---
tags: dribdat
---

} dribdat {
===

### Making sure that participation in hackathons matters!

:v: A new benchmark for open hackathons with purse & purpose.

#### _What need or problem are we solving for?_

On-location, virtual, or mixed, hackathons (intensive collaborations with strict time constraints) foster interdisciplinary collaboration, engage humans and machines in entertaining races, boost the skills and mindsets needed for the remote work generation, and are a breedingplace for memes and viral ideas.

As the [Open Era](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Era) allowed all tennis players the opportunity to make a living by playing tennis, the era of hackathons has widened opportunities for technical competition. [Hackathons for causes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackathon#For_a_cause_or_purpose) have increasing social impact and public interest around the world. [Open data hackathons](https://opendata.ch/events/), for example, have been a major factor enabling the adoption of government and institutional transparency agendas.

It's time to make hackathons pay - and pay off.


#### _Why should I care?_

In the same way that a diploma or donor card matters, participation and achievement in hackathons matters. Participants seek an environment for fair play which a human jury alone does not provide. Ensuring standards of conduct, non-discrimination, co-ownership, and acknowledgement, is not being done well today by many organizers - who have enough on their hands just with the logistics of it all.

##### Yeah, and?

People anticipate a highly augmented experience, which starts with awesome event apps and digital signage. Much of the non-technical creativity and ingenuity is lost when it is not actively digitized and showcased. And there is usually no reward system tied into the creative act itself. These are some of the gaps to address between the hopes and expectations that people have going into a hackathon, hackday or hacknight, and what they actually get out of one today.

:bulb:  :moneybag:

### No, rly, why?!

Improved opportunities for socially motivated hackathon participants and remote contributors are sorely needed in technical industries, which are rife with corporate turf wars, overuse of fear and hype marketing, deep issues with ethics and sustainability, and a severe drought of trust. It's sad.

Solutions created with [hacker ethics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_ethic) and modern technologies such as smart contracts and data packages will be the attraction of hackathons that are taken seriously by participants, and have a more positive impact on society at large. That's better.

These are fundamental motives for **} dribdat {** ..though having some proverbial bags of cash to distribute for the right reasons wouldn't hurt!

#### _How far along are we?_

Since 2015, we have had an open source web application in development, used by at least a thousand people across dozens of hackathon events. It is an alpha product, just sufficient to generate data points and incorporate many ideas about how to track, document, visualize and accelerate hackathons. People are increasingly asking to host their event on a better platform, and initial target customers are companies and non-profits with experience in hackathons, who want to improve their approach. [See the FAQ](https://github.com/hackathons-ftw/dribdat/blob/master/ABOUT.md#faq)


#### _Who are the cofounders?_

[@loleg](https://twitter.com/loleg) ([devbio](https://datalets.hashbase.io)) is a devloper with a prolific background who has been going to hackathons (or programming contests, as they were called back then) since he was a 'wee lad'. He is strongly encouraged and supported in this project by [@tamberg](https://twitter.com/tamberg) & [@gnz](https://twitter.com/gnz/)

Opendata.ch is the Swiss chapter of [Open Knowledge](https://okfn.org) on whose board Oleg serves, where multi-site hackathons were pioneered, and an association which connects to local and global open source and open hardware communities. This is where the project mostly lives today.

A number of other people have contributed code and time, and they are acknowledged in the [README](https://github.com/hackathons-ftw/dribdat#credits)

#### _Did we raise any money so far - if yes from whom?_

We have received bits of funding through corporate and non-profit users (around $ 20 K), and cooperated with the academic sector in pro bono exchanges with students and faculty. Our main supporter Opendata.ch organizes around 5 hackathons per year, and their activities cover the cost of hosting and maintenance of our largest installation at hack.opendata.ch and several subsites. The (mostly Swiss based) open source/data/hardware community has contributed time and ideas to the project. A lot of work has been invested by Oleg pro bono, or cross-funded through hackathon organizer fees.


#### _Are we currently fundraising, what does our planning process look like?_

We have set up an Open Collective to start involving the community in efforts to transparently sustain and further develop the project. This is where all future funding will go through and all major decisions coordinated: https://opencollective.com/dribdat

GitHub has been the home of the project, and that will probably not change in the near future. We use the issue tracking and project management tools to tackle bugs and improvement areas at https://github.com/hackathons-ftw/dribdat/projects

We have registered a dedicated domain (dribdat.cc), and started the process to set up a host company to administer the project. See https://dat.alets.ch

The project has started as an [industry](https://forum.opendata.ch/t/an-open-platform-for-documenting-hackathon-projects/156) partnership and has had several academic collaborations. Dribdat have been used to research the collaborative potential of hackathons, and to run student events. We have visibility in the local open source scene, and have reached out to similar projects internationally. In particular, see [Building capacity with HES-SO](https://forum.opendata.ch/t/building-capacity-hackathons-ftw/543) and [Hack4SocialGood with BFH](https://forum.opendata.ch/t/hackathon-as-a-method-hack4socialgood/498).

There are buckets of ideas and plans for the future that are the basis for our fundraising and interest drive. Developing hardware for monitoring and recording the creative outputs of hackathon events, pioneering instruments for onboarding and facilitation, ensuring authenticity and transparency of contributions, exploring mechanisms to connect design and collaboration platforms. [Click here to deck the pitch](https://hackmd.io/@oleg/HJB1jxAlI).

:palm_tree:

#### _How can I help?_

- **Join** the remote team and bring all this to the next level!
- **Teach us** what needs and markets and competition is out there.
- **Send tips** grants to apply for, or partners to try and work with.
- **Connect** this to people who could help assess the business case.
- **Put fuel on the fire**.

#### _Links and demos_

:ear_of_rice: https://dribdat.cc

https://hack.opendata.ch
https://now.makezurich.ch
https://db.schoolofdata.ch
https://digitallearninglab.ch

#### _Contacts_

:fire: [opencollective.com/dribdat](https://opencollective.com/dribdat)

:coffee: [github.com/hackathons-ftw](https://github.com/hackathons-ftw)

:loudspeaker: [forum.opendata.ch//hackathons](https://forum.opendata.ch/c/events/hackathons)

:calendar: please [book a time](https://calendly.com/loleg/hello) here

:incoming_envelope: [e-mail]