Since its inception, over 2,500 projects have been published by participants to demonstrate the practical value of open data.

[1] The competition requires small teams of competitors to produce a project using open data within 46 hours, from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon.

The format of the project is unspecified, but web applications, mobile apps, and visualisations are common, with games and art also being encouraged.

Typically, participating sponsors and government departments release new datasets for the competition each year.

[5] During the early years of the competition, the Australian chapter of the Open Knowledge Foundation assisted with the operation of the event, with Pia Andrews as head of the national GovHack operations team.