Hackathons to Accelerate the Development of Low-Cost Digital Solutions

Digital developments undertaken as part of the academic research projects can be slow to be trialed and adopted industrially. These delays may be the result of lack of suitable early prototypes or insufficient industrial workforce engagement among other challenges. Here, these challenges are considered in the context of a research project that develops procedures for the deployment of simple, low-cost digital solutions by small manufacturers. This paper proposes a methodology that comprises the use of hackathons, laboratory demonstrators, and industrial pilot activities as a means of accelerating the use of solutions developed. In particular, it introduces hackathons as a means to quickly create cost-efficient digital solutions for manufacturing and argues how, in addition to speeding adoption, these could be seen as additional option to help prepare the future workforce.