Hackathon system as part of the university innovation ecosystem

This article attempts to explore the genesis of such concepts as an "ecosystem", "university ecosystem" and a "hackathon system". The study offers an overview of the fundamental differences between these ecosystems which has revealed that a landscape of the socioeconomic background could be represented as a set of industry ecosystems – a certain force field able to integrate localized groups of organizations, business models, markets, networks, supply chains, innovation projects, infrastructure systems, etc. Apart from the above, the study discusses the specifics of shaping the boundaries of the university ecosystem as well as demonstrates that the hackathon system is an element of the overall innovative ecosystem of a higher education institution which in the framework of this study is viewed as a multi-subject system operating within the common domain (managed by a coordinating entity that acts as a core of an organization) with the aim of materializing a value proposition as an outcome of intellectual engagement, where the domain is the HEI environment, the coordination subject is the HEI, and the value proposition is an innovation or an innovative solution. According to the research findings, the university environment is a three-loop space consisting of micro-, meso- and macroloops. It is argued that the university hackathon ecosystem covers not only university structural units which are directly or indirectly involved in innovative activities (e. g., faculties, research laboratories, research groups, employment centres, business incubators, etc.) but also other independent business entities that are not directly related to university activities (such as small innovative enterprises, funds, licensing and certification agencies, expert commissions and others).