Innovation and Hackathons: Starting a Program that Ensures Relevance in Your Industry

Have you ever had a dream, idea, or passion to inspire change in your organization? Innovation and hackathons seem to be all the rage these days-they're all over the Internet as ways to transform your business. This industry talk will discuss how a stodgy Midwestern EPCM (engineering, procurement, and construction management) organization took the leap of faith with a first hackathon in 2014, going on to make the hackathon an annual event. Additionally, we'll review how we launched an innovation platform for every employee to participate in ideation, project definition, business development, and execution stages throughout the entire year, and how this program is now launching into regular hackathon sessions at each office in the organization. We will also discuss innovation tools and practices, including Adobe's Kickbox Canvas, Autodesk's LUMIAMI, and Wild/World analyzer.