hack_dif is a new global hackathon curated by the Disruptive Innovation Festival (DIF) team as part of its DIF Sparks season. Over 48 hours, teams of hackers over three continents will gather to collaborate and innovate, with the task of solving a real business challenge developed by hack_dif partners Cisco and Philips.
From 11 – 13 March, teams will base themselves out of three main hubs across the world: Cranfield University in the UK, MIT in the USA and the National Institute of Design in India. The three day event will be launched at Cranfield with a briefing from Ken Webster (Head of Innovation at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation) being live streamed across the globe.
Up to 18 teams of 4-5 people will hack, hustle and design their way to complete the challenge in time for final judging on Sunday 13 March. Their final submission, a 90 second video, will perfectly capture circular economy principles and answer the hack_dif question: How can connectivity enable users to help retain the value of products and close material loops?
A panel of judges, including Cisco and Philips, will select three finalists from each of the three locations across the world, to be put forward to global judging. On Tuesday 15 March two of the finalists from each location will win either a visit to Cisco’s Flagship Facility or Philips’ Digital Accelerator Hub. The overall global hack_dif winner will receive the opportunity to present their innovation to a global audience as part of the online Disruptive Innovation Festival in November 2016.
In parallel to the physical hack_dif, the DIF team will also run an open competition on Twitter, inviting a global online audience to answer the same challenge question. Participants will have video access to the introductory briefing by Ken Webster, and will submit their competition entries as a 30 second video on Twitter using the hashtag #hackdif. Entries will be judged by the DIF team, and winners notified via a reply to their original entry tweet. Prizes for the winner of the Twitter challenge will be a package of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s books on circular economy.
The hackathon follows the announcement this week that Cranfield University has launched the world’s first part-time executive MSc addressing the circular economy.
Follow the live feed during 11-13 March and find more information on hack_dif 2016 at thinkdif.co/hackathon, and on @think_dif and #hackdif
Updates and information on taking part in the Twitter challenge can be found at @think_dif and #hackdif
About Cranfield University
Cranfield University is a specialist postgraduate university that is a global leader for education and transformational research in technology and management.
About Cranfield University
Cranfield University is a specialist postgraduate university that is a global leader for education and transformational research in technology and management.
