identify the
Practitioners focused on developing these design strategies will solve kinds of datasets that can attract developer interest and mitigate con­
organizational obstacles and accelerate creativity in competitions. In flicts in the value network, especially between the data publisher and the
addition, the findings of this article share the practical experience of service provider.
providing scholars and researchers with valuable perspectives on the We hope this study will stimulate future research to deepen the po­
planning, execution and evaluation of competitions. There is no one way tential for designing strategies to improve the implementation of hack­
to figure out how to host a hackathon or an innovation competition. athons. We also believe that an in-depth analysis could be a great help in
Still, the entire schedule must be explicitly specified for the needs of further clarifying the profound significance and potential of the design
each public organization and should even be adapted for each specific strategies of our analysis, as well as their empirically direct and indirect
use case, as also stated by Pe-Than et al. (2018). Furthermore, Juell-­ mutual relationships.
Skielse et al. (2014) noticed that despite the fact that the majority of the
participants planned to expand their applications further, only one third 6. Conclusion
had achieved the development, after the contest because the support by
organizers was limited. This challenge could be solved if organizers in The most significant finding of the analysis concludes that the active
open data hackathons were informed of developers’ motivations, and involvement of businesses and organizations of the non-government
involve entrepreneurs and venture capitalists as juries. Thus, developers sector and the collaboration among companies and developers lead to
could discuss about their applications, present them in real-time and get the evolution of new channels of communication where an emerging
funding when potential funders are engaged in closing ceremonies of field of open data intermediaries is emerging, radically altering the
digital contests. conventional channels of government change in an inherently digital
Fourth, companies should considering that data privacy and security environment. To achieve this goal, entities from the public and private
issues strongly affect the propensity of customers and other stakeholders sectors must collaborate, primarily by publishing official government
to be engaged within innovation processes, Companies should design, data sets, providing funding, educating citizens to participate in related
adopt and deliver open data communication and management policies open data-driven activities, sharing knowledge and technical tools, and
aimed at developing open data-based product architectures character­ creating networking opportunities that will aid in the launch of more
ized by high levels of modularity, flexibility, scalability, and integra­ open data-driven platforms, services, and startups in the city.
bility, and therefore suitable for increasing the amount of open data
directly generated from the product and service consumption spaces. Funding
Fifth, the results of this paper support practitioners who aim to
transform their business models to provide services that will increase This research did not receive any specific grant from funding
their competitive advantage. These companies aim to lead the way by agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
innovating new IT-enabled service models, such as developing software
as a service for their customers. Open data is central to delivering of Declaration of Competing Interest
these services through these new business models, which have impli­
cations for the structure and culture of firms, and their practices. Prac­ The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
titioners can be knowledgeable of how to provide and produce services interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
using open data. the work reported in this paper.

5.4. Limitations and future research direction Acknowledgment

The principal limitation of this paper is that it provides an overview The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their
of six hackathons conducted in Thessaloniki. It could thus be the starting valuable comments.

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