The document introduces H(app)athon, a movement consisting of three components: a committee to determine parameters for a research experiment tracking Gross National Happiness data using mobile apps, the experiment itself involving global volunteers, and a conference to share results. It discusses trends related to measuring well-being, including Gross National Happiness, the Quantified Self movement of self-tracking via apps, and the Internet of Things. The document provides details on the committee, planned experiment, and conference to analyze happiness data collected.

1. H(app)athon
A Direction for Big Data

2. We seem to have surrendered community
excellence and community values in the mere
accumulation of material things. Our gross
national product counts air pollution and the
destruction of our redwoods and the loss of
our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl.
Yet the gross national product does not allow
for the health of our children, the quality of
their education, or the joy of their play; it
measures everything, in short, except that
which makes life worthwhile.
Robert F. Kennedy
Address on the nature of the GDP
University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas,
March 18, 1968

3. Introduction

4. H(app)athon is a movement
consisting of three components:
The H(app)athon Committee.
A series of experts determine the parameters for
a two-month research experiment to collect data
focused on Gross National Happiness (GNH).
The H(app)athon Experiment.
A series of global volunteers use a mobile app (or
series of apps) to track their GNH focused data.
The H(app)athon Conference.
Results of the H(app)athon Experiment along
with top research in the science of happiness
takes place in the Spring of 2013 in NYC.
Results from the conference will also be featured in
the book H(app)y, to be released from Penguin
Publishers in the Fall of 2013.

5. Guiding Principles for H(app)athon:
Live an Examined Life.
We’re living in an era with unprecedented opportunity
to measure our behavior in an effort to make positive
transformation in our lives. The Quantified Self (QS)
movement is leading this charge in the mobile arena,
amplified by data collected via the framework of the
Internet of Things (IOT). We feel people should utilize
this technology to improve their health, lives, and
communities.
Big Data Needs Direction.
However data is collected, we currently lack a cohesive
metric to bring knowledge to these numbers. We feel
Gross National Happiness (GNH) provides a guiding
framework where metrics of subjective well-being can
be measured by QS and IOT.

6. Trends

7. Trend Number One:
Gross National Happiness (GNH)

8. Gross National Happiness has
become a global focus for politicians,
economists, and business leaders.
The United Nations created a
resolution (Happiness: Towards a
Holistic Approach to Development) in
the Summer of 2012 resulting in a
recent Happiness Summit at the UN
on the subject and a report
commissioned from Columbia
University by Jeffrey Sachs, the first
World Happiness Report to inspire
global governments to utilize metrics
of well being for their citizens.

9. Measuring well-being is based on both quantitative and qualitative
measures. While no global standards have been finalized, metrics like the
ones below created by the Happiness Initiative for a survey distributed to
thousands of US citizens shows the range of issues measured via GNH:
•Community Vitality
•Cultural Vitality
•Education and Learning
•Environmental Quality
•Governance
•Material well-being
•Physical Health
•Psychological well-being
•Time balance
•Workplace Experience

10. Trend Number Two:
Quantified Self (QS)

11. The Quantified Self (QS), created by Kevin Kelly and Gary Wolf of
WIRED magazine, is a movement and a methodology where people
track multiple elements of their behavior, largely via mobile apps.

12. This map, created by Rachelle DiGregorio and featured in a recent CNN article, shows
how QS apps can track different areas of a person’s life. Nobody has aggregated apps in
this way for GNH data, which is the goal of the H(app)athon Committee/Experiment.

13. Trend Number Three:
The Internet of
Things (IOT)

14. The Internet of Things, loosely defined, is a
networked community of objects outfitted with
sensors that can collect and transmit data.
We’re coming to a time when your fridge can
‘talk’ to smart-shelves at your local grocery
store, or your local mailbox can communicate
directly with the post office.
Companies like Cisco, HP, and IBM are investing
billions of dollars into the IOT industry to better
determine how objects interact with people in
regards to behavior and preference.
When combining QS (self focused) apps with
IOT (object focused) data, there is a powerful
opportunity to aggregate insights about human
behavior. How that data is viewed and used,
however, has no existing standard.

15. The Movement

16. The H(app)athon Committee
The Committee is being finalized but currently features representatives from the World
Economic Forum, MIT, The Happiness Initiative, Ashoka Changemakers, Quantified Self (the
organization) frog design, and Salesforce.
The Committee will determine parameters for the H(app)athon Experiment by December 2012.

17. The H(app)athon Experiment.
The parameters for the Experiment as created by the Committee will be announced in
numerous online venues as well as the H(app)athon website (www.happathon.com).
Volunteers will be recruited globally and asked to download apps to measure their well-being
to gather data that reflects Gross National Happiness. An open contest/call to create a
H(app)athon app will also be announced, encouraging technology companies to offer mobile
solutions to collect data via an app they create.

18. The H(app)athon Conference.
Results of the H(app)athon Experiment along with top research in the science of happiness
will take place in the Spring of 2013 in NYC at The Paley Center. Experts from the QS, IOT,
and GNH communities, along with app developers will gather to share how consumers and
the business community can benefit by incorporating metrics of well being into their lives and
work.
Results from the conference will also be featured in the book H(app)y, to be released from Penguin
Publishers in the Fall of 2013.

19. Sponsoring
We are currently seeking sponsors to fund coordination and implementation of the
H(app)athon Experiment and Conference. Full details are TBD, but the Committee
Members, Speakers and Audience targeted for H(app)athon include:
• Corporate/business leaders, largely marketing-focused
• Emerging technology business/thought leaders
• Social Media technology business/thought leaders
• Quantified Self business/thought leaders
• Human Resources business/thought leaders
• CSR/Sustainability business/thought leaders
Speaking (Full list TBD)
Interested in speaking at the Conference?
See contact information on the following page.
• Tim Leberecht, CMO of Frog Design
• Thanassis Rikakis, Carnegie Mellon University
• William Hoffman, World Economic Forum

20. More Information:
www.happathon.com
(917) 597-3323
@johnchavens