The Global Innovation Competition

Application Deadline: October 15 2014

The Global Innovation Competition is open to applicants from around the world with inspiring ideas, either proven or to be developed. Everyone is invited to participate; public votes will determine which entries progress in the competition.

Making All Voices Count is a global initiative that supports innovative thinking, scaling, and research that deepens both existing and new innovations that enable better citizen engagement and government responsiveness. This Grand Challenge focuses global attention on creative and cutting-edge solutions, including those that use mobile, web and other technologies, to ensure the voices of all citizens are heard and that governments have the capacity, as well as the incentive, to listen and respond. The aim of Making All Voices Count is a substantial push towards effective democratic governance and accountability.

The Global Innovation Competition 2015 aims to support projects whose objectives match those of the wider Making All Voices Count initiative.

The themes for which you can submit your idea are listed below. They relate to the programme’s overarching goal; better governance, transparency and accountability, and decreased corruption. The first two themes are also promoted by the Open Government Partnership (OGP).

Legislative Openness – Inclusive and Participatory Lawmaking
Sub-national Governance
Gender Equality
Building Resilience and Response to Humanitarian Crisis

Eligibility

Count Global Innovation Competition (GIC) grants are awarded to applicants with particularly innovative ideas or proven concepts.
The applicant must prove they will implement the idea/proven concept in a Making All Voices Count country. The Making All Voices Count countries are Bangladesh, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
Anyone is welcome to apply: companies, government actors, non-profits, for-profits, education establishments, NGOs or individuals

Awards

£300,000 in grants available to winners
Finalists will attend the Global Innovation Week in Jakarta, Indonesia; a programme of intensive mentoring and networking in the second week of April 2015. The week will conclude with the Global Innovation Gala, at which contestants make their final pitch followed by the Global Innovation Jury’s announcement of the winners
Winners will receive grants to support their projects, plus expert mentorship

Timeline:

Mon 15-Sep: First round applications open

Wed 15-Oct: First round applications close

Wed 22-Oct: Public voting begins

Sun 23-Nov: Public voting closes

Wed 03-Dec: Second round applicants announced and Peer review additional data input starts

Fri 19-Dec: Peer review begins

Wed 21-Jan: Peer review ends

Mon 26-Jan: Third round applicants announced

Wed 28-Jan: Third round screening review begins

Sun 25-Feb: Third round screening review ends

Mon 02-Mar: Finalists announced

Mon 06-Apr: Global Innovation Week

Thu 09-Apr: Global Innovation Gala Night

Fri 10-Apr: Global Innovation Week ends

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Making All Voices Count Global Innovation Competition

Application Deadline: December 13, 2013 at 11:59 pm EAT;

The Global Innovation Competition challenges you to design a solution to close the feedback loop between governments and citizens to further the key goals embodied in the eligibility criteria of the Open Government Partnership (OGP).

Any contestant can submit as many applications as they wish, however only the submission with the highest number of votes will go through to the semi-final stage.

After an initial eligibility screening, 30 semi-finalists will be selected by crowdsourcing. Votes will be cast on the online platform which will enable members of the public to view and support the ideas they feel are the best and that they want to see through to the next round.

The ten finalists will be invited to Nairobi for the Global Innovation Week. Here they will meet each other as well as technology, civil society and governance experts who examine their ideas and products in depth. They will go through an intense mentorship programme with these experts and make final presentations of their ideas/proven concepts. Invitation and attendance to the Global Innovation Week is a prize in itself as it opens a world of networking and possibilities to the finalists.

On April 3, Making All Voices Count, will host the Global Innovation Gala night where the three winners, selected by the Jury, will be unveiled.

GRANT AND PRIZE STRUCTURE

The grant and prize structure is as follows

1st Place: £65,000
2-3 Place: £35,000 each
4-10 Place: £5,000 each

The winner together with the two runners-up will receive a grant for the implementation of the idea or proven concept. In addition they will also receive ten hours of online mentoring for six months by the South to South Lab team of experts. The other contestants will receive prize money, but there is no expectation of implementation

Public voting on all eligible ideas begins on December 16, 2013 and ends on January 30, 2014;
30 semi-finalists selected by crowdsourcing will move into the second round where applicants will vote on each other’s ideas based on innovativeness, scalability, and potential for impact;
10 finalists will be invited for the Global Innovation Week in Nairobi, Kenya, at the end of March 2014 where the winner will be announced;
1 winner will be awarded a Global Innovation Grant of £65,000 PLUS expert mentorship for a six-month period;
2 runners-up will each receive Global Innovation Grants of £35,000 PLUS expert mentorship for a six-month period;
In addition, seven prizes of £5,000 will be awarded.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the Making All Voices Count Global Innovation Competition

Making All Voices Count Global Innovation Competition (GIC) 2015 (£300,000 Grants for Winners)

Awards

Making All Voices Count Global Innovation Competition!

The grant and prize structure is as follows