DIGITAL ID AFRICA HACKATHON (THE “HACKATHON”) OFFICIAL RULES

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. 

SUBMISSION OF ANY ENTRY CONSTITUTES AGREEMENT TO THESE OFFICIAL RULES.

THE ORGANISERS OF THE HACKATHON RESERVE THE RIGHT TO SETTLE ANY AMBIGUITIES AND SELECT WINNERS AT THEIR DISCRETION. 

 

DATES

Stage 1: Ideation Phase

  • Launch & Info Dissemination: November 29th 
  • Digital ID Course: TBA. Specific details will be posted in the forums, email and social media. 
  • Idea Submission Deadline: January 26th 

Stage 2: Shortlisting & Development

  • Announcement of Shortlisted Ideas: February 9th
  • Prototype Development: February 9th - March 23rd
  • Solution Submission Deadline: March 23rd

Stage 3: Evaluation & Recognition

  • Solution Assessment: March 23rd - 31st
  • Award Ceremony: April 11th
ELIGIBILITY

Participants:

Citizens of the select countries can participate in the hackathon by forming a team of 2-5 members. However, the participation will be restricted to people residing in countries covered. To foster inclusivity, teams will be required to have at least one active female participant. Additionally, a nationality exception for refugees residing in the allowed countries will be permitted to participate. Participation will be limited to students currently enrolled in accredited universities at undergraduate, graduate or doctoral levels in countries covered.

Age: All participants must be 18 or older.
Gender: At least one active participant on the team must be a female. 
Qualifications:  Teams are encouraged to have at least one member with a STEM qualifications that will assist in prototyping.
Region: Participation is open to individuals from: Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Guinea, Benin, Togo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome & Principe, Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Chad
Previous Projects: Participants may use new or existing projects as long as they have full and uncontested rights to the intellectual property, copyrights and trademarks used (see Intellectual Property for details).

PROJECT AND SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
What to Create

We have developed a template that will guide you in bringing out the best aspects of your idea. This template must be filled as-is to give your idea the best chance of winning.

Download the Submission Template: [Find the Template Here] (Fill this out before submitting)

What to submit:

  • Completed submission template as a PDF: Ensure your completed template is converted into a PDF document.Keep the file size between 10MB and 35MB for easy submission.

  • Submission via Devpost: Head over to the “My Projects” tab, create a project and follow the prompts to upload and submit your completed PDF template. You edit your submission any number of times before the deadline.

A team may submit only one entry. The submission may be edited any number of times before the deadline and only the final submission after the deadline will be considered.

Submission Deadline: All idea submissions are due by Sunday, February 2nd, 2025 at 11:59 PM UTC

Intellectual Property

Your Submission must: (a) be your (or your Team) original work product; (b) be solely owned by you, your Team with no other person or entity having any right or interest in it; and (c) not violate the intellectual property rights or other rights including but not limited to copyright, trademark, patent, contract, and/or privacy rights, of any other person or entity. An Entrant may not contract with a third party for technical assistance to create the Submission. An Entrant may submit a Submission that includes the use of open source software or hardware, provided the Entrant complies with applicable open source licenses and, as part of the Submission, creates software that enhances and builds upon the features and functionality included in the underlying open source product. By entering the Hackathon, you represent, warrant, and agree that your Submission meets these requirements.

Publicity

By participating in the Hackathon, Entrant consents to the promotion and display of the Entrant’s Submission, and to the use of personal information about themselves for promotional purposes, by the Sponsor, Administrator, and third parties acting on their behalf. Such personal information includes, but is not limited to, your name, likeness, photograph, voice, opinions, comments and hometown and country of residence. It may be used in any existing or newly created media, worldwide without further payment or consideration or right of review, unless prohibited by law. Authorized use includes but is not limited to advertising and promotional purposes.

CODE OF CONDUCT

While participating or present in physical and/or virtual spaces used by the hackathon for example; the award venue, Discord channels, webinars and Devpost platform, you are expected to conduct yourself in a manner that is respectful of the space and others in the space. For more details on the code of conduct, visit https://hackcodeofconduct.org. If the organisers deem your behaviour harmful to the hackathon, you may be expelled from the competition and associated spaces.

JUDGING CRITERIA AND WINNER SELECTION

A detailed rubric will be used to evaluate your presentations and demos, ensuring a fair and transparent review process. This rubric will be shared with participants at a later stage. Here’s a sneak peek at the key criteria:

[20%] Novelty and Creativity
  • Originality: How unique and innovative is the idea compared to existing solutions?
  • Creativity: How creatively is the digital ID system utilized in the proposed solution?
[15%] Feasibility and Practicality
  • Technical Feasibility: Can the solution be realistically developed with the current technology stack and within the provided time frame?
  • Operational Feasibility: Can the solution be implemented and maintained effectively in the targeted regions?
[15%] Scalability and Sustainability
  • Scalability: Can the solution be scaled to a larger population or different regions with minimal changes?
  • Adaptability: Can the solution be adapted to other contexts or use cases?
  • Long-term Viability: Is the solution sustainable in the long run, both in terms of technical maintenance and financial viability?
  • Resource Utilization: How efficiently does the solution use resources such as data, infrastructure, and personnel?
[10%] Relevance to African Context
  • Problem Addressed: Does the idea address a significant problem or challenge specific to Africa as a whole, or the participants’ region?
[10%] Security and Privacy friendly / Digital rights
  • Data Security: How well does the solution protect sensitive user data?
  • Privacy Protection: Does the solution comply with privacy laws and best practices to ensure user privacy while empowering users over their personal information?
  • Transparency: Is the solution transparent in its operations and data handling practices?
[10%] Overall documentation's accuracy and Clarity
  • Documentation's accuracy: Is the documentation clear, verifiable, accurate, detailed, and well-organized?
  • Clarity of Idea Submission: Is the idea submission well-written, coherent, and easy to understand?
[10%] Inclusion and Ethical considerations
  • Ethical Use: Does the solution consider ethical implications, such as avoiding discrimination and ensuring fairness and inclusivity?
  • Accessibility: Does the solution consider and accommodate users with disabilities or those with limited access to technology?
[5%] Impact and Community Benefits
  • Impact Potential: How impactful is the proposed solution for the African population? Consider potential reach and depth of impact.
  • Community Benefits: How does the solution benefit the local community?
[5%] Community Engagement
  • Engagement Strategy: How does the solution plan to engage with and involve the community in its implementation and use? The ideal use case would clearly identify the target communities and explain their involvement, part to play and ways to engage with the team when needed (biometric registrations, awareness, assistance and support, etc). 

Judging Process:

  • Stage 1: A selection committee will review idea submissions based on the rubric and select the most promising projects to advance.
  • Stage 2: Judges will evaluate the functionality, presentation and code of the prototypes of best 4-5 teams to the rubric to select finalists.
  • Stage 3: Finalists will present their projects live, and judges will select the winners based on the rubric criteria.