This time on Friday the 13th ! I was heading into the unknown. Been there before, but it always feels a bit weird. The uncertainty of doing something you haven’t done before still touches you the same way it did on your first day at school. The concept of a hackathon was something computer geeks used to do in the Silicon Valley. Here I was a non computing person on my way to a hackathon in London. Anyway, I finished off my Friday afternoon meetings made my to the Rain Makers Loft just off Tower Bridge. It was quite pleasant walking across Tower Bridge.
This hack was focused around the Finance Sector, i.e. Banks and other bodies who worked with flows of cash. And, the Techy sector, i.e. how do you use tech to solve some of the Sectors’ problems. I finally made my way into the building with my lunch still with me. It was 5.30pm. After going through the formalities of registration and the usual find the right room stuff. I found a quiet space and made the most of my lunch. Anyway, the moment didn’t last long and I was back in my zone. Phase 1 - network and get a feel of who everyone else was. Phase 2 - find a project / team and then Phase 3 - deliver value.
The event started by bringing us together and helping us break the ice. We formed small teams and generated innovation on the stop. My temporary group came up with the idea of using Virtual Reality. We looked at how to make the experience of going to an art gallery more fun - putting it mildly. We then heard pitches from the various projects and formed formal teams. It didn’t matter how often they highlighted the formalities it just seemed to go straight over our heads. I feel we were more interested in self organizing and just getting on with things. By the way the Virtual Reality ideas we played around with were useful to a client of mine. They are currently disrupting the art world -- artFixLondon .
The event was structured so that Finance Sector companies highlighted their concerns. After Pay, My Order, Master Card, Lloyds Bank, Open Bank and Rabo Bank to name a few. They allowed us access to their knowledge base, customer data - where appropriate, etc. This helped us to come up with solutions they could use to support their real life business concerns. The project I took an interest was Easy Pay. Here we looked at using Instant Messaging to transfer micro payments among users ofeWallets. By having access to the code from Master Card, After Pay and My Order we were able generate a more precise solution. We are now looking to commercialise with the support of the sector.
A weekend full of intense focused work in an open innovation environment was really something worth while. I am now looking to cross apply the hack philosophy to other areas to encourage the take up of open innovation.
How about you - What are your experiences with Open Innovation ?
The event started by bringing us together and helping us break the ice. We formed small teams and generated innovation on the stop. My temporary group came up with the idea of using Virtual Reality. We looked at how to make the experience of going to an art gallery more fun - putting it mildly. We then heard pitches from the various projects and formed formal teams. It didn’t matter how often they highlighted the formalities it just seemed to go straight over our heads. I feel we were more interested in self organizing and just getting on with things. By the way the Virtual Reality ideas we played around with were useful to a client of mine. They are currently disrupting the art world -- artFixLondon .
The event was structured so that Finance Sector companies highlighted their concerns. After Pay, My Order, Master Card, Lloyds Bank, Open Bank and Rabo Bank to name a few. They allowed us access to their knowledge base, customer data - where appropriate, etc. This helped us to come up with solutions they could use to support their real life business concerns. The project I took an interest was Easy Pay. Here we looked at using Instant Messaging to transfer micro payments among users ofeWallets. By having access to the code from Master Card, After Pay and My Order we were able generate a more precise solution. We are now looking to commercialise with the support of the sector.
A weekend full of intense focused work in an open innovation environment was really something worth while. I am now looking to cross apply the hack philosophy to other areas to encourage the take up of open innovation.
How about you - What are your experiences with Open Innovation ?
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