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WSA rules & conditions

 

Important notice by the WSA Board of Directors for participants from the Russian Federation: Policy Statement. By submission of a digital solution, producers accept the Rules and Conditions of the WSA contest!

 

 

Below WSA Terms and Conditions apply for WSA Call 2023. Please get in touch for with the WSA office on questions regarding WSA Terms and Conditions for WSA Call 2023.

 

1 | General rules and conditions

  • The WSA focuses on digital applications with a strong impact on society in 8 different WSA categories, reflecting the UN SDGs. All submissions will be evaluated according to the WSA evaluation criteria.
  • By submission of a digital solution, producers accept the rules of the WSA contests as stated on this page and in the WSA Contest Database.
  • All submitters to WSA have to abide by the rules and regulations mentioned in the UN Declaration on Human Rights. Submissions which encourage war, the exercise of violence, fraud, racism or discrimination will therefore not be accepted and eliminated. Similarly, submissions that violate international copyright provisions will be excluded.
  • WSA cannot be held liable for accepted submissions and their contents and rights.

2 | Who can apply?

  • WSA is open to any company, organisation or individual in any UN and UNESCO member state.
  • The participation in the WSA Young Innovators award is restricted to any entrepreneur, company, student group or project team, where at least one of the founding members and the majority of the team is  under the age of 26 (born on or after January 1, 1997) from any of the UN and UNESCO member states.
  • Participation from the Russian Federation - please read the WSA Policy here.

3 | Application and submission of digital solutions to the WSA

  • Taking part in the WSA is only possible by being nominated by a WSA national expert.
  • Registration, including submitting information about the solution, must be completed online via the WSA contest database.
  • Submitting a product to the evaluation and selection process does by no means entitle a producer to any benefits. There is no way of challenging this decision legally.
  • Only submitted and fully filled in applications will be considered by the WSA Jury.
  • Submission is free of charge.

4 | Participation and submission of digital solutions to the WSA Young Innovators

  • The participation in the WSA Young Innovators is restricted to any entrepreneur, company, student group or project team, where at least one of the founding members and the majority of the team is under the age of 26 (born on or after January 1, 1997) from any of the UN and UNESCO member states.
  • Registration, including submitting information about the solution, must be completed online via the WSA contest database.
  • Submitting a product to the evaluation and selection process does by no means entitle a producer to any benefits. There is no way of challenging this decision legally.
  • Only submitted and fully filled in applications will be considered by the WSA Jury.
  • Submission is free of charge.

5 | Which digital solutions are suitable for WSA?

  • Submissions for the WSA can contain digital content applications with a clear impact on society, such as: apps, webpages, applications for wearables, kiosk installations, sms based products, mobile games and interactive mobile productions. WSA accepts devices and hardware solutions, but it needs to be guaranteed that the solution is properly working.  Applicants need to provide a price list and user numbers.
    There is no limitation regarding the platforms or channels the solutions work with.
  • All submissions have to be launched products. No drafts, prototypes, demonstrations or unfinished projects can be accepted. The solution needs to prove that it is a working product and demonstrate some local impact.
  • All submitted products must clear Innovation, Updates, New Features if founded more than 2 years ahead of nomination.
  • A product can only be submitted for one category. In case of multiple submissions by the same organization, company or team, each product requires a separate registration. Submissions which have been nominated in the WSA in previous years cannot be submitted again. For a solution which has been already submitted before, the submitters have to document significant alterations and / or improvements and / or additions.

6 | WSA exploitation rights and copyrights

  • By submitting a digital solution to the WSA, producers provide the WSA office with the exploitation rights for the submitted videos, pictures and other content for non-commercial use for the promotion of the nominated product, presented in print, broadcast and any other forms of media, as well as for events.
  • The producer must own the copyright of all pictures, sounds, contents etc. related to the production of his solution. All software used must be licensed.
  •  WSA has the right to share promotional material and information about the submitted solutions with potential investors and sponsoring partners.

7 | WSA contest language

  • The interface of the products can be in any of the United Nations official languages. All producer and solution information in the WSA database must however be in English. The official language of the WSA is English and must be used in all official communication.

8 | Exclusion and disqualification of submissions from the WSA process

  • Incomplete submissions and those not following the WSA guidelines will be withdrawn from the WSA selection process without notice. There is no legal recourse possible against the decision of disqualification for the below reasons. The WSA organizers have the right to reject submission / entry without providing any further reason and notice.
  • Malfunctioning of the product during the time of the jury evaluation can lead to disqualification. Submitters are held responsible to make sure their products are functioning for Jury evaluation.
  • Further withdrawal reasons are: Lack of ownership of creative rights or infringement of copyrights of others; false registration information, non-confirmation to the rules of the contest guidelines.

9 | Category switch

  • The jury has the right to switch a submission from one category to another, if the category chosen by the producer is recognized as not suitable. A category switch is the result of a decision by jury members.

10 | Winner selection

  • The winners will be selected from among the submissions in each category through the jury process as published on the website. No legal recourse is possible against the jury decision.