The rise of hackathon-led innovation in the MENA region: Visualizing spatial and temporal dynamics of time-bounded events

Abstract

Hackathons are poised to accelerate technological progress and redefine the technology innovation lifecycle. Time-bounded events have spawned a raw form of creativity that is rarely seen elsewhere in the digital innovation landscape. Efficient monitoring and analysis of data emerging from time-bounded events - and trends in the technology innovation process that emerge from encouraging developers, designers and entrepreneurs to go from the drawing board to a working demo - is of interest to both professional analysts and the general public. This research identifies the distinguishing characteristics of hackathons in the MENA region. It also introduces a visual analytics platform for uniquely identifying the technical, socio-cultural and contextual differences that define hackathon practices and the emerging hacking communities in the MENA region. The benefit of such understanding not only supports the continued growth of such activities in these countries, it also helps to disambiguate hackathon activities from other productive practices for software development, entrepreneurship and computing education.