Introduction

The World Bank’s Apps for Development Competition challenges participants to develop software applications related to one or more of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The applications could serve to raise awareness, measure progress, or to help in some other way to achieve the goals. The only other requirement is that the proposed application use one or more datasets from the World Bank Data Catalog found at data.worldbank.org

The MDGs represent a collective ambition for our world. Simply put, the MDGs express a vision of a world in which extreme poverty and hunger have been eliminated, and the economic and human welfare of poor people worldwide has been tangibly improved. The MDGs articulate specific targets, to be reached by 2015, related to poverty and hunger, universal education, child health and other crucial dimensions.

There are many dimensions to development – competition participants are encouraged to also use other indicators and datasets, and to be creative in exploring approaches for realizing the goals.

This Competition is a complement to World Bank’s Open Data Initiative, launched April 20 2010, making development data – including the World Development Indicators, Africa Development Indicators, and Millennium Development Goal indicators – free for all.

Competition Objectives

The Apps for Development Competition aims to bring together software developers and development practitioners to use World Bank data in the creation of innovative software applications which relate to the Millennium Development Goals.

Applications submitted to the Competition should address at least one of the following objectives:
i) raise awareness of at least one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), or
ii) contribute to progress toward meeting at least one of the MDGs by 2015.

Summary of Competition Rules

1. The Competition Period begins on October 7, 2010 at 12:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time (“EDT”) and ends on January 10, 2011 at 5:00 PM EST.
2. The Competition is open to individuals and organizations from member countries of the World Bank.
3. Each Software Application must make use of one or more of the datasets listed in the World Bank Data Catalog.
4. Submissions may be any kind of software application, be it for the web, a personal computer, a mobile handheld device, console, SMS, or any software platform broadly available to the public.
5. Participation is Free. Contestants must register at appsfordevelopment.challengepost.com to register for the Competition and complete the submission form.
6. Winners will be announced in April, 2011.

Judging Criteria

Submissions will be judged on the following three criteria:

1. Quality of the idea (including creativity and originality) (1/3);
2. Implementation of the idea (including user experience, design, and performance) (1/3);
3. Potential Impact on either of the two competition objectives (1/3).

Awards

Applications will be selected and awarded for the following categories:

1. Best App for Development Awards (First Prize, Second Prize, Third Prize, and 10 Honorable Mentions)
2. Popular Choice Award
3. Large Organization Recognition Award

Cash prizes will be awarded for the Best App for Development Awards and the Popular Choice Award.

Review the sections below for more Official Rules and Submission Requirements. By entering the Competition, Contestants fully and unconditionally agree to be bound by these Official Rules. All decisions will be final and binding.

I. Eligibility

The Competition is open to Contestants (‘Contestant”) from member countries of the World Bank (see: www.worldbank.org/countries ). Contestants may be individuals, legally established entities (profit or non-profit, academic) and public sector agencies/organizations, though not all are eligible for cash prizes. Contestants competing for cash prizes may be individuals or organizations (profit, non-profit organizations, academic) with fewer than 50 employees.  Public sector agencies/organizations may not compete for cash prizes. Contestants are responsible for compliance with legal requirements of their country.

A) Individuals must be of age of majority in their country 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 Contestants.

B) Organizations must be legally established entities (profit, non-profit, academic) or public sector agencies/organizations in their respective countries. Public sector agencies/organizations of any size, and legally established entities with 50 or more employees will be eligible only for the Large Organization Recognition Award Category for which there is no cash prize.

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 Finalist Judging Panel or any company or individual involved with the design, production, execution or distribution of the Competition and their immediate family members (spouse, parents and step-parents, siblings and step-siblings, and children and step-children, aunt, uncle, niece and nephew) are not eligible to join the Competition.

II. Competition Submission Period

The Competition Submission Period begins on October 7, 2010 at 12:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time (“EDT”) and ends on January 10, 2011 at 5:00 PM EST (the “Competition Submission Period”).

III. How to Enter

A. Registration

Contestants must register at appsfordevelopment.challengepost.com to submit an entry, and may do so at any time until the close of the submission period. Registration is free. Only Applications submitted through appsfordevelopment.challengepost.com will be accepted.

