2020 | Digital Change-Maker Challenge

For innovators with ideas that create digital impact in their communities
4
Jun

2020 | Digital Change-Maker Challenge

Apply for the 2020 | Digital Change-Maker Challenge now!

Do you have a remarkable idea to accelerate digital transformation in your community?

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) give individuals the opportunity to participate in a more equalitarian society, access resources more efficiently, and participate in economic. However, not everyone enjoys these opportunities: almost half of the world’s population is completely disconnected, with a disproportionate share living in developing countries. However, digital transformation can help provide access to disadvantaged individuals and communities.

If the world is to close the digital divide and ensure equality and growth opportunities for all, global change-makers must bring new ideas, projects, and solutions that address specific problems and consider all stakeholders in their communities.

With the rise of entrepreneurial ecosystems and constantly changing technologies, many innovators are still not focused on solving the right problems. To bridge this gap, this challenge is looking for innovators with remarkable ideas that can create digital transformation in their communities.

To apply to this challenge, you must have an idea with a minimum viable project in one of the following thematic areas:

  • Capacity building: bringing digital skills to society.
  • Cybersecurity: solutions that promote online safety and security.
  • Digital inclusion: empowering people with specific needs; including indigenous peoples, people in rural areas, persons with disabilities, and youth and children.
  • Climate change and e-waste: helping countries mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.
  • Emergency telecommunication: enhancing disaster risk reduction and improving national emergency telecommunications and early warning and monitoring systems.
  • ICT applications: enhancing citizens’ lives, promoting smart living, and improving public service availability.
  • Regulatory and market environment: enabling collaboration for a sound policy, legal and regulatory environment for digital development.
  • Technology and network development: enabling reliable ICT infrastructure and services for all.
  • Statistics and indicators: facilitating evidence-based data collection and analysis to measure the information society and promote informed decision making.

Your solution should:

  • Address a clear problem that stakeholders in your community are facing, especially considering value chain competitiveness and global disruption due to Covid-19.
  • Cover one or more of the thematic areas above. Read More.

The 2020 edition of the ITU Innovation Challenge will be taking place amid a global pandemic caused by Covid-19. This has resulted in stress on value chains and countries’ readiness for a digital economy, significantly affecting social conditions worldwide. Global supply, production, consumption, and delivery chains are disrupted. Traditional economies are struggling, as industries have not been digitalized and infrastructure is inadequate to cope with current stress levels.

Policy-makers and innovators worldwide are under pressure. Their communities must embrace a digital economy so that a semblance of normalcy can be maintained in these uncertain conditions. Therefore, the overall theme of this year’s challenges is Rethinking the digital economy’s value chains during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The challenge is a global open competition platform for innovators and ecosystem builders to present their ideas and projects, empowering them to transform their communities into thriving digital societies. Read More.