ABOUT THE COMPETITION

The Digital with Purpose Global Award aims to highlight and celebrate digital solutions that address human needs, decrease poverty, increase inclusivity, and protect nature, as in line with the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda (SDGs) and the Half-Earth concept. Digital with Purpose is looking for a winning solution that will contribute to a better world where 10 billion people can live and flourish.

This year, the award extends its reach beyond the singular Global Award, introducing three new categories specifically targeting the fields of Education, Smart Cities, and Biodiversity. This expansion is not just a reflection of our commitment to a more inclusive and sustainable world but also an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the diversity of innovations making a difference in these critical areas which are also the main themes of our Summit. 

The Global Award continues to honor the best digital solution that demonstrates a profound capacity to make the world a better place, potentially being one of the thematic solutions or an extraordinary project from another domain. For example the Global Award can be awarded to the solution that has won the Biodiversity DWP Award or to a solution that has proven to be more innovative and impactful while not fitting into any of the three categories mentioned.  

To participate, companies must submit a digital solution which, for the purposes of this competition, will be defined as a digital application that:

• Contributes to at least one of the SDGs
• Is deployed in the marketplace
• Provides a specific, not generic, solution
• Is resource and cost-efficient

Complete, end-to-end solutions

We will not be accepting entries for generic digital infrastructures that can support multiple solutions, such as mobile networks (3G, 4G, 5G etc), fixed line networks, cloud services, IoT devices, radio connectivity etc. Of course, such infrastructures may be included as a component of a submitted solution but should not be the main purpose. In this same vein, we are not looking for broad collections of applications such as ‘smart buildings’.

Operational solutions that are already demonstrating significant impacts

Solutions should have progressed beyond the development and pilot stages and should be in active deployment.

Quantification of SDG benefits

Submissions should be accompanied by a quantification of the social and/or environmental benefits delivered to date. These should be based on actual, collected data, with any assumptions explained and kept to a minimum. They should also show net benefits against a well-defined business-as-usual (BAU) baseline and take into account any associated negative impacts and rebound effects.

Potential to scale

Unless the solution is already deployed at scale, submissions should describe the potential to achieve widespread adoption and include plans to achieve this.

Creativity

We are keen to recognise innovative solutions that take sustainability forward in creative ways.

 

RECOGNISING COLLABORATION

Digital solutions are often developed by a consortium of partners and often require multiple technologies to operate. Awards will recognise all companies and other organisations that have played an active role in developing the application. Companies that have supplied a generic, off-the-shelf technology may be noted but will not be named as a recipient of the award.

 

WHO CAN ENTER?

Any organisation that has taken a leading role in the development may submit a solution on behalf of a consortium. This organisation should act as the central point of contact. The award will then be made to the full consortium that developed the application.

 

SELECTION PROCESS

The selection process will follow the steps below, provided a sufficiently high level of submissions are received:

1. A panel of judges or a selected recognised organisation (the jury) will review all entries and select the top five solutions which will be submitted to the High-Level Advisory Council.
2. The High-level Advisory Council will review all five entries and decide the submission to receive the DWP Global Award.
3. The DWP Global Award will be presented to a representative of the Winner Solution at the Closing Ceremony of the DWP Global Summit.

 

SUBMISSION

1. Which theme is applicable for this solution? (Education, Biodiversity, Smart Cities or Other)
2. Names of all organisations that have played an active role in developing the application. For each organisation briefly describe the contribution they made.
3. Key contact point details.
4. Summary of submission that Digital with Purpose and GeSI can publish (max 200 words)
5. Names of companies that have supplied generic, off-the-shelf technology.
6. Which principal SDG(s) does this solution address? Supply supporting qualitative narrative that describes the social/environmental benefits delivered by the solution. (max 200 words)
7. Provide a description of the solution in terms of its operating characteristics. (max 300 words)
8. Provide a description of the technologies employed by the solution. (max 300 words)
9. Provide a description of the business model that is used to deliver the solution (max 300 words)
10. Provide information on the current scale of deployment – number of units deployed and geographies of deployment. (max 100 words)
11. Provide a quantitative analysis of the net benefits delivered for the level of deployment described in #8. This should be based on actual, collected data, with any assumptions explained and kept to a minimum. It should also show net benefits against a well-defined BAU baseline and take into account any associated negative impacts and rebound effects. (max 500 words)
12. Describe the potential for scaling deployment and your plans to achieve this. (max 150 words)
13. Described any unique innovations that have led to this solution. (max 100 words)

*Additional information may be supplied to support your answers. However, judges may not be able to access this additional information so please ensure your answers to the set questions are as comprehensive as possible.

 

DEADLINE

Entries must be received by GeSI by 18:00 CET, 10 June 2024.