Rules

Visualizing Climate Change & Resilience

(the “Challenge”)

CHALLENGE RULES

(the “Rules”)

 

This Challenge is sponsored by Asian Development Bank, 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550, Metro Manila, Philippines (the "Sponsor") in partnership with Observable, Inc. of 584 Castro Street #858, San Francisco, CA 94114, United States of America.

 

1. AGREEMENT TO THE RULES 

By accessing and accepting these Rules, Participants:

• enter into a valid and enforceable contractual relationship with the Sponsor regarding participation in the Challenge; registration and enrolment in the Challenge does not set up any subordination relationship between the Sponsor and the Participant; and
• fully and unconditionally agree to comply with these Rules; Participants express their agreement by ticking the agreement box during enrolment in the Challenge.
  

In case of non-respect of these Rules, the Participant will be disqualified from the Challenge and will not be eligible for the participation incentive of seed funding.

 

2. TERM/DURATION

This Challenge begins on October 17, 2022 at 00:00 AM and ends on November 8, 2022 at 23:59 PM. Dates and times in these Rules refer to the time zone in Manila, which is Greenwich Mean Time + 8H (GMT+8).

ADB Challenge platform and Observable will be accessible 24 hours a day, subject to IT maintenance operations.

 

3. ELIGIBILITY 

While the challenge is open to the general public, criteria for shortlisting of finalists requires participants and teams to be from ADB member countries. Eligible Participants may be single authors or teams composed of multiple persons. The Challenge will actively seek to engage Participants from:

• Startups
• University Students and Faculty
• Research Organizations and Independent Researchers
• Corporate Partners

To take part in the Challenge, ADB must receive your completed registration and required submission by the application deadline of November 8, 2022, at 23:59 PM, Manila time.

 

4. REGISTRATION AND PARTICIPATION 

Participants must register a user account on the ADB Challenge platform during the application period: from October 17, 2022 at 00:00 AM to November 8, 2022 at 23:59 PM and must have truthfully and accurately completed all required information therein. You must also have read and accepted the ADB Challenge Rules as well as the Agorize challenge platform Terms and Conditions of Use and the Privacy Policy during the creation of your user account and your registration to the Challenge. Registration for and participation in the Challenge is free, with no purchase or payment obligation.

Any registration based on inaccurate, false or incomplete information will result in Participant disqualification. Refusing collection, recording and use of personal data that is strictly necessary to performing the Challenge will result in Participant disqualification. The Participant is solely responsible for the information provided when registering. Any intentional or non-intentional mistake, anomaly or inconsistency, regarding this information, may result in Participant disqualification. The Sponsor reserves the right to conduct all necessary verifications regarding Participant identity, postal and/or email address.

Deletion of a Participant’s user account on the Challenge platform will be deemed as a withdrawal from the Challenge. In this case, the Participant, regardless of whether the deletion results from the Participant’s personal action or not, will not participate in the Challenge, and will not obtain any compensation.

 

5.  QUALIFYING SUBMISSIONS 

Qualifying Submissions are Observable notebooks. Qualifying Submissions must be published by the submission deadline, and notebook code must be downloaded as a .tar file and re-uploaded to the ADB Challenge platform along with a short summary of the submission and link to the publication URL.

If a Submission is not published on Observable and the submission code is not downloaded and re-uploaded to the ADB Challenge platform, or if the Submission is illegible or unintelligible, the Submission will be disqualified.

Additionally, to qualify, Submissions must respect the following parameters:

