What comes to mind when you think of a ‘hackathon?’

Maybe a room full of computer programmers and developers pounding on keyboards while the audience cheers — just like in the movie The Social Network, where the guys in the dorm drink shots while they compete to become Facebook’s first intern or like the hackathon scene from Korean drama Start-Up.

Though hackathons are not so dramatic in real life, they are revolutionising how companies build teams, innovate and validate ideas. Inarguably, hackathon challenges are cutting the learning curve of a lot of developers and programmers.

The pandemic has forced hackathons to take the virtual route. As per market research firm BlueWeave Consulting, the global hackathon management software market is expected to touch $292.2 million by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 8 percent during the forecast period (2021-2026).

The advantages of an online hackathon platform/hackathon management software include:

• Less overhead costs (venue, transportation, staff, etc.)
• A larger and more diverse audience
• Expect better quality deliverables when the challenges go on for a longer duration.
• Improved chances of success using social media (sharing, reach and votes)
• Managing and coordinating with teams and participants becomes much more accessible.
• Community and brand building

Rise of ML ‘hackathon’ platforms

Machine learning hackathons are quite different from general coding or product-focused hackathons. Machine learning hackathons focus on building a tangible product with higher accuracy performance measurements, alongside training and comparing with existing models.

#developers corner #artificial intelligence hackathon #machine learning hackathon