Organize an innovation challenge in 2026: what, how, who, and when
In this article, we examine innovation challenges, exploring their various aspects from definition and structure to benefits and examples.
This document serves as a comprehensive reference for anyone curious about this powerful method for generating creative solutions and overcoming holdups and hindrances.
Table of contents
- What is an innovation challenge?
- What is the difference between hackathons and innovation challenges?
- Who can participate in an innovation challenge?
- Who organises an innovation challenge?
- What are some examples of innovation challenge topics?
- How is an innovation challenge structured?
- What are the benefits for the organisers?
- Conclusion
1. What is an innovation challenge?
An innovation challenge is a limited-time initiative designed to lift creativity and find solutions to problems through innovation.
There are 2 main types of innovation challenges:
Open innovation challenge
This format welcomes clients, partners, suppliers, and an external audience, facilitating the generation of ideas from both within and outside the organisation.
Closed innovation challenge
This format focuses on the organisation's internal employees and may be open to the entire organisation or just to specific business units.
2. What is the difference between hackathons and innovation challenges?
The main difference between hackathons and innovation challenges is the duration.
A hackathon typically runs over a weekend, while an innovation challenge is 6 months long on average.
Due to this, innovation challenge outcomes are typically more structured, ready-to-market solutions.
The event structure usually entails a post-challenge mentoring, acceleration, and incubation programme.
3. Who can participate in an innovation challenge?
Innovation challenges may be open for all or target specific demographics and audiences, such as:
- 🧑💼Employees
- 🎓Students
- 🔬Researchers
- 💼Professionals
- 💡Startups
- 🧩Niche operators
- 🛠️External specialists
4. Who organises an innovation challenge?
The most common organisers of innovation challenges are:
- 🏛️Institutions
- 💼Companies
- 🧪Research institutes
- 🤝NGOs
- 🏢Government organisations.
- 🎓Universities
5. What are some examples of innovation challenge topics?
The fields the organisers operate in drive the topic of the innovation challenge.
Here are some examples:
Sustainability
Lift in youngsters a spirit of active citizenship on issues and topics related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The innovation challenge process is designed for them to identify and co-develop innovation tools that will empower them to amplify their voices on climate change actions by acting and leading locally.
Circular economy
Engineer a state-of-the-art, brand-new waste management system to reduce landfill waste and promote circularity by introducing innovative recycling methods, sustainable packaging solutions, or even AI-powered waste sorting systems.
Healthcare
Harness multi-disciplinary talent and cutting-edge technology to create gender-specific solutions to close the gender health gap.
Innovation challenges teams are given all the tools to leverage AI and diverse expertise, welcoming coding and non-coding solutions to tackle key health gender gap challenges
Education
Bring together tech teams, graduates, and EdTech firms to experiment with AI-powered tools to create innovative content, with a focus on enhancing teaching resource adaptation and reducing teacher workloads.
Transportation
Develop innovative solutions to limit traffic congestion and improve urban mobility.
Categories for this innovation challenge could be: enhance public transportation, manage and optimise the traffic flow. limit card dependency, increase infrastructure efficiency, facilitate the adoption of new transportation technologies, and decrease pollutants in city centres.
Finance
Design Banking as a Service (BaaS) hyper-personalised solutions that leverage clients’ and users’ data to tailor financial experiences within non-financial platforms, offering customer-centric products and services in real-time.
Additional suitable fields and industries for an innovation challenge are:
- 💻Technology
- 🛍️Retail
- 🏭Manufacturing
- 🔋Energy
- 🌾Agriculture
- 🏨Hospitality
- 🚀Aerospace
- 🏗️Construction
- 💊Pharma
- 🚗Automotive
- 📡Telecommunications
- 📦Logistics
6. How is an innovation challenge structured?
The structure of an innovation challenge follows this pattern:
| 1. Define the main problem to be solved and its related challenge categories |
| 2. Delineate the participants’ targeted audience |
| 3. Decide on a catchy event name |
| 4. Create an event website |
| 5. Contact and onboard internal and external actors such as experts, speakers, mentors, jury members, and startups |
| 6. Define the platform or tools where the event will be held |
| 7. Create clear and compliant Terms and Conditions |
| 8. Build a crystal clear event timeline |
| 9. Delineate the expected outcomes from the participants, such as prototypes, videos, MVPs, or functioning solutions. |
| 10. Run a holistic outreach campaign and collect registrations |
| 11. Create a Challenge Guide explaining how to participate in details |
| 12. Organise ideation live sessions with speakers and experts |
| 13. Set up a transparent evaluation process |
| 14. Hold an engaging winners’ ceremony |
| 15. Ensure an effective mentoring, acceleration, and incubation programme. |
We’ve written a full guide on how to organise an innovation challenge.
It’s free and available here for reading!
7. What are the benefits for the organisers?
Innovation challenges find solutions to any kind of problem quickly and cheaply.
They cover the companies’ needs to keep up with behavioural changes and competitors, and, at the same time, to gain a competitive advantage.
Innovation challenges are cost-effective, especially if held online. They can reach a global audience, finding niche skills that they couldn’t participate in otherwise.
They are also a valuable way to shake hands, expanding the organisers’ network and community by starting new partnerships and meeting new external actors.
At last, they can also be the right occasion to meet talented future employees, willing to be hired.
8. Conclusion
Innovation challenges have a history of a great reputation as well as a bright future to come.
All the main companies and entities in the world have had or are currently organising innovation challenges.
The reason is that the outcomes from this type of initiative are solid and aligned with the latest market trends.
Innovation challenges are the answer to the board's question: “How can we innovate and how can we do it fast?”
However, organising an innovation challenge is not an easy task and requires diverse expertise.
To mention some: event and project management, delivering under pressure and tight time constraints, keeping the event engaging for everyone, coordinating between substantially different actors, and overcoming last-minute technical issues.
Get in touch if you would like to know more about how we can help organise your flawless innovation challenge!
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