Data-driven Storytelling Contest – Deadline extension

About the Contest

The purpose of this contest is to encourage professionals, researchers, and students, especially those who identify as Indigenous Peoples, to demonstrate the value of data through effective visual data storytelling, and to contribute to the open data community by increasing the accessibility of information on public services.

During this COVID-19 pandemic, Open Development Mekong (ODM) in collaboration with SPIDER Center invites participants to use one’s data literacy and creativity to build a data-driven story featuring data on COVID-19 impacts from the ODI platforms and other relevant sources. 

Submission:

All entries must be submitted via email to opendev.vietnam@gmail.com along with the complete name, contact number, and name of the organization (if any), with the subject line: “Covid-19 Contest – [Participant’s Name]” by March 29th, 2021 (local time). Please see the guidelines for submission below. 

Judging criteria:

The submission will be judged based on the following criteria: 

  • Story (Impact) (25 points)
  • Visual form (Originality and creativity) (25 points)
  • Information (Integrity) (25 points)
  • Function (Usefulness) (25 points)
  • Using data from ODI platforms (plus extra points, maximum 10 points)

Prizes:

  • Winner: US$200 and certificate 
  • 1st Runner-up: US$100 and certificate 
  • 2nd Runner-up: US$50 and certificate 
  • All winning stories will be published on the ODI website and highlighted on the ODM Medium blog. 

Guidelines for Submission

The Open Development Initiative (ODI) under the East-West Management Institute (EWMI) invites entries to this data-driven storytelling contest. Participants from all of the Lower Mekong countries, including Lao PDR, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, are invited. 

ODI and its Open Development network platforms make open data available on development issues, including the current coronavirus pandemic and its impact on society, economy, and the environment. The platform makes data and information available on a single website to increase the accessibility of public services for people in the Mekong region, especially for women and other marginalized groups. 

The contest is aimed to engage all people, regardless of skill level, to create a creative story based on data on COVID-19 impacts, sourced from the ODI platforms and other relevant sources. 

For those interested in making submissions, especially women and indigenous peoples groups, and who would like mentoring sessions, please submit your applications with a motivation letter along with the topic ideas to opendev.vietnam@gmail.com by February 28th, 2021. Email subject: Covid-19 Contest – Request for Mentorship. ODI will organize a mentoring session to assist your submission. 

Contest rules:

  • An entry can be from individuals or groups (not more than 3 persons). Each participant may submit up to 2 entries.
  • The submission shall be a data story (words with chart/map/tables) or a data visualization (chart/map/figure with short description for explanation) to inform about the impacts of COVID-19 in your country. An interactive data story is encouraged. 
  • Data sources shall be from reliable open sources and must be referenced properly. Extra points will be given upon the use of data from the ODI websites. (ODV, ODL, ODC, ODT, ODMm, ODM)   
  • Language: The submission can be in either Vietnamese or English.
  • ODM reserves the right to edit and publish the entries of the winners and the 2 runners-up on its website, publications, documents, or any other dissemination medium. ODM will attribute the author on its publication and media posts.
  • The work must not be published on any other platform prior to this competition. Data used in the submission must be open for re-publication (for non-commercial purposes). Participants will take full responsibility for any copyright issues relating to datasets that have not yet been published on ODM platforms, and/or the content of his/her work. 

Timeline: 

  • Application submission for mentoring session: February 28th, 2021 (for interested participation) 
  • Application for online training session: February 28th, 2021, in this link.
  • Open Data Day event – Online training session: March 6th, 2021 (9 am-12 am)
  • Story submission deadline: March 29th, 2021 (24:00h)
  • Winners announcement: April, 2021 (via email and/or website)

Contact:

For additional details about the contest, including eligibility requirements, please send an email to opendev.vietnam@gmail.com.

Support event  – Mini data literacy training

Time: March 6 (open data day) – 9am -12am 

Purpose: increase data literacy, support the participants with more information and skills.

The event will cover:

  • What is open data?
  • Data cleaning, aggregation, visualization, and presentation
  • Storytelling, analysis, narrative creation

Location: online training with registration in this link.