The “Living Data” competition encourages the online public to find new, enticing and innovative online ways to present CGIAR research facts, figures and open data sources. People can enter their “data representation” showcases (infographics, photo films, animated graphics,…) in an online competition, hosted on the CGIAR Development Dialogues website.

From August to mid September 2014, CGIAR Centers and Research Programs (CRPs) will publish a selection of their research facts and figures in a series of short blogposts. Check this list regularly, to find new “Living Data” input posts regularly.
You can pick one or more input data sets, or combine them at will.

“Living Data”, an online competition

The “Living Data” competition encourages the online public to find new, enticing and innovative online ways to present CGIAR research facts, figures and open data sources. People can enter their “data representation” showcases (infographics, photo films, animated graphics,…) in an online competition, hosted on the CGIAR Development Dialogues website.

Where can you find the input data?

From August to mid September 2014, CGIAR Centers and Research Programs (CRPs) will publish a selection of their research facts and figures in a series of short blogposts. Check this list regularly, to find new “Living Data” input posts regularly.
You can pick one or more input data sets, or combine them at will.

What should you submit?

We would like you, our online public, to use your full imagination to find new, exciting and innovative ways to represent those facts, figures and data. Your competition entries might be drawings, pictures with text, animated graphics, cartoon-like videos, photo films, infographics, posters,…
Your competition entries might be related to one data set, or cover several. Input data should be taken from this list of input posts.

Each competition entry should be “web-publishable” (no paper entries), and have links to the reference data (the links we publish in our data set posts).

Examples of what we are looking for:

• Check this livestock infographics collection (by Susan MacMillan – ILRI)
• Or browse these “Big Facts” on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security” web-graphics page (by CCAFS)
• Or this animated video on “Putting Climate Services in Farmers’ Hands” (by CCAFS)
• Another inspiration might be this infographic (by the CGIAR Research Program on Maize)
• Check out Hans Rosling’s famous dataset representation tools and presentation videos
• ….

If you have limited technical skills or tools, you might find Piktochart or Canva useful. You can also get technical support from online services like Fivver…

How should you submit your entries?

Anyone can submit entries. You can submit up to five different competition entries.

Once you picked your input data set, and have made your “Living Data” entry ready:

The submitted posts should include:

• Your name and email address (and organisation/institute/company if applicable)
• The ID number of the “Living Data” input blogpost (which you can find at the bottom of each input blogpost)
• Optionally, you can submit a 100-word introduction, which will be published with your entry
• If applicable, the attribution of pictures (name of the photographer and organisation). Please ensure you only use pictures for which you have permission or hold the copyright.

At this point, we can only except submissions in English. Your competition entry or a link to the entry (if you published it online) should be included in your submission email.

Each submitted entry will be acknowledged by email, and will be published on the #CGIAR_DD event sitewithin days after submission.
You will be advised by email once your entry is online.

After we published your competition entry…

Each entry will have a section where the online public can cast their vote. You and the online public are encouraged to spread the links to interesting entries via any social media channel or mailing list.

All competition entries can be found on this list.

Competition entries might receive feedback, via the blogpost comments section. Contributors are encouraged to monitor the comments on their competition entries, and to answer/moderate them through the comments section.

Time Frame

August: Public announcement of the competition. Submitted entries will be published within two days after receipt.
15 September: Close submissions
24 September: Close public voting
25 September: Winners will be announced at the event, and on the #CGIAR_DD event blog.

Selection criteria, prizes and recognition

The winners will be chosen via public voting, through a voting system embedded in the entry as published on the #CGIAR_DD event site.

The winner will receive a GoPro Hero3+ Black Edition waterproof video/still camera (Value: US$600)

CGIAR will publish a feature interview with the winner. The top 5 voted entries will receive a signed book and a certificate.