Reinvent Business - A Special Hackathon - To Imagine, Design and Build the 21st Century Enterprise

Why this event?

The financial crisis, environmental crises, growing income disparity, unemployment, corruption, Occupy Wall Street, public resignation letters, etc. - the 'trust gap' between business and society is widening. Companies are facing a crisis of meaning, and they are challenged by a deficit of trust. They have developed global compacts, company values, codes of conduct, compliance policies, and entire corporate departments to foster social responsibility and encourage more values-based decision making. Yet we continue to witness near-term, siloed behaviours across industries that seem disconnected from society's needs.

Changing business from within

The need for a real understanding of the common human values that connect organizations and individuals is becoming ever more important. Transparency, inclusivity, inspiration, and organizational responsiveness are crucial in nurturing businesses' social fabric and facilitating empathy and collaboration. But the challenge remains: How do we translate these values into tangible, personal experiences? How can social technology unlock the human potential inside organizations?

Desired outcomes

Our goal is to develop practical solutions that allow companies and the people within them to make better decisions and exhibit behaviors that have a positive impact on our world.

To be clear: We don't expect this hackathon to produce any silver bullets, nor do we aim to “productize away” the deep and complex challenges of a moral economy and a more human enterprise. But we are poised to spawn a conversation by tackling concrete problem spaces that might inspire further-reaching, broader solutions.

The ideas and concepts coming out of the hackathon will be documented online and in print, and they will be promoted by all hosting parties.

Problem spaces

• Transparency and Accountability: How can we use open data to increase transparency and thereby foster corporate accountability and trust between companies and society?
• Empathy: How can dynamic communication channels put individuals in companies - from c-suite on down - in better touch with their customers' needs?
• Vision and Alignment: How can technology help organizations craft and uphold meaningful missions that are in touch with the passions of their people and society's needs?
• Actionable Codes of Conduct: How can software applications translate abstract company values and ethical principles into personal day-to-day decision-making?
• Collaboration and Empowerment: How can companies become open organizations that harness and build social capital both inside and outside of their institutional boundaries?
• New Success Metrics: How can technology help capture and measure metrics that redefine success and sustainability in the 21st century (e.g. meaning, happiness)?

Teams can choose a problem space they are passionate about, and ideate, design, and build a solution. They can select to work with APIs and existing data sets or ideate from scratch.

Who can participate?

Software developers, designers, filmmakers, gamers, marketers, storytellers, academics, business leaders, and anyone passionate about technology's potential to change business from within. Both individuals and teams from companies or non-profits are welcome.

Applications will close by May 25, and we will notify all applicants on a rolling basis. We will then also post the list of participants and their Twitter handles on this site. In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter (@Reinventbiz, #reinventbiz).

Judging criteria

The jury will consist of VCs, marketers, product designers, journalists, and leaders from business and academia. It will select a winning concept based on the following criteria (subject to change):

• Originality of idea
• Feasibility of implementation
• Likelihood of adoption
• Fidelity of code
• Possible impact and capacity to make positive change
• Storytelling

Prize

The winning team will receive a cash prize in the amount of $5,000, and free mentoring from design and innovation firm frog and from LRN, a company that helps to inspire principled performance in business.

Press Release

Creative Change-Makers Invited to “Reinvent Business” at Hackathon in San Francisco