October 11, 2017

What makes up a “cooperathon”? Two concepts: cooperation and endurance! They are the basic essence of this unique event, which will be launched tomorrow, Thursday, October 12.

The result of the will and creative power of the Desjardins Group and its Desjardins Lab, and supported by Hacking Health and Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC), the Cooperathon is now in its third year. And, just like in the preceding years, expectations are high!

The core of the Cooperathon is just like a a hackathon – an intensively creative and collaborative event whose objective is to find solutions to social or economic challenges. The purpose here is to arrive at tangible results within a relatively short timeframe, to benefit society. Unlike hackathons, however, which are usually compact events of a day or two, the Cooperathon unfolds over three weeks, until November 9. Ilias Benjelloun, the Desjardins Lab spokesperson, explained the specific mechanics that underlie the event at an HEC Montréal community information session: “Instead of beginning with an idea, we start with the challenge. We want to find people who are faced with real innovation challenges. Then, we’ll try to create teams around these people that will help them move on.” Hence the need of a longer timeframe, to develop innovative ideas.

This open competition, the largest of its kind in Canada, includes five steps, as shown above. During the 25 days of the Cooperathon, participants based in Montreal, Quebec city, Lévis or Lyon will be able to develop their project in line with a challenge identified in one of the four main fields: employee and family health, education, smart city development and financial and health technology (fintech). Supported by Desjardins experts and its partners, Cooperathon participants will aim to submit, at the end of this cooperative marathon, a draft solution to their selected challenge. And since we’re talking innovation, neither pefection nor a definite outcome are required. “The idea is to evaluate participants’ capacity to show that the project can work, not that it’s already working”, specifies Sébastien Richard, from Desjardins Lab.

The list of challenges that will be tackled as part of Cooperathon 2017 is already lengthy. Participants will be encouraged to surpass the excellent results from last year’s Cooperathon thanks to money prizes and hands-on support awarded to each category. “45% of last year’s projects are still unfolding. This success rate is quite impressive. New businesses were launched, some even have several clients. And all this began from just an idea!”

So, is there a social challenge that’s nagging you? Do you have an idea to improve society in the back of your mind? Join us at the starting line of Cooperathon 2017!

Article by François Normandin, lecturer, research professional and writer, HEC Montréal.