How to Data in Datathons

The rise of datathons, also known as data or data science hackathons, has provided a platform to collaborate, learn, and innovate in a short timeframe. Despite their significant potential benefits, organizations often struggle to effectively work with data due to a lack of clear guidelines and best practices for potential issues that might arise. Drawing on our own experiences and insights from organizing >80 datathon challenges with >60 partnership organizations since 2016, we provide guidelines and recommendations that serve as a resource for organizers to navigate the data-related complexities of datathons. We apply our proposed framework to 10 case studies.Comment: 37th Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2023) Track on Datasets and Benchmar

Organizational agility in the public sector: A case study of the Office of the Auditor General of Norway

This master thesis explores organizational agility in the public sector through a case study of a state agency. Organizational agility is as a learned, permanently-available dynamic capability that can be performed quickly and efficiently to the degree necessary, and whenever needed, to increase business performance in a volatile market environment. Although the definition includes a focus on a volatile market environment and business performance, many public organizations strive for agility. This master thesis investigates whether the concept of organizational agility could be a good fit for the public sector, even without obvious competitors and profit focus. A literature review was conducted to get an overview of previous research on organizational agility within the public sector. This resulted in a conceptual model, which forms the theoretical lens for this study. The model includes three main elements: drivers (external and internal), organizational agility (agility enablers and agile capabilities) and organizational performance. The topic is explored through a case study of the Office of the Auditor General of Norway (OAGN) and their innovation lab. The research question is: How can an innovation lab influence organizational agility the public sector? Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted, and eight meetings were observed by the researcher. Strategic documents were analyzed to obtain an understanding of organizational performance. The empirical results show both external and internal agility drivers in the OAGN. The study identified some challenges in the organization, such as the organizational culture, communication style, the availability of technology, the development of competence for the future, and autonomy versus alignment. The challenges are mapped to the agile capabilities suggested by previous research. Competence, flexibility and courage are identified capabilities in the innovation lab. The innovation lab has indeed increased the organization’s awareness about new technology trends, which is seen as the sensing part of the responsiveness capability. The innovation lab improves the organization’s ability to pursue possibilities provided by new technology. Although, being agile is not the goal, a holistic view of agility can help organizations reach their strategic goals and the social mission. Measuring and monitoring the performance provide management with the necessary insight to adjust the enablers and improve the capabilities to tackle changes in the organization’s environment. This study provides insight into practice and can be of inspiration for other state agencies striving for agility. An adjusted conceptual model for organizational agility in the public sector is suggested. The model should be challenged and further tested in other cases and through other research approaches. Key words: organizational agility, public sector, audit, innovation la

Exploring the impact of Maker initiatives on cities and regions with a research through design approach

During the last decades, economic, social and technological phenomena have influenced the role, importance and perception of cities and regions. Cities and rural areas are increasingly divided because of manufacturing and its globalisation; digital technologies in manufacturing are introducing more automation in factories, reducing thus the workforce and aggravating these phenomena. But at the same time, the Maker Movement connects these two opposites by adopting such digital technologies with an open approach, enabling a distributed manufacturing ecosystem based on individuals and communities such as Fab Labs, Makerspaces and Hackerspaces that work locally but that are connected globally. How can we measure the impact of Maker initiatives over cities and regions? This article addresses this issue with a research through design strategy that connects both design research and practice focusing on a) a theoretical context that connects peer production, manufacturing and cities and regions, b) a model for measuring Maker initiatives and their impact on cities and regions and c) a tool for the visualization and exploration of such impact. In this way designers, makers and researchers can actively participate in intentionally building the future of the Maker Movement in cities and regions instead of only analysing its present and past