A hackathon is defined as an event in which computer programmers and others involved in software development collaborate intensively on software projects. Hackathons are also about bringing people together for a common cause or goal. Join Raj Polikepati, Director of Application Development, as he discusses Texas.gov’s first hackathon. In addition to producing viable solutions, the hackathon: • enhanced core technical and soft skills, • identified key success factors, • modeled a lean delivery approach, and • generated team pride. This presentation will showcase exactly how Texas.gov hosted our hackathon, what the outcomes and lessons learned were, and how we benefited from the experience.

1. Presented by:
Raj Polikepati
Director of Application Development
Texas.gov
Hackathons:
Embracing
Collaboration to
Achieve Results
September 17, 2013

2. Texas.gov/Solutions

3. Where?
Agenda

4. What is a Hackathon?

5. Business
Government

6. Facebook Hackathon

7. • Started with technical brown bags 5 years ago
• Progressed to “all hands on deck” workshop
2 years ago
• Used approach for prototyping and proof-of-
concept for new possibilities
• Recently held 1st 24-hour Hackathon through
grass-root interest
Evolution at

8. ImproviseVoting
Problem
solving
Innovation
lunches
Ideation & Innovation?

9. • Good night’s sleep
• Large room with whiteboards, sunlight, bright
lights, hydration supplies, and lots of food
• Laptops/notebooks with access to existing SDLC
toolset
• Guaranteed support structure (operations) for
day-to-day production support
Logistics

10. • Product Owner
• Scrum Master
• Team
• Stakeholder
• Epics
• User stories
• Velocity
• Release Plan
• Sprint review
• Retrospective
• Sprint planning
Agile Terms & Roles

11. • 9:00 am start time; offsite conference room
• ~20 people – web services, user experience, BI,
and server-side web developers
• All-hands standup to discuss goals
• Input from team on execution approach – chose
Agile Scrum
Hackathon Itinerary

12. ♦ Build a mobile app that use bar
code scanning technology to
renew service
♦ Build a tool to help Finance team
with monthly close
♦ Things under control: renewal
service, payment service,
technologies, financial knowledge
♦ Unknowns: Scanning technology
Initial Standup

13. 4 Scrum teams to handle:
• Bar code scanning work
(biggest unknown)
• Creating/utilizing web services needed
• Web design & development activities for app
• Financial tool for monthly close
Team Formations

14. • Release planning
– 4 sprints, 4 hours each
• Sprint planning
– Select features from product backlog
– Finalized acceptance criteria
• Sprint standups
– Discuss progress across teams
• Sprint review & retrospective
– Teams demonstrated functionality
– Discussed new findings & solutions
– What worked, what didn’t
– Improvements for next sprint
– Food breaks
Hackathon Day Ceremonies

15. Sprint
Activities?

16. • Beware of preconceived ideas
• Quick screen flow charts
• Technical integration touch points
• Known assets and known problems
• Unknown’s
• Tactics for known and unknowns
– Time-boxed
– Creation of multiple focus groups
White-boarding and Collaboration

17. • Clubbing experiences
• Watchful eyes
• Real-time peer review
• Real-time quality assurance
• Enhanced usability
• Improved focus on current task
Pair Programming

18. • Contract definitions
– WSDL
– Interfaces / Helper classes
– WADL (Web Application Description Language – XML)
• Mock implementations
• Environmental changes
Integration

19. • Create a script through
collaboration
– Key differentiators
– Prioritized benefits and
opportunities
– Possible alternatives and add-ons
– Listed process improvements for
daily use
– Projector and lighting
– First impression
Show and Tell

20. Texas.gov Hackathon in Action

21. • Reusable services
• Reusable assets (e.g. view templates & themes)
• Scaffolding
– Ruby on Rails
– Groovy on Grails
– ASP.NET Dynamic Data Scaffolding
– Spring MVC Scaffolding
• Mobile first technology
• Mock capabilities
• Contract interfaces
Technologies for Success

22. • License procurement for
scanning software
• Bullet-proofing
• Security scanning
• Show & tell for overall team
• Coordination with partner for production
release plan
• Celebrate!!!
Follow-up Activities

23. Team building
Employee satisfaction
Learn execution experience
Solve problems
Prototype for new opportunities
Reduce investment risks with proof-of-concept
Improve culture by demonstrating a “can do” attitude
backed by results
Hackathon
Benefits

24. • New project execution plans
• Emergency handling
• Sustained annual planning
• And more ….
A New Tool in Your Toolbox

25. ♦ Red Raiders
Look Who’s Hacking

26. • Host 3 hackathons every year
• Team-up with state partners and constituents
• Two day hackathons
• Budgetary considerations
• Idea backlog
Future Plans

27. • Fosters blue-sky thinking
• Entire organization can participate
• Teaches effective decision making
• Can deliver results in astonishingly short
timeframes
• All about the team – environment &
empowerment
Executive Viewpoint

28. For more information
about Texas.gov
enterprise solutions,
contact:
Ed Emmett
eemmett@egov.com
512-501-5983
For more information
about Hackathons,
contact:
Raj Polikepati
rpolikepati@egov.com
512-651-9801