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HOW TO APPLY

WSA is a nomination based award system, inviting all UN member states to nominate their best local digital solutions, contributing to the achievement of the UN SDGs and an inclusive knowledge society.

 

Each UN member state is represented by a WSA National Expert. They are scouting for the best digital local impact solutions of global significance !

The WSA national experts are carrying out the local pre-selection for WSA, through national contests or national Expert panel selection. To participate in the WSA, you need to be nominated by a WSA National Expert as the best national digital application in one of the 8 categories.

Each country is eligible to nominate one project/solution per WSA category.

Please note that a country’s local deadline for application may vary from the WSA Global deadline.  

Are you under the age of 26? You may want to also consider to apply for the WSA Young Innovators!

 

How to apply

 

1

Write a mail to the WSA office to be introduced to your WSA National Expert. Your National Expert will guide you through the local steps needed to apply for the WSA.

Some countries also offer application through a national contest or other forms of application.

 

2

Your solution will be reviewed and evaluated by the WSA National Expert if it meets the eligibility criteria and standards of the WSA. After careful evaluation, the WSA National Expert will decide if they wish to nominate your solution for the WSA, based on innovation, local impact, quality and content.

 

If your solution is nominated in one of the WSA categories, your WSA National Expert will enter your data in the WSA Contest Database. Please make sure to provide your WSA National Expert with valid contact data.

 

 

3

Upon nomination, you will receive a confirmation email inviting you to complete your application. Please make sure to check your spam folder.

 

After submitting your application, you are officially enrolled in the global WSA.

 

An especially assembled international Jury will then evaluate all nominated and completed solutions and choose the 40 WSA winners of the year.

 

Eligibility

PRODUCERS

  • Any company, organisation or individual from all UN and UNESCO member states can be nominated.

SOLUTIONS

  • WSA is strictly restricted to digital applications with a strong benefit for society and a high local impact.
  • Nominations for the WSA can contain mobile applications, SMS based products, webpages, databases, kiosk installations, wearables, devices, IoT etc. There is no limitation regarding the platforms or channels the projects work with.
  • The projects can be max. 2 years old at the date of nomination or need to prove major updates/upgrades/innovation within the past 2 years.
  • No ideas, drafts, demonstrations or concepts are accepted, all submitted projects must be market ready or already on the market.
  • WSA evaluates and highlights the content, user value and local impact of digital solutions.

 

WSA database submission guide for nominations

To participate in WSA, you must fill in the application form in the WSA Contest Database after being nominated by your National Expert.

 

Please find below some guidelines on how you should provide this information in order to make the application easier to evaluate and process and hence promote your project the best.

 

Please find here also a manual to use the database.

 

 

 

General guidelines for your application in the database

  • Please be short and precise and make your digital solution easy to understand. Avoid overly long sentences and uncommon technical terms.
  • You must fill in your application in ENGLISH.
  • Please make sure that the URL to your solution and the email you provide works!
  • Please be aware that an international jury is evaluating your project. E.g. if your project cannot be downloaded from the app store in some countries, please make sure that you give enough information, provide screenshots or a comprehensive presentation for the jurors.
  • We advise to first do your application in a word document and then copy paste to the database for easier structuring.
  • WSA tries to keep the application as short as possible, hence we advise to fill in all fields, even if they are not obligatory.

 

WSA 2023 database manual

Application form template for WSA database

 

 

Your project information to be provided in your application:

 

Provide a link to a video with your solution.

Please provide a short video about your solution. It should be short and explanatory, so one can get a good impression about what your solution is about. Jury members prefer to view a video to get a first impression and to understand what your digital innovation is about, before they go into screening the text provided. If possible, the video should be in high resolution, but can be also a simple video showing your digital innovation, or a marketing video you have. You can add more links, divided by a semicolon.

 

The video is not obligatory, but we highly recommend it.

 

What societal/local issue/problem does your solution address? Who benefits? 

Please describe the concrete problem that your company/your solution is solving. Give the jury a concrete summary of what issue your solution solves, which issue it addresses and why it makes an impact. Mention local or regional challenges if needed to understand the context.

 

Specify exactly how your solution hacks the societal or local problem.

Concretely, how are you solving the described problem? Describe what your solution achieves/aims for, give details on how it works. Please summarize the most important aspects of your solution in a nutshell. It should give the jurors a short overview about your solution, give an easy insight into the purpose of the solution and point out the general outlay. Please be precise and on point and give a solid impression on your solution.

 

Please highlight the local, regional, or national contexts of the target market for your solution, including their unique social, cultural, economic and/or political circumstances. How does your solution hack the problem in what unique market circumstances?

 

When was the most recent release / major revision of your solution?

If your solution was launched more than 2 years ago, you must demonstrate significant innovation, updates or new features. WSA awards solutions and innovations that have been introduced on the market after 2020. If your company has been founded earlier, this is not a problem – but please specify the launch/introduction date of the specific service/solution you are applying with.

 

In what stage of implementation is your solution?

Established; established with recent innovation; on the market; market entry level; market-ready; testing phase

 

Describe your market competition: who is offering or doing something similar, locally or globally? What is their level of product development/growth in the target market? 

Do you know your competitors and who is doing something similar? What’s your comparative advantage?

 

Impact measurement: how do you measure how much the solution improves the situation for your target group? Can you provide here the specific results of your impact measurement?

How do you address your target group? What are the strategies to reach your target group? Are there any specific cooperations/technologies/campaigns you engage in to reach your target group?

 

Who is the team behind your solution?

Please let us know more about your team. How many people are working for your solution? What’s your governance structure? Who is the leading team? Do you have an Advisory Board? Any Specific Mentors, etc.

 

WSA is not foremost about the content and innovation, but we also would like to know about the innovators standing behind the unique solutions. This is why we would like to learn more about yourself and/or your team. Explain e.g. your motivation, give some information about your bio/personal experiences and describe the structure of your team, if applicable.

 

Please provide quantifiable success measurements and numbers of users/downloads for your solution here:

Tell us some numbers that are relevant for the impact of your solution. How many people do you reach, how many customers do you have? How do you measure success for your solution? What did you achieve in the last 1-3 years? (e.g. impact, customers, any relevant numbers)

 

Which key technologies are you using?

AR; VR; AI; Big Data; Blockchain; Deep learning; IoT; Wearables; 3D Printing; NLP; Robotics; ML; analytics; CMS; NFT; None of the above

 

What UN Sustainable Development Goals are you addressing with your solution?*

No Poverty; Zero Hunger; Good Health and Well-Being; Quality Education; Gender Equality; Clean Water and Sanitation; Affordable and Clean Energy; Decent Work and Economic Growth; Industry Innovation and Infrastructure; Reduced Inequalities; Sustainable Cities and Communities; Responsible Consumption and Production; Climate Action; Life Below Water; Life on Land; Peace Justice and Strong Institutions; Partnership for the Goals

 

If applicable – please provide a functional test user account for Jury members.

Please share some information if and how the jury members can test your solution. Provide login data/download links/tutorials etc. Please provide some tips for the jurors, how they should navigate through your solution. This is the section to pinpoint which areas, sections etc. the Jurors should have a special focus on. If necessary, please provide free access codes and installation procedure for jury members: demo version links, demo users and passwords, download links etc.

 

What are the biggest risks to sustaining or growing your solution?

 

Please read the Rules and Conditions section carefully before applying. By submission of a solution, producers accept the Rules and Conditions of the WSA contest!

 

 

Contact the WSA team for questions!