What is EU Datathon?

It is an annual open data competition organised by the Publications Office of the European Union. The fifth edition of the competition is supported by the Digital Europe Programme of the European Union, which aims to drive the digital transformation of Europe.

The aims of the competition are to demonstrate the value of open data and to showcase opportunities for business models. Participating teams are requested to create a mobile or web application by using open datasets.

The rules are based on Article 206 and 207 of the financial regulation. The competition will respect the principles of transparency and equal treatment.

• The competition is open worldwide to anyone who is interested in creating a profit or non-profit (social) business model through data exploration and/or in creating open data prototype products based on open and public data.
• A team can be composed of one or more individuals (up to 4), one or more companies or one or more other legal entities.
• The competition is not open to staff working in the EU institutions, agencies, bodies, partnering organisations or contractors of the Publications Office.

The competition consists of three challenges. Each challenge is organised as a separate competition of equal importance (separate registration, shortlisted teams, presentations, and prizes). Teams may participate in any or all of the following challenges.

Challenge 1: ‘A European Green Deal’

• The European Green Deal is the plan to make the EU's economy sustainable and to transform the Union into a modern, resource-efficient, and competitive economy. Demonstrate how open data can support this plan. Develop apps (or services) that could be used to create a greener Europe, to boost efficient use of resources or to restore biodiversity and reduce pollution.
• Combine at least one dataset from data.europa.eu with any other publicly available dataset(s).

Challenge 2: ‘An economy that works for people’

• The EU’s unique social market economy allows economies to grow and to reduce poverty and inequality. With Europe on a stable footing, the economy can fully respond to the needs of people in the EU. Demonstrate how open data can support this effort. Develop apps (or services) for the public, for businesses, or for public administrations to create a deeper and fairer economic and monetary union, to boost investment and jobs creation or to address youth unemployment.
• Combine at least one dataset from data.europa.eu with any other publicly available dataset(s).

Challenge 3: ‘A Europe fit for the digital age’

• The EU aims at a digital transformation that works for people and businesses. Demonstrate how open data can support this transformation. Develop apps (or services) that improve data skills, increase connectivity, or make data more understandable for everyone. Teams are invited to draw upon the European Data Strategy and how to build sustainable European data spaces in the domains of public procurement, law, and open data.
• Combine at least one dataset from data.europa.eu with any other publicly available dataset(s).

Step 1 — Competition is launched

The launch is published on the competition website on 5 March 2021.

Step 2 — Proposals are submitted

Participating teams should register their proposal by 21 May 2021 by 23:59 CET (Central European Time).

Step 3 — Shortlisted teams are announced

The proposals are evaluated by the jury of the preselection phase. All participating teams will be notified about the results of the challenge they compete in via email by 11 June 2021.

Step 4 — Video teaser is submitted

Each shortlisted team must produce a 60-second teaser, in which they present their app and the team working on it, by 1 August 2021.

Step 5 — Winning apps are selected

The shortlisted teams will present their apps (or services) online at the competition finals on 25 November 2021, where the final evaluation and selection of winning apps will take place.

Phase 1 — Preselection

Preselection will take place after the closing date for submitting proposals (short descriptions of the idea/app). Proposals within each challenge will be evaluated by a preselection jury that shall be composed of experts from within and outside EU institutions and agencies.

During this phase, the jury will assess each submitted proposal against the preselection award criteria (table below). For each challenge, a maximum of three teams having scored the highest number of points will be shortlisted. All participating teams will be notified about the preselection results of the challenge they compete in.

Phase 2 — Final selection

The shortlisted teams (three per challenge) will be invited to develop their proposals into applications. They are required to fill-in a dedicated feedback report on the datasets they used and submit it with the final app.

The Publications Office will offer the finalists (shortlisted teams) rehearsals of their pitches and presentations before the finals.

On the day of the competition finals, the apps presented within each challenge will be evaluated by a jury consisting of at least five experts from within and outside the EU institutions and agencies. The shortlisted teams will be ranked against each other with the final award criteria in mind. The team with the best ranking across the jury will win the challenge. These sets of rules will provide a level playing field to all the competitors by considering the maturity of the proposed app at the date of submission.

Shortlisted teams that do not deliver a developed app will not be entitled to continue participating in the competition finals. Thus, they cannot claim any prize award.

The total award fund for the competition amounts to EUR 99 000 (EUR 33 000 for each challenge) and will be split in the following order for each challenge. No extra costs will be reimbursed.

For the first time, the Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) is offering a special Accessibility Award at the EU Datathon 2021.

The winning team having developed the most accessible app - if any - will be invited as keynote speaker to a web accessibility event, organised to mark the publication of the Web Accessibility Directive review in 2022 (event to be held is subject to 2022 budget availability).

