Suggestions for future themes from Hackathon students
After the Hackathon we ask students to come up with suggestions for future themes. Below you find suggestions we have received. We really like their ideas and from those suggestions we have formulated possible perspectives to approach the main theme, which we will keep also for 2022.
Theme 2023
The project theme for the 2023 Hackathon will again be Sustainable Office and Modern Workplaces of the Future. The theme is as current and contemporary as ever and we will continue to investigate it from different perspectives. The objective of the project is therefore to identify and suggest a potential efficient, sustainable and productive office and workplace. The office and workplace can be a physical location for people or virtual space, or both.
With the increased need to find sustainable solutions, both social and economic, the workplace is one area where we will likely see a major transformation over the next 10 or so years. Many countries are striving to create dynamic and knowledge-based economies, and although we are well on the way, people still work in offices and workplaces that were designed decades ago and are often both inefficient and unsustainable. Simultaneously, we see a continuous increase in the use of information and communication technologies that in themselves have changed the way we work, by allowing us to be productive anywhere with an internet connection, at any time.
The economic pressures among organizations are also changing
the way we work, where the use of office space and its economic consequences
have changed the purposes, locations, and layouts of offices in many
organizations.
Today's emphasis on knowledge work and increased productivity has thus extended to the way we work, where we work and when. In recent years the focus has further changed to include sustainability as a critical aspect to consider when creating the "right" office and working space. The sustainability concept includes social, economic and environmental aspects. While closely connected and interrelated, an increase in one aspect does not necessarily mean an increase in the others.
Finally, since March 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, we have become even more aware of the fact that they way we work will never go back to normal - and we need to find a new normal.
Goals and Benefits
The overall goal of
this cross-cultural teamwork experience is to add value to your current studies
by exposing you to international work and research environments. Also, you will
gain insights and experience regarding the global workplace.
You will use your respective skills, education, and worldview when developing your team's solution(s) to the Hackathon project. For example, as an international HRM person, your part in the project is to look at the HRM perspective. That means that you need to focus on the human aspects of this project. If you come from a different field, for example engineering or international business, you use your knowledge and add to the team's total basis of experience.
Guidelines
The 24-hour Hackathon is scheduled (see schedule below) to take place between 16.00 (CET) on April 15th to 16.00 (CET) April 16th, 2021. The International Hackathon teams will consist of 4-6 students, each student coming from a different country. Each team can use different collaboration tools for co-working. The teams will receive instructions and will be introduced with evaluation criteria at the beginning of the Hackathon. As in many virtual global teams, you will encounter team building challenges as well as challenges related to time differences during the 24-hour project. The team will need to manage time, apply critical thinking concerning references and sources and demonstrate a capacity to synthetize the material into a coherent and compelling whole - a report. The team will, during the 24h Hackathon do presentations and write a report/paper. The paper must be based on relevant scientific literature from your different specializations/majors/subject areas. The paper will be based on secondary, or in some cases primary, data. During the 24h videos and presentation will be shown to inspire students and giving some new ideas and you will also present parts of your report via Zoom along the way to the final version. An international team of professors' will be organized in order to compose teams, create assessment criteria and evaluation of teams.
By participating in the Hackathon, you and your team members will profit from obtaining a real 'hands-on' experience regarding numerous important aspects of your fields of study. You will develop valuable skills in project management, cross-cultural communication, data gathering, analysis, problem-solving, and drawing conclusions as well as presenting their projects in an international context.