DETERMINING WHETHER THE PROTOTYPE HACKATHON ECOSYSTEM FOR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER IN A HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION MEETS THE NEEDS OF STAKEHOLDERS

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES. The development of the innovation ecosystem is one of the main vectors of development of the Ukrainian economy. One of the main elements of such policy are higher education institutions. Organizational method is an effective transition to the project approach of technology transfer management. The use of the organizational method implies the creation of a new organizational structure in the higher education institution. Such structure can be the creation of organizational unit – Hackathon-ecosystem of technology transfer, the main task of which will be the management of technology transfer projects.

METHODS. The study used methods of expert evaluation and questionnaire survey of stakeholders using closed and open-ended questions; feedback grids – to diagnose the effectiveness of the created prototype of the Hackathon ecosystem; Pareto diagrams – to analyze the information by determining the total score of the survey results; A / B testing – to choose between the existing version of the site and the created prototype; usability testing – to determine the degree of convenience and intuitive interface prototype.

FINDINGS. The method of creating a hackathon-ecosystem of technology transfer in higher education institution with elements of design thinking is proposed. The work of new structural unit allows to determine the needs, interest, preferences and priorities of university stakeholders. Such stakeholders are university's employees, business representatives and the state. Tools of design-thought (observation, survey, generation and selection of ideas, prototyping) of stakeholders allow to build an optimal prototype of Hackathon-ecosystem of technology transfer in higher education institution.

CONCLUSION. Determination of compliance of the prototype of Hackathon-ecosystem of technology transfer in higher education institution with the needs of stakeholders allows to get feedback on directions of improvement of innovative work of university in general and new organizational structure, in particular. Questioning of technology transfer stakeholders in Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design allowed to create an optimal user-friendly and intuitive interface of Hackathon ecosystem prototype, corresponding to stakeholder needs.