B. Online Submission Requirements

Each Contestant will be required to provide the following as part of its entry (“Submission”):

1. A link to the Application.
2. A video of the Application.
3. A text description of the Application.
4. At least one photograph of the working software Application
5. Electronic acknowledgement through the website that the entrant(s) have read and agree to be bound by the Official Rules.

C. Submission Objectives:

Submissions must meet at least one of the following two objectives:

1. Raise awareness of at least one of the Millennium Development Goals. There are eight goals:

• Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger;
• Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education;
• Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women;
• Goal 4: Reduce child mortality;
• Goal 5: Improve maternal health;
• Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases;
• Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability; and
• Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development.

Also see www.worldbank.org/mdgs .

2. Contribute to progress toward meeting at least one of the Millennium Development Goals.

D. Submission Requirements:

1. Each Submission must be a software Application that uses some data from at least one of the data sources or content from the World Bank datasets available at http://data.worldbank.org/. There may be limited changes (updating or refreshing) to the existing World Bank datasets. Applications must not use data from new datasets marked as first posted to the World Bank Data Catalog after October 15, 2010, unless those datasets are available from other sources.

2. Submissions may be any kind of software tool or game, be it for the web, a personal computer, a mobile handheld device, console, or any software platform broadly available to the public

3. Each Submission must contain an Application that functions as expressed in the text description.

4. Contestants may submit more than one Submission. However, Applications must not be substantially similar to a prior Application in a Submission by the same Contestant.

5. Each Submission must be in English, or if in a language other than English, the Submission must be accompanied by an English translation of the full text.

6. Submissions which, in the World Bank’s sole determination do any of the following will be disqualified:
a) adversely affect the reputation of the World Bank Group or any of its officials or member countries;
b) are illegal under applicable laws;
c) depict hatred, defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten a specific person or community in the society or can incite violence or conflict, or otherwise violate the legal rights (such as rights of privacy and publicity) of others;
d) contain any infringing, obscene, indecent, or unlawful material or information.

7. Submission must a) be original; b) be solely owned by Contestant, who represents that no other party has any rights or interest, whether known or unknown; and 3) not violate the Intellectual Property or privacy rights of other parties. Intellectual property rights of submitted Applications will be owned by the Contestants. The World Bank disclaims any liability for infringements or other violations of intellectual property rights based on claims of ownership by Contestant; Contestant, by entering the Competition, agrees to hold harmless and indemnify the Bank against any third party claims.

8. Once a Submission is submitted, the Contestant cannot make any changes or alterations to the Submission until the judging is complete.

9. All winning Submissions may be linked to the World Bank’s website. By submitting an Application, you grant the World Bank a non-exclusive, one-year, royalty-free right to use for promotion, public display, informational, educational or awareness purposes your Application. The Bank may at its sole discretion, decide not to expose any Application on its website.

IV. Display of Submissions

Submissions will be posted on appsfordevelopment.challengepost.com on a rolling basis after being screened for basic functionality, accuracy of messaging, and integrity (i.e., security). All Contestants will have equal access to Submissions posted on the website.

V. Public Voting

Non-Contestants are encouraged to register on appsfordevelopment.challengepost.com. Registration will be required in order to receive updates on the Competition and to vote for the Popular Choice Award.

Public voting will take place between on or about January 31, 2011 at 10:00 am EST and February 28, 2011 at 5:00 PM EST. Public voting will determine the winner of the Popular Choice Award. Each registered visitor may only vote once during the voting period.

VI. Judging Criteria, Screening and Judging Process, Judging Panel

A. Applications will be judged on the following three criteria (“Judging Criteria”):

1. Quality of the idea (including creativity and originality) (1/3);
2. Implementation of the idea (including user experience, design, and performance) (1/3); and
3. Potential Impact on either of the two competition objectives (1/3)

B. Screening and Judging Process

1. Submissions will initially be screened by a World Bank Technical Committee (“Technical Committee”). The Technical Committee will verify that the Contestant meets the Eligibility criteria in Official Rule I and its Submission(s) meet the Submission Requirements in Official Rule III. D.

2. All Submissions that pass the Technical Committee screening will be judged by a World Bank Internal Panel (“Internal Panel”) to select approximately thirty finalist Applications (“Finalist Application”) based on the Judging Criteria.

3. Finalist Applications will be judged by a Finalist Judging Panel based on the judging criteria to select those Applications to be awarded prizes or recognition.

