Data Challenge: Webinar & FAQ
Thank you to everyone who joined our webinar yesterday, offered their insight, and posed great questions. With 110 attendees from all over the world, representing a range of organizations, it was wonderful to see so many people take an interest in this project, especially those from across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and other locations where DFID is engaged in helping respond to COVID-19. Over the one-hour presentation, we were joined by some great panelists from DFID, the FT Hub, and the Data Challenge Team, and we are appreciative of their leadership.
During the webinar nearly half of the attendees indicated that they had not yet submitted submissions, but were interested in doing so, so we are very much looking forward to receiving the new entries.
If you missed out on attending the live webinar, a recording is available for viewing on YouTube. Watch it to learn about #COVIDaction generally and how the programme is working to better interpret and leverage frontier technology in response to COVID-19.
Here is some of the essential information that was covered in the webinar:
- Submission: Application materials are available on our Medium page at https://medium.com/covidaction/data.
- Deadline: The application window for grant funding closes on May 18, 11:59 pm BST
- Judging: The FT Hub will review and judge submissions. Judging will begin the week after the submission deadline. In terms of process, the COVIDaction Showcase, matchmaking, and award recommendations are shared with the investment committees which will award the grant funding.
- Awards: Rolling notifications on decisions will be made starting early June through mid-July. Due to the nature of the pandemic, and the need for immediate application, our goal is to have all decisions made by the end of July to enable activities to start as soon as possible.
We’ve also summarized below the frequently asked questions submitted via email, Twitter, and the webinar Q&A. If you have any other last-minute questions, please get in touch with us via email at: covidaction-data@hellobrink.co
How many grants will you give out? How many submissions have you received so far?
The total budget for grants under COVIDaction is GBP 1.2 million, which will include awards across all of the COVIDaction Challenge areas. Matchmaking also plays a big role in the Data Challenge, as all eligible solutions will be available to donor, implementing partners, and host governments via an online repository to help identify appropriate tools for different data needs. As of the date of the webinar (May 14th), there were nearly 200 submissions, with approximately 110 for data collection and sources and over 50 for data analytics. Many submissions were from organisations and firms in LMICs.
What criteria are you using for judging these submissions?
The team is using a variety of criteria, notably:
- What is the potential impact of this solution on COVID-19 on challenges facing LMICs?
- How immediate this solution be implemented? What resources are needed to do so?
- How well does the solution align with the Principles for Digital Development?
Can groups of organisations submit an application together?
Yes, however we ask that there be one lead organization as the point of contact. If your submission is selected for future support, you will have the opportunity to potentially replace organizations or change who is the lead organisation.
Can we submit more than one submission?
Yes! We ask that you submit a unique solution once — if your firm has multiple solutions, especially those which are in different topic areas, feel free to submit multiple applications.
Can individuals apply or only companies?
Individuals and groups of individuals are welcome to apply. For groups, please provide us with information on your team including how you came together as a group and your plans for organising yourselves if you were to be selected.
How are grant monies intended to be used?
The FT Hub is looking to leverage existing solutions and approaches and scale for immediate impact. The three main types of support are showcasing, matchmaking and grants. All of these types of support will be focused on immediate implementation to fight COVID-19 in LMICs using data.
Do you need a budget now? Can we charge overhead? Do we need to provide matching funds?
At this moment in time, we are not asking for budget information. Budgets will be negotiated on a case by case basis with each organisation selected to receive grants. We are asking you to share with us in the applications how the potential support provided from the Challenge would allow your solution to be impactful. Matching funds are not required.
Does the solution need to have been tested? What if it is new?
As mentioned above, a main criteria is “can this solution be applied quickly (within a few months) to an LMIC for immediate impact on COVID-19?” We are not looking to build solutions from scratch, but rather take something that has already been developed and apply it quickly. In cases where a solution has not yet been used for COVID-19/LMICs, we ask you to provide information on how your solution can be configured or adapted for COVID-19 and/or LMICs — please provide evidence where available.
What is a data source vs data collection tool? A data collection tool vs a data analysis tool?
A data source is a data set (CSV, XML, relational database, noSQL, etc) or a collection of data sets that you have the right to share. The data set could cover metadata, data structures, data models, or similar. Please do not upload the full data set.
A data collection tool is a platform, form, or other tool that collects data for analysis and use.
A data analysis tool is one that takes data, either from internal or external sources, and provides analytical functionality for decision making. This can be a visualization, a GIS supported dashboard, a prediction modeling tool, or others.
We understand that many tools cover all three elements (data source, data collection, and data analytics); in such cases, please complete two submissions (analytics vs collection) to share this information. The data source and collection form allows you to share information on both elements.
Can you clarify data ownership and IP? Especially data being transferable to the host government? Do I have to make my solution open source?
Submitting to the challenge does not require you to give up data ownership of IP or copyright of your information. However, as outlined in the terms and conditions [LINK], you are giving us permission to publish anything you share via the submission. So, please don’t submit proprietary or protected information as part of your submission to us. Actual IP and copyright details will be addressed during the negotiations for any grant or matchmaking decision.
The intention of having systems or data transferable to the host government is to make sure the systems and data are sustainable after the period of this challenge or the emergency is over. Details can be negotiated as part of the grant or other support provided.
Do software solutions have to be open source? Why are you asking about licensing?
Sustainability of data solutions is an important digital principle for the FT Hub, which includes how the data solution will be financed and resourced past any grant or support period. We also know that software has a range of different business models available for continued support and development. The team is not pre-determining a business model for these solutions but rather wants to learn more from submitters on how they envision the business model working. If your solution has a publicly available licensing/fee structure, please share it. If your solution would benefit from support from our experts on how to find the right business model for sustainability and growth, this is an area of support we can offer.