• No other individual and/or entity is entitled to claim any rights from the use of the Submission; and
• The content of the Submission does not and will not infringe or violate any rights of any third party or entity, including, without limitation, intellectual property rights, privacy, competition law, confidentiality, or any contractual or extracontractual right. All Submissions suspected of any law(s) and/or any third party’s right will be ineligible.
• While any intellectual property and copyright of the submission will be held by the participating team, ADB will be permitted non-commercial fair use of the materials submitted.
• If content from a third party has been used in the development of the Submission, all rights, authorizations and agreements necessary to submit the Submission and grant the rights mentioned herein have been obtained. The use of uncredited, non-proprietary third-party contributions in the Submission will result in the disqualification of the Submission and the related Participants.
• Submissions must use public data. No sensitive data or code may be used. Treat all information about the content of the submission as acceptable for public disclosure.
• No representation of national/country borders may be used in the submissions. Any submissions using maps showing country or sub-country administrative areas with an international borders must ensure that the maps are drawn using abstracted representations of national borders (e.g., hexbins or grid cartograms) or that map layers show only natural geographic areas, with all representations of national borders removed.
• Submissions must avoid discussion of, or reference to, disputed borders, areas, regions, etc.
• Submissions must not be derogatory or negative in focus; Submissions must emphasize resilience to climate change.
• Submissions should focus on one or more of ADB's developing member countries or on comparisons between member regions.
• The languages of Submissions should be a combination of English and JavaScript.

 

6. CHALLENGE PROCESS 

The challenge consists of four parts:

 

7. PARTICIPATION INCENTIVE

 

The shortlisted finalist(s) Participant with the selected solution will be eligible to be contracted by ADB subject to compliance with the following cumulative conditions:

• The Submission complies with terms defined for "Qualifying Submissions";
• Each Participant complies with the terms defined for "Communication ,"Confidentiality", and "Intellectual Property";
• It can be proven that the Participants with the final selected Submission fulfil the conditions defined for "Eligibility".

No contractual value will be provided to the selected solution who do not fulfill the above conditions.

Subject to these Terms and Conditions, once confirmed by the Judges, the selected Participant will receive up to US$10,000 contractual value in exchange for developing and delivering one or two workshops on data literacy and visualization to ADB staff. Release will be subject to the Sponsor’s standard rules and procedures.

No assignment or transfer of aforementioned contractual value is allowed by a selected team. If a potential selected team cannot be reached, is unable to accept the contractual value or any portion of the it for any reason, ADB shall have no further obligation to such potential selected team and their solution. ADB will not replace any lost or stolen contractual value after being provided to the selected teams. Selected teams will accept the contractual value “as it is”. ADB disclaims any warranty regarding the contractual value.

In the event a Participant cannot be reached, by email or by phone, for more than three (3) months after the first attempt to reach them was made, the Participant will be deemed as having waived their right for their solution to be funded and will not be entitled to any contractual value or any kind of compensation,

If the contractual value as initially planned is unavailable, ADB will be free to substitute another funding of similar value. Any such decision is at ADB’s sole discretion.

Any Participant who does not fulfil the conditions of Participation as provided in the Rules during their registration and/or at any time during the Challenge will be summarily disqualified from the Challenge without prior notice and will not be entitled to any contractual value. In the event that the contractual value is already given to a Participant who does not meet the conditions of Participation when registering or throughout the duration of the Challenge, ADB reserves the right to require the Participant to withdraw the contractual value and contract.

 

8. IDENTIFYING INFORMATION IN EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION  

The Participant acknowledges and consents that ADB may, for the duration of the Challenge and for a period of one (1) year following the Finalist Showcase Event, use the Challenge for publicity, including for the Sponsor’s advertising or other marketing purposes, (by any means and through any format such as platform, advertising banners, social networks, newsletter, press release) now known or unknown to date, free of charge or for a consideration.

In particular, you consent to the use, by ADB, of your name and surname, your city and region of residence, the name of the institution in which you studied or in which you obtained your diplomas and other biographical information, your image, the information regarding the Seed Fund (if you are a selected team), the name of your company and its distinctive signs (if you are a Startup) and any other personal data that you submit with your Submission as well as the content of your Submission relating to the Challenge.

As an example, each Participant authorizes ADB to use the photographs taken during the Finalist Showcase Event to disseminate them via any communication medium.

Such use does not entitle the selected Participant to any other payment than the seed fund. The Sponsor agrees to cease use of the aforementioned elements in connection with the Participant at the end of the aforementioned period.

 

9. CONFIDENTIALITY 

ADB has no obligation to keep the information contained in the Submissions confidential. In general terms, when submitting any Submissions, the Participants understand, agree and accept that any information contained therein may be publicly disclosed by ADB.

