VIRAL: Project partners turned their experience into a guide on organizing hackathons

Technology is improving rapidly finding its appliance in almost all segments of the modern society, including education. Common educational models are often enriched with extracurricular activities based on technology, and student competitions are very popular tool which provides students practical experience and strengthening business and soft skills. One of the most often organized competitions is hackathon, which is also a focus of partner institutions that jointly implement the VIRAL project co-funded by Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
Years of experience gained through the work with startups and IT experts, as well as through the organization of various student business competitions and hackathons held in the previous period, four regional partner institutions turned into a textual and video guide on organizing hackathons. INTERA Technology Park, together with the colleagues from Innovation Center Banja Luka, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center Tehnopolis and Montenegrin Association for New Technologies, created a brochure and video material intended for all organizations which want to enrich their activities by organizing student competitions, particularly hackathons.

Detailed guide contains an introduction into history and terms of hackathons, as well as the most popular types and the most common target groups, but also key steps needed to be taken to organize competitions at a high level of quality. There is a special section dedicated to the experience of project partners, including regional and European partner institutions, with a focus on activities of higher education institutions and the success of their students achieved on international competitions. Created materials serve as an introduction into activities within the VIRAL project, including the organization of hackathons which will be held in universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. Higher education institutions, involved in the project, with the support of mentioned organizations, in the following more than 20 months will provide their students added value and opportunity for strengthening different skills.
Coordinator of the VIRAL project is the University of Banja Luka and, in addition to INTERA Technology Park and the above mentioned partners, project is implemented by University of Mostar, Džemal Bijedić University, University of Tuzla, , Bijeljina University, Donja Gorica University, Wageningen University & Research, University of Maribor, University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Agro voće d.o.o., Jafa komerc d.o.o., 13. jul Plantaže a.d., and Western Balkans Institute.