Deadline: November 9, 2016

The World Bank Group has launched a global call to find big data solutions that address issues pertaining to two critical challenge areas: Food: food security and nutrition and Landscapes: forestry and watersheds. They seek to identify and support the implementation of at least two high - potential solutions and prototypes addressing these critical areas of sustainable development. These issues are high priorities in service of the World Bank Group's goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity and are also identified priorities of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

In today's world of mobile technology, social networks, pervasive satellite and sensor information, and machine-to-machine transactions, more data has been generated in the past 2 years alone in the form of big data than in all of the previous years combined. Data is becoming the lifeblood of many economies, and data-informed decision-making is more important than ever before.

Prizes

Winners will be selected and awarded for the following categories:

• Food challenge: Food Security or Nutrition - Best big data solution: 10,000USD
• Landscapes Challenge: Forestry or Watersheds - Best big data solution: 10,000USD
• Honorable mentions (Most innovative big data solution and other recognition awards to be announced)

Eligibility

• Open to individuals, students and entrepreneurs as well as startups, university labs, private companies, nonprofits and public sector agencies legally established in member countries of the World Bank Group
• Individuals must be of age of majority in their countries at the time of entry. Individuals may form teams and submit entries on behalf of teams. Individuals who join teams must meet the eligibility requirements for Individual Applicants

• Organizations must be legally established entities (profit, non-profit, academic) or public sector agencies/organizations in their respective countries.

• Employees, contractors and vendors of the World Bank Group (The World Bank Group consists of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Development Association, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, the International Finance Corporation, the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes), the members of the Judging Panel or any company or individual involved with the design, production, execution or distribution of the Challenge and their immediate family members (spouse, parents and step-parents, siblings and stepsiblings, and children and stepchildren, aunt, uncle, niece and nephew) are not eligible to join the Challenge.

Judging Criteria

The following criteria are weighted equally as part of the judging process.

• Practicality of use, impact and potential for scale. The applicant demonstrates the potential of the big data solution to use data to transform their solution context.
• Technically feasible: The big data solution is technically viable and has a working prototype to further show the functionality and usability.
• Relevance to challenge focus areas: The applicant shows that he/she understands the specific context of the challenge statement to which they are applying and their solution’s potential within that context.
• Innovativeness: Creativity and originality of the idea compared to solutions that are currently in use.
• Team (background, capabilities): The applicant has the applicable technical background and the capability to take this big data solution to the next phase of implementation.

Application Process

Apply here

The application deadline is November 9, 2016 at 5:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)

For more information, visit World Bank Big Data Innovation Challenge