The dates for the judging are between January 31, 2011 and February 28, 2011.

DECISIONS OF THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE, INTERNAL PANEL AND FINALIST JUDGING PANEL ARE FINAL AND NOT SUBJECT TO NEGOTIATIONS OR APPEAL.

C. Finalist Judging Panel

A Finalist Judging Panel will be determined by the World Bank. The World Bank reserves the right to substitute or modify the Finalist Judging Panel at any time for any reason.

VII. Awards

A. Best App for Development Awards

First Prize Winner, Second Prize Winner, Third Prize Winner and Honorable Mention Winners
The External Judging Panel will select eight (8) Contestants whose Finalist Applications earn the highest overall score to win the following prizes:

In the event of a tie, winner will be selected based on the criteria described in Judging Criteria (1), then (2), and finally (3). If there is still a tie then the winner will be selected based on a vote by the Finalist Judging Panel.

B. Popular Choice Winner

The Contestant whose Application receives the highest number of votes based solely on the public voting of registered visitors at appsfordevelopment.challengepost.com will receive a cash prize of US$5,000.00. Organizations with 50 or more employees are not eligible for the Popular Choice Award.

If there is a tie between one or more Submissions for the Popular Choice Award, the prize will be split equally amongst the tied Contestants.

Use of an automated process or similar device to submit an electronic vote is strictly prohibited. Any attempt to circumvent the one vote limit per Submission or to use an automated vote process will subject all votes from the person to disqualification. If a Contestant receives multiple and/or irregular votes from the same user or users, including but not limited to, votes generated by a robotic, programmed, script, macro, other automated means or other source, the World Bank reserves the right to disqualify the Contestant in their sole discretion. If the voting process for the Popular Choice Award fails to operate properly or appears to be tampered with or tainted with errors, fraud or unfair practices, the World Bank its sole discretion reserves the right to use another means to determine the winner of the Popular Choice Award, i.e. random selection or appointing a panel of judges. Contestants may not pay people or provide any other type of consideration in exchange for votes. Any Contestant who violates the ban on paying or providing consideration in exchange for votes will be disqualified. Public votes may be displayed on the competition website, on a real-time basis, before being verified for integrity. These unverified votes do not necessarily reflect accurately the winner of the Popular Choice Award. The winner of the Popular Choice Award will be the entrant(s) who are contacted directly by the World Bank after votes have been verified. The World Bank reserves the right to modify the voting period at anytime for any reason.

C. Large Organization Recognition Award

The Large Organization Recognition Award is a non-cash recognition award intended to encourage public sector agencies and legally-registered organizations (profit, non-profit and academic) with fifty (50) or more employees. Each finalist Submission for the Large Organization Recognition Award will be scored by the judging panel on the following three criteria: (1) Quality of the idea (including creativity and originality) (1/3); (2) Implementation of the idea (including user experience, design, and performance) (1/3); and (3) Potential Impact on any of the two competition objectives (1/3). The one eligible Large Organization whose Submission earns the highest overall score will win the Large Organization Recognition Award, which has no cash prize. In the event of a tie, winner will be selected based on the criteria described in (1), then (2), and finally (3). If there is still a tie, the winner will be selected based on a vote by the judging panel.

VIII. Verification of Potential Winners

ALL POTENTIAL AWARD WINNERS ARE SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION BY The World Bank WHOSE DECISIONS ARE FINAL AND BINDING IN ALL MATTERS RELATED TO THE COMPETITION. Award winners must continue to comply with all terms and conditions of these Official Rules and winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements. The potential winners will be notified by email, telephone, or mail on or about March 15, April 2011. The potential winners will be required to sign and return to the World Bank , within Ten (10) days of the date notice is sent, an affidavit of eligibility, and liability/publicity release (except where prohibited) in order to claim his/her prize if applicable. If a potential winner of any prize cannot be contacted, fails to sign and return the affidavit of eligibility and liability/publicity release within the required time period (if applicable), or if the prize or prize notification is returned as undeliverable, potential winner forfeits prize. In the event that a potential winner of a Competition prize is disqualified for any reason, Sponsor may award the applicable prize to an alternate winner who had the highest score remaining of the Finalist Applications.

