Apply to the EU Datathon 2022

Opportunity type : Competitions
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Every year, EU Datathon calls for innovators from around the world to come up with new ways of using open data to address important societal and environmental challenges, with the condition that they use at least one of the thousands of data sets published on data.europa.eu.

Over the five years of its existence, the competition has generated dozens of practical apps and propelled new start-up enterprises.

This year´s edition of EU Datathon is now open for submissions of ideas. Here are five reasons to join in.

  1. Get international visibility for your innovative ideas: EU Datathon and its finalists are promoted by the European Commission and its representations in the EU Member States and further afield. The teams selected for the finals will pitch their apps at a highly followed final event with strong international participation.
  2. Win your share of EUR 200.000: Money isn´t everything but it can help you build a start-up enterprise or materialise your other open data projects. This year, the finalists can win up to EUR 25 000 and the Public Choice Award.
  3. Make a difference: Unlock open data to tackle some of the top EU priorities. This year´s challenges feature: (1) The European Green Deal; (2) Transparency in public procurement; (3) EU public procurement opportunities for young people; (4) A Europe fit for the digital age. Your success in addressing these challenges will be a success for all! To jog your inspiration, see the winning apps of the previous editions.
  4. Expand your professional network: EU Datathon finalist teams never walk alone; they get support during the design phase of their applications and an opportunity to meet other open data experts.
  5. Combine business with pleasure: EU Datathon opens doors to creativity. Use your skills to transform raw data into tools of business, education, entertainment and a lot more.

What are the challenges?

  • Challenge 1: ‘The European Green Deal’
  • Challenge 2: ‘Transparency in public procurement’
  • Challenge 3: ‘EU public procurement opportunities for young people’
  • Challenge 4: ‘A Europe fit for the digital age’

The key condition for a successful submission is that at least one of the datasets used to develop your application comes from the thousands of datasets made available on data.europa.eu. If you opt for challenges 2 or 3, make sure to use at least one dataset published by the EU Tenders Electronic Daily (TED).

On top of that, your application is expected to make an innovative contribution to important goals of the European Union, and showcase opportunities for concrete business models or social enterprises. To jog your imagination, explore the winning ideas from the previous editions of the competition. In 2020, team FinLine from the United Kingdom impressed both the jury and the public with an application designed to provide small and medium sized businesses with free customised advice for suitable grants and investment options to overcome difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The application scooped the first place in its challenge, ‘An economy that works for people’, and also won the Public Choice Award. In 2021, the team of ITER IDEA from Italy repeated the same double success with an application facilitating women´s professional mobility in Europe. For details about all winning ideas, visit the EU Datathon website.

The teams shortlisted for this year´s final will receive an offer of support during the design phase and after the competition. The cooperation with the finalists includes invitations to open data events and webinars where the teams can meet data providers, get additional publicity for their projects and network.

Countries covered:

  • Algeria
  • Egypt
  • Israel
  • Jordan
  • Lebanon
  • Libya
  • Morocco
  • Palestine *
  • Syria *
  • Tunisia