Sparks for Innovation - by Maciej Ryś (Hardcover)

About the Book

Maciej Ryś--a hackathon leader and scholar with extensive experience in the field--offers a step-by-step guide to organizing successful hackathons and understanding their dynamics.

Book Synopsis

Hackathons--participatory gatherings in which people with various backgrounds and experiences come together to address a challenge or create something new in a limited period of time--have become an important part of today's technological, social, and business landscapes. They originated in IT and have since spread into other fields including medicine, law, biology, environment, education, and civic engagement. How and why can hackathons drive innovation? How can they challenge the status quo? What role can they play in an organization's strategy? Under what conditions are hackathons most effective, and what are their limitations?

Maciej Ryś--a hackathon leader and scholar with extensive experience in the field--offers a step-by-step guide to organizing successful hackathons and understanding their dynamics. He examines the evolution of hackathons from niche programming marathons to versatile platforms fostering technological advancements, entrepreneurial ventures, and social change. Drawing on extensive research, including observations and interviews from dozens of events worldwide, this book provides data-driven insights into the hackathon ecosystem. Ryś shares practical lessons for organizers, participants, and mentors ranging from planning to inclusivity and sustaining momentum afterward, emphasizing both individual and group levels. Readers will learn how to build better hackathons that attract more participants, and they will gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics of innovation. For both hackathon veterans and those new to the field, Sparks for Innovation helps readers develop new skills, discover new possibilities, and achieve new breakthroughs.

Review Quotes

Sparks for Innovation effectively combines the subject of hackathon practice with a teaching and research approach. Maciej Ryś's practical compendium presents complicated processes in an accessible and comprehensible way, examining both successes and challenges from an objective perspective.--Tomasz Skica, head of the Department of Entrepreneurship, University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszów

Anyone interested in learning how to drive creativity and innovation in a fast-paced world should read Sparks for Innovation. Drawing on thousands of hours of observation and research, Ryś demystifies how hackathons accelerate ideas to market-ready innovations and provides practical resources for organizers.--Jeanette Falk, Aalborg University, hackathon researcher

Ryś goes beyond offering simple and inspirational steps for setting up a hackathon. Sparks for Innovation delves into the underlying mechanisms that make hackathons innovative tools for creating new inventions and innovations. A rich and unconventional work.--Pawel Krzyworzeka, Kozminski University, coauthor of How to Be an Ethnographer

About the Author

Maciej Ryś is a lecturer at the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszów, Poland. He has been involved in more than one hundred hackathons with tens of thousands of participants from all over the world. Ryś is the founder of Smogathon, a global initiative combating air pollution through technology, and HackYeah, one of the largest hackathons in the world.