Hacking Heroin

This teaching note pairs with a case that is used in a course on Public Entrepreneurship, for a first module on "ideas." The case is designed to help students work through the question: where do new ideas to stubborn problems come from? And, in particular, the question of looking to insiders vs. outsiders for new ways forward. It may be useful for looking at that question generally, and also in the specific context of hackathons. Are they a useful platform for bringing on outside ideas? And, if so, how? Hackathons have become popular in private companies as well as in government. The case references private and public examples and involves private and public actors. The case can be used in courses that focus in either direction.