Boosting Circular Transition of the Bioeconomy Value Chains with a Business-driven Open Innovation Process - BioBoosters Hackathon

Abstract

The article summarizes the effects of the first 9 European BioBoosters hackathons. According to the INTERREG BSR project assumption, the role of these hackathons was to provide innovative support for large enterprises from the Baltic Sea region in their transformation towards green, sustainable and biocircular business models. In this context, the article analyzes BioBoosters hackathons on four basic levels: 1) whether and to what extent large enterprises (so-called “Challenge Providers”) met the criteria of entities operating within biocircular value chains? 2) were the challenges presented during hackathons of a bioeconomic nature 3) to what extent can the innovative solutions delivered by innovators (so-called "Solution Providers") contribute measurably to the emergence of new bio-products, bio-services and bio-technologies? 4) do the BioBoosters hackathons meet the criteria of the open innovation method used in the bioeconomy? The results of the analysis confirm the potential and importance of the BioBoosters hackathon as an open innovation method stimulating bioeconomic creativity and potentially supporting large enterprises in the way of green transformation of their activities.