A “hackathon” is a computer-programming event in which volunteers work intensely in small teams for a short amount of time to develop a program prototype. These events became widespread during the 2000s as software companies and venture capitalists used them to “quickly develop new software technologies, and to locate new areas for innovation and funding” (Briscoe and Mulligan 2014, p.4). Due to their great impact, similar activities have been organized in several other disciplines, including education (Artiles and Wallace 2013), bioinformatics (Trainer and Herbsleb 2014), marketing (Calco and Veeck 2015), healthcare (Aungst 2015), Big Data (Gould 2014), and dance composition (Briscoe and Hon 2014).

The most common elements that characterize hackathons are: (a) participants are organized into small groups that work intensely (sometimes around the clock), (b) a short time frame in which the project is taken from concept to prototype, (c) a centralized location where teams meet, work, and share resources and (d) support (technical, food, mentoring, etc.) provided by organizers and sponsors.