Rules of the Competition

Who can participate?

We welcome all participants aged 18 to 35 years old, living in Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Scotland, the State of Maine, the Canadian Province of Ontario and Coastal Norway (counties bordering the Atlantic Ocean).

For the two challenges several backgrounds are relevant: health sector professionals, tourism operators, entrepreneurs, coders and project managers are just some examples. This event will bring together people from different backgrounds with complementary skillsets and hopefully contribute to creating transnational and transatlantic ideas to solve the challenges.

How are teams formed?

The teams will be formed by the organisers under each of the two themes. You are encouraged to highlight your idea in the application form, together with your relevant experience, place of residence and motivation for participating. Based on your application, you will be put together in a team with other like-minded individuals (and complementary skills where possible).

One of the aims behind the event is to bring people together from across the North Atlantic region. Hence, you can expect to be working together with people sharing your interests, but sitting in different time zones. The teams are expected to be announced during the pre-event workshop on 17 March. Each team will consist of up to 5 people (and no less than 2).

This hackathon is a great opportunity for meeting new people and working in international teams with those from other parts of the North Atlantic region. If you prefer to team up with another applicant, then please let us know in the application form and we will do our best to accommodate that.

What do I need to participate?

Participants will need to apply online and have access to a device with good Internet connection, to enable live streaming and collaboration work. Platforms such as Slack, Zoom and YouTube will be used as main communication tools between participants, mentors, jury and organisers. The final team submission shall consist of a video file of up to 2 minutes long presenting the team’s idea, together with a descriptive text document. These two outputs must be uploaded to the submission portal before the deadline.

What support is available?

Each team will be assigned a mentor who will assist you throughout the competition. Your mentor will provide some guidance and advice on how best to structure and develop your idea. Each mentor will support 2 teams. You will communicate with your mentor through the communication tool ‘Slack’. It is suggested that 3 checkpoint meetings are held with your mentor throughout the 48 hours of the event, and you are required to join at least one of them (but please communicate with your mentor in advance in case you are unable to join any of these). The checkpoints will be on the Saturday at 14.00 and 21.00, and on Sunday at 13.00 (GMT).

How do participants present their ideas?

The teams will be asked to produce their project result as a max 2-minute video presentation together with a short descriptive text document of max 5 pages and upload it to the proposal portal. Submission deadline is Sunday at 18:00 (GMT).

What if I need technical support?

Tökni will be providing technical support before and throughout the event via the communication tool ‘Slack’.

What are the judging criteria?

The jury will choose winners in accordance with the following four criteria:

Relevance

The idea needs to be relevant to the chosen themes – either in Digital Health or Rural Tourism. The specific challenge needs to be clearly articulated.

Demand

Is there a demand for the proposed solution in the region or elsewhere in the world?

Originality

The idea needs to be novel or propose a fresh approach to an existing challenge. It cannot already be in use and should not have been proposed at other hackathons before.

Probability of success

Does this idea have a commercial potential i.e. something that can turn into a business venture and is it scalable?

In addition, all ideas should seek to align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Who owns the IP?

The IP developed through this competition will reside with the developers themselves, equally split between all team members.

Code of conduct

All participants are required to treat others (such as other participants, mentors, judges and organisers) with respect throughout the whole event. You are expected to behave professionally at all times. No harassment or inappropriate comments or behaviours will be tolerated and may result in disqualification.

Photo release waiver

By participating in the event “Think Rural, Think Digital, Think Ahead!”, you hereby grant the organisers permission to use the photographs, video, or other digital media created throughout the event for marketing purposes.