The winners will have the opportunity to present their app to an audience composed of representatives of Member States’ ministries of digital and of national agencies in charge of the implementation of the Web Accessibility Directive.

The event is foreseen to take place in Brussels on 30 June - 1 July 2022, and travel and accommodation costs for a maximum of 4 members per team will be at the charge of the Commission. Please note that if for any reason the physical event is converted into an online event, no cash equivalent will be offered in lieu of travel and accommodation costs.

• Choose a short, meaningful and catchy name for your team.
• Consider creating a Twitter account for your team.
• For the teasers, a briefing note with more info will be provided to the shortlisted teams. Images and footage from stages as early as team building, or brainstorming can be of great value for your team’s teaser.
• Check out the finals of previous editions, teasers and testimonials on YouTube to be inspired.
• Take harmonised, high-quality photos of your team members for the website.

Clarifications

Participants may request any clarification up to five (5) working days before the closing date for submitting proposals. Requests for clarification should be submitted in writing to the following email address: op-datathon@publications.europa.eu.

Payment of awards

The payments of awards are subject to the registration of the winners in the legal entity form and bank account file database of the European Commission. For this purpose, after being notified of the award, winners are required to provide the necessary supporting documents duly signed and stamped where necessary. Additional information as well as the forms for the creation of the forms can be downloaded here. The Publications Office and its partners take no responsibility regarding the distribution of the awards within the teams.

Cancellation of the competition

The Publications Office reserves the right to cancel the competition before the competition finals without any obligation to indemnify the teams.

Intellectual property and copyright

In case teams use pre-existing material (such as open source) for their applications, they must guarantee that they have obtained all the necessary authorisations for such material to be used according to the rules described above. The proposal (short description of the idea/app) submitted for the preselection will remain the property of the teams (authors) and will not be made public (or disclosed) but will be accessible to the jury. The final products delivered for the final selection will remain the property of the authors but will be accessible to the jury and to all teams at the competition finals. The EU institutions, agencies and bodies will be allowed to mention, describe, and promote on their channels (websites, social media, press releases, etc.) the winning applications with due reference to the author without any further economic compensation.

Publicity

The winning applications may be featured in the ‘Applications’ section of data.europa.eu. Where appropriate, the name and copyright of the authors will be mentioned.

Processing of personal data

All personal data contained in the entry shall be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons regarding the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices, and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC . Such data shall be processed by the Publications Office solely in connection with the implementation and follow-up of the entry of the winner, without prejudice to a transmission to the bodies in charge of a monitoring or inspection task in accordance with European Union legislation.
Teams may, upon written request, gain access to their personal data and correct any information that is inaccurate or incomplete. They should address any questions regarding the processing of their personal data to the Publications Office via the contact e-mail announced in the rules of the competition. The teams may, at any time, lodge a complaint against the processing of their personal data with the European Data Protection Supervisor. On the competition website the Publications Office will publish the name of the winning teams and of their members, their locality, the prize amount and the nature and purpose of their applications. Participants may request that the Publications Office waive such a publication if disclosure risks threatening their security and safety or if it could harm their commercial interest.

Sole liability of the teams

Neither the Publications Office nor the partners may be held responsible for any claim relating to the activities carried out by teams in the framework of the competition. Neither the Publications Office nor the partners shall be held liable for any damages caused or sustained by any of the teams, including any damages caused to third parties because of or during the implementation of the activities related to the competition.

Applicable law and competent jurisdiction

The competition is governed by the applicable European Union law complemented, where necessary, by the law of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The General Court or, on appeal, the Court of Justice of the European Union, shall have sole jurisdiction to hear any dispute between the EU and any team concerning the interpretation, entry, or validity of the rules of this competition if such a dispute cannot be settled amicably.

Exclusion criteria and administrative sanctions

By submitting the project description teams declare that they are not in one of the situations mentioned in Article 136(1) of the Financial Regulation. Teams who are in any of those situations or fall into other categories indicated in Article 141 of the Financial Regulation shall be rejected from participating and from being awarded a prize under the present competition. The rejection shall be without prejudice to the decision of exclusion from participating in award procedures governed by the Financial Regulation and application of financial penalties (Articles 136-140 of the Financial Regulation).

Early Detection and Exclusion System

In case the participants are in one of the exclusion situations as stated above, personal data on them may be registered in the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) in line with the Articles 135, 142, 143 and 144 of the Financial Regulation. For more information, see the privacy statement for EDES.

Suspension of the competition, cancellation of the award and reduction of prize

Where the award procedure has been subject to irregularities or fraud, the Publications Office applies the measures referred to in Article 131 of the Financial Regulation.

Checks, audits, and investigations

The winning teams accept checks, audits and investigations by the European Commission, the European Anti-Fraud Office, the Court of Auditors, and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in relation to the competition and the prize received.

Press release - after the event