If you are a selected team, the Sponsor may request that you execute a confidentiality/non-disclosure agreement for the purpose of entering into negotiations regarding the further development of your project, as described in your Submission. Such confidentiality/non-disclosure agreement will be directed to your Submission and all intellectual property that it may contain.

Furthermore, Participants acknowledge that ADB may currently or in the future be developing information internally, or receiving information from other parties, that is similar to the information contained in any of the projects. Accordingly, nothing herein shall prohibit the Sponsor from independently acquiring, developing, or having developed for it, products, concepts, systems, services, or techniques that are similar to or compete with the products, concepts, systems or techniques contemplated by or embodied in any Submission.

The Participants recognize that other Participants, individuals or entities may have provided to ADB or others, or made public, or may in the future submit, or make public, content that is the same or similar to any piece of information contained in any of the projects. Hence, the Participants acknowledge, agree, and accept that ADB shall have the right to use such same or similar materials, and that the Participants will not be entitled to any compensation arising from the Sponsor’s use of such materials.

 

10. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Definitions. For the purposes of this section,

• "Intellectual Property Rights" refer to any copyright or other rights over a brand, a design or a model, a patent and, more generally, any element, (including trade secrets and knowhow), that may be protected by national and/or international laws or conventions on intellectual property (“Intellectual Property Rights”).
• “Previous Rights” refer to any Intellectual Property Rights and/or any associated know-how held by the Participants before the start date of the Challenge (“Previous Rights”).
• “Creations” refer to any software (including source and object code software), database, technical specifications, text, design, model, information, knowledge, method, process or product, as well as any resulting elements and/or processes likely or otherwise to be protected according to national and/or international laws or conventions on intellectual property developed by any Participant as a part of any Submission throughout the Challenge (“Creations”).

Warranty of non-infringement. Each Participant guarantees to ADB that he/she is the co/owner and/or co/holder of the Intellectual Property Rights regarding all or part of the Creations contained in the Submission at any stage of the Challenge, and that he/she has obtained all rights and permissions regarding all pre-existing Creations and any elements of the Submission for which he/she does not hold the relevant rights.

Each Participant guarantees (i) that his/her contribution is original and unprecedented; (ii) that it does not infringe upon the copyright or any Intellectual Property Rights of any third party; (iii) that all the elements of which his/her submissions are formed, as well as all pieces of contributions and information communicated in the submission presentation documents are accurate, reliable and complete; and (iv) that the submission of the relevant Submission does not constitute an act of unfair competition of any kind.

While the intellectual property rights and copyright of the submission will be held by the participating teams, the Sponsor will be permitted non-commercial fair use of the materials submitted. Furthermore, participant will treat all information about the content of the submission as confidential and not cause or permit such confidential information to be disclosed to any third party, until the selected team and their solution is announced and their submission is published online by ADB.

It is compulsory for Participants to indicate the source of any pre-existing Creations of whichever nature and on whichever support that are included in any Submission. Any Submission involving several Participants constitutes a collaborative work and it should be treated as such in accordance with the applicable regulation in force.

Liability. ADB cannot be held liable for any infringement of the above provisions by Participants. Each Participant shall indemnify the Sponsor against any disturbance, action, claim, opposition and demand or eviction attempt from any third party in connection with any Creation in the Submission (Intellectual Property Rights included).

By participating in this Challenge, you are not granting ADB any rights to any intellectual property supporting all or part of the Submission and the Sponsor makes no claim to ownership of your Submission or any intellectual property that it may contain.

 

11. MODIFICATION OF RULES, SUSPENSION AND CANCELLATION OF THE CHALLENGE 

Update of the Rules. ADB reserves the right to amend these Rules at any time, including the Challenge duration in case of operational imperatives, without prior notice to Participants regarding the enforcement or the validity of these amendments. Participants are encouraged to consult these Rules regularly. Participants expressly waive all claims or disputes related to any amendment to these Rules by the Sponsor.

Should any paragraph of these Rules be declared or judged illegal, unenforceable or void by a court decision, the paragraph in question will be considered null and void, but all other unaffected paragraphs will be enforced within the limits of the law.

