Secrets of successful hackathons | CIO [Video]

CIOs must approach internal hackathons strategically to succeed in engaging technical talent, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and, most importantly, driving innovation and transforming culture.

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Typically associated with startups and small developer teams, hackathons are becoming increasingly popular with enterprise CIOs as a means for jump-starting innovation. But ensuring a hackathon produces tangible value for the business can be challenging.

And it starts with establishing a meaningful rationale for organizing one in the first place. Enterprises should not organize hackathons because they are in vogue or because leadership hopes to achieve vaguely defined results. They must have tangible and legitimate reasons for doing so.

[ Learn how to create a culture of innovation and the mistakes that can tank your innovation efforts. ]

Rock Tsai, CIO of Taiwan Mobile, a leading telco in Taiwan, says hackathons encourage innovation, especially among the IT team, which can sometimes be an innovation stopper instead of an enabler.

“[It was] the same in our …