Challenge

While at Oracle, I was tasked with developing a program of hackathons and other generative research to investigate new technologies that Oracle might want to incorporate into product lines.  The goal was to run these both internally and with external groups. 

Method

In 4 years, my team ran 45 events in 8 different countries, with 2046 users. We focused on emerging technologies from the Gartner Hype Cycle.  

We ran hackathons, design jams and ship it events.  We tested multiple technologies, including blockchain, IoT, big data and containerization of software.

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I oversaw the decisions on which technologies to test.  I set up locations, recruited participants, determined prizes.  I was responsible for securing funding.  I dealt with international recruitment, local vendors, contracted with venues and secured all of the hardware that the teams would need during the event.  I lead the events, and recruited the judging panels for each event.

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Impact

After each event, I would present the winning ideas to products teams in Oracle.  Ideas were incorporated into multiple products including Supply Chain Management, Financials and more.  By using the hackathons as a time to see which technologies could be useful, we were able to expedite innovation in the product teams!