Challenge Cancellation or Suspension. ADB reserves the right in its discretion, to (i) cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Challenge and these Rules, for any reason, at any time and without any liability, and (ii) to limit or restrict participation in the Challenge. The Sponsor will not be held liable for the modification, cancellation or suspension of the Challenge and no compensation or remuneration will be due to the Participants.

 

12. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY 

ADB will in no way be held liable in the event of breakdown or failure, regardless of the cause, of any telecommunications network used that causes Participants difficulty in or prevents Participants from identifying themselves on or gaining access to the Challenge platform.

Participants agree that the company, its affiliates and all of their respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, representatives and agents (“released parties”) will have no liability whatsoever for, and will be released and held harmless by participants for any claims, liabilities, or causes of action of any kind or nature for any injury, loss or damages of any kind including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential or punitive damages to persons, including without limitation disability or death. Without limiting the foregoing, everything on the challenge platform and in connection with the challenge is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. Some jurisdictions may not allow the limitations or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages or exclusion of implied warranties, in which case such limitation or exclusion shall apply only to the extent permitted by the law in the relevant jurisdiction.

Participation in the Challenge implies acknowledgement and acceptance of the characteristics, limits and risks of the internet and related technologies, particularly with regards to performance, response time, security of software and computer equipment against various potential attacks, such as viruses, logic bombs or Trojans, and loss or misuse of data. As a result, ADB will not be held liable in any way for any damage incurred by Participants arising from these characteristics, limits and risks, which Participants accept by registering and taking part in the Challenge.

The Sponsor will not in any case be held liable for damages resulting from faults with or delays in the submission of Participants, including refusal to accept Submissions as a consequence of their submission outside the deadlines set out in the Rules, from faults with or delays to the sending of any emails by the Participant sent as part of the Challenge, or from any alterations made to the Submissions independently of ADB.

ADB will not in any case be held liable for damages resulting from services provide by a third-party relating to the seed fund. The Sponsor will not be held liable for the consequences of a Participant’s disqualification from the Challenge as a result of their violation of these Rules.

 

13. PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION  

Participation in the Challenge requires the communication of Participant personal data ("Personal Data"), which is submitted by Participants and managed by ADB using Agorize. Participants must read and agree to challenge terms and privacy conditions for using the ADB Agorize platform. As this challenge is co-sponsored by Observable and submissions are required as Observable noteboooks, participants must also read and agree to the Observable terms of service and privacy policy.

Participant personal data is subject to processing within the meaning of the regulations on the protection of personal data (The EU 2016/679 General Data Protection Regulation and the Council of 27 April 2016, known as GDPR) for which ADB defines the purposes and means and is, as such, “Data controller” within the meaning of the GDPR.

The purposes of the processing are:

• To meet the organization of the challenge needs;
• To organize the intermediation between the Participant and ADB, to ensure identification, communication and preservation of the exchanges with the Participant.

In accordance with the provisions of the GDPR, ADB undertakes to implement organizational and technical security measures in order to protect all Participant’s Personal Data. The Sponsor undertakes these measures to allow the exercise of Participants’ rights from GDPR.

 

14. CLAIMS  

Any Participant’s claims arising from the Challenge, should be addressed no later than thirty (30) days following the Challenge end date to digital@adb.org. All claims must include: (i) the Participant’s complete contact details (name, address, email address and phone); (ii) the name of the Challenge; and (iii) a clear and detailed explanation for the claim.

 

15. SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES

In the event of a dispute, controversy or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms and Conditions, including a dispute as to the validity or existence of these Terms and Conditions and/or this clause, you and we shall use our best efforts to amicably settle any differences and disputes through direct negotiation. Any dispute, controversy or claim that remains unresolved within eighty (80) days from the date either you or we have notified the other of the nature of the dispute and of the measures that should be taken to rectify it shall be referred to and finally resolved by arbitration administered by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) in accordance with the Arbitration Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre ("SIAC Rules") for the time being in force, which rules are deemed to be incorporated by reference in this clause. The seat of arbitration shall be Singapore. The language of the arbitration shall be English. The number of arbitrators shall be one.