Questions and answers

What does “For Good” mean?
The aim of this hackathon is to prototype data-driven solutions for societal problems with a viable business model. For Good means that the solutions we aim for are beneficial for society. Challenge owners want to cocreate these solutions. The work after the hackathon could lead to commercial products and services, but the results of the hackathon are preferably open source and actively shared.

I am not a coder, can I still join?
Certainly. Good teams represent a variety of skills and experiences. Business development, UX design, marketing are just as useful as data science and coding. If you sign up as an individual, we will help you join or set up a team.

How many days is the actual hackathon?
The Hague 6 edition will take place over the course of a week between the 18th and 26th of November 2023. This includes mandatory key events and a 48 hours hack period (24-26 November). This year all participants will have the opportunity to choose between a Full and Fast track of Support Programme.

What is the Support program like?
You will get access to business and design exercises, data sets, tools and resources tailored to your challenge. They will be provided with a team online collaboration board. The Skill sessions and tools workshops will help you team dive into each topic - ‘Analyze’, ‘Ideate’, ‘Concept’, 'Build' and ‘Convince’ in order to have a better shot at the winners’ prize.

Is the supporting program mandatory to attend?
No, it’s completely optional but we do advise you to take part in it as you’ll be better prepared for the hackathon and on a competitive level with the other teams.

Is the Hackathon online or in-person?
The Hackathon and its program are completely virtual and participants can join remotely from anywhere in the world. The Hague 5 will be a hybrid edition with various on location options for the teams who are interested.

I am not in the Netherlands, can I join from another country?
Yes, the Hackathon is open to everyone interested in the topics and able to connect remotely.

Are the results of the hackathon open source?
Yes, they are, unless explicitly communicated differently.

Are you going to provide us with datasets for the solutions?
We work with the challenge owners to arrange datasets before the hackathon. When this is possible we will share the data with your team before the hackathon so you have a bit of time to get familiar with it.

Should we pitch our idea to a jury and if so how?
It’s not a shark tank, but there will be a jury with a variety of experts. We have two pitching rounds. The first round is with the challenge owners and you will compete with other teams working on the same challenge. The second and final round will be run to determine the overall winner for the hackathon.

Who are the Mentors and how can I connect to them?
The process for getting in touch with them will be communicated before the hackathon.

If I win, can I give my prize to charity and if so, do you have a good tip?
You are free to do what you like with your prize. There is no need to invest it in the follow up of the prototype, although we do stimulate people to try to take the next step. If you decide to go from “for good” to “feel good”, our charity of choice would be https://www.rainforesttrust.org

I am quite competitive and like to win, what are the criteria of the jury?
Creativity, Feasibility, Problem/Solution fit, Presentation, Business viability, Prototyping & Technology application. So a well presented, out of the box solution, with beautiful code and instant satisfaction for the problem owner, after just a couple of more tweaks, will have a very good chance to win.