By entering this Competition, Contestant agrees that the World Bank may verify the ownership and originality of any Application and that upon request, Contestant shall submit a written copy of any release, license or permission Contestant has received from a third party granting Contestant the right to use such Application. Contestant understands that in the event an Application is selected as a winning Application and Contestant’s ownership rights and the originality of Contestant’s Application cannot be verified to the satisfaction of the World Bank or is in any other way ineligible, the World Bank shall select an alternate winner based on the same Judging Criteria. The World Bank assumes no liability to third parties for false ownership rights claimed by Contestants.

If after announcing the Best Applications the World Bank Group determines that a Contestant has misrepresented, misstated, or mischaracterized its Submission in any way or Contestant is not the rightful owner of the submitted Application, the Submission may be withdrawn and disqualified from the Competition, and any privileges received by winning this contest may be rescinded. Any determinations made by the World Bank in withdrawing and disqualifying any Submission will be final and confidential.

For all Cash Prizes: Winners are responsible for all applicable taxes and fees associated with prize receipt and/or use. No transfer or substitution of a prize is permitted except by the World Bank. If a team of individuals, a corporation or an organization is selected as a prize winner, the prize will be awarded to the group and it will be up to them to split or appropriately allocate the prize.

IX. Competition Results

For Competition results go to appsfordevelopment.challengepost.com on or about April 15, 2011.

X. Entry Conditions and Release

By entering, each Contestant agrees to: (a) comply with and be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the World Bank and/or the Judging Panels which are binding and final in all matters relating to this Competition; (b) release and hold harmless the World Bank and its affiliates, from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liability, including but not limited to negligence and damages of any kind to persons and property, including but not limited to invasion of privacy (under appropriation, intrusion, public disclosure of private facts, false light in the public eye or other legal theory), defamation, slander, libel, violation of right of publicity, infringement of trademark, copyright or other intellectual property rights, property damage, or death or personal injury arising out of or relating to a Contestant’s entry, creation of an entry or submission of an entry, participation in the Competition, acceptance or use or misuse of prize (including any travel or activity related thereto) and/or the broadcast, transmission, performance, exploitation or use of entry; and © indemnify, defend and hold harmless the World Bank from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorneys fees) arising out of or relating to a Contestant’s participation in the Competition and/or Contestant’s acceptance, use or misuse of prize.

XI. Publicity

Except where prohibited, participation in the Competition constitutes winners’ consent to the World Bank’s use of winner’s name, likeness, photograph, voice, opinions and/or hometown and state for promotional purposes in any media, worldwide, without payment or consideration.

XI. Limitations of Liability

The World Bank is not responsible for: (1) any false, incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by Contestants, printing errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Competition; (2) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines or network hardware or software; (3) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Competition; (4) technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Competition or the processing of entries; or (5) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from Contestant’s participation in the Competition or receipt or use or misuse of any prize. If for any reason an entrant’s Submission is confirmed to have been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, entrant’s sole remedy is another provide another Submission. No more than the stated number of prizes will be awarded.

XII. No Recourse to Judicial Procedures

In the event that an entrant should disagree with any of these Competition Rules or any decision made by the World Bank or the Judging Panels, Contestant will have the right to withdraw its Submission. To the extent permitted by law, the rights to litigate, to seek injunctive relief or to any other recourse to judicial procedure in case of disputes or claims resulting from or in connection with this Competition are hereby excluded, and Contestant and Voters expressly waive any and all such rights.

XIII. Preservation of Immunities:

Nothing herein shall constitute or be considered to be a limitation upon or a waiver of the privileges and immunities of the World Bank, or any other member of the World Bank Group, which are specifically reserved.

XIV. Use of World Bank Name and Data

The use of the World Bank name, or any trademark, official mark, official emblem, or logo of the World Bank, or any of its other means of promotion or publicity is strictly prohibited except for attribution purposes only. By using the Datasets, you agree to provide attribution to the World Bank and its content providers in the following format: The World Bank: Dataset name: Data source (if known). When sharing or facilitating access to the Datasets, you agree to include the same acknowledgment requirement in any sub-licenses of the data that you grant, and a requirement that any sub-licensees do the same. You may meet this requirement by providing the uniform resource locator (http://www.worldbank.org/terms-datasets) of the World Bank Dataset terms of use. The World Bank will prosecute, to the fullest extent of the law, any other use of the World Bank name, or any trademark, official mark, official emblem, or logo of the World Bank.