The Government of the Republic of Korea, UNDP Asia and the Pacific and the United Nations Global Pulse are happy to launch the 2016 Big Ideas Competition for Sustainable Cities and Urban Communities.

Data innovation for the SDGs

The competition is looking for data-driven solutions to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a particular focus on SDG 11: make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Specifically, we are looking for new ideas to enhance basic service delivery, sustainable transport & energy, resilience to natural disasters & climate change, and harmonious urban environments. Applications can span any of these topics and the use of big, open or crowdsourced data. The deadline for submissions is 6 June 2016.

Applicants will compete for 11 country-specific prizes, three excellence prizes and one grand prize, with the total prize fund standing at over US$35,000.

The Big Ideas Competition for Sustainable Cities is a collaboration between the Korea Association for ICT Promotion, the Korea Big Data Alliance, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning of the Republic of Korea, the National Information Society Agency of the Republic of Korea, the United Nations Development Programme Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Volunteers, and Pulse Lab Jakarta.

Eligibility and how to apply

Residents of ASEAN countries as well as the Republic of Korea are eligible to apply to the competition. Proposals should detail a data-driven solution that can be developed into a working prototype to advance Sustainable Development Goal 11. Take a look at the winners of last year’s competition for inspiration.

The deadline for submissions is EXTENDED to 6 June 2016 at 23.59 GMT+7. The winners will be announced on 27 June 2016 through the Global Pulse website.

More information for applicants is available in our competition booklet (see below) and in the blog on frequently asked questions.

Proposals must be submitted in English using the proposal template by email to big.ideas@undp.org. The subject line of the email should be displayed in the following format: [Country name] Title of the proposal. Any proposals submitted after the 6 June deadline will not be taken into consideration.

All questions and queries should also be directed to big.ideas@undp.org.

Pulse Lab Jakarta is grateful for the generous support from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Government of Australia.

This initiative is linked to Sustainable Development Goal 11: make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.