Virtual hackathon as ICT-enabled boundary arrangement for municipal innovation

Abstract

This paper addresses the virtual hackathons as ICT-enabled boundary spanning arrangements (IBSA) and their knowledge integration in the municipal innovation management context. Specifically, it focuses on the boundaries and boundary objects for boundary-bridging in virtual hackathons. Therefore, this paper presents a case study in a Swedish multi-disciplinary municipality carrying out an intra-organizational hackathon in virtual collocation for public sector innovation creation. As a result, the paper reveals the discovered boundaries in five boundary categories: individual, domain-specific, task-oriented, spatial, and temporal. Furthermore, the multiple boundary objects utilized for boundary-bridging in a virtual hackathon are presented. Moreover, the paper illustrates the innovation output of four virtual hackathon teams. Thus, the results clarify the virtual hackathon as IBSAs. The paper contributes to the literature on hackathons as IBSA as well as knowledge integration, particularly in terms of boundary objects in virtual innovation