Eligibility criteria

The criteria below set out who can enter the Open Contracting Innovation Challenge 2021

Represent eligible countries – all entrants must work in one of the following countries – Moldova, Kazakhstan, or Kyrgyzstan.

Presence of a legal entity – to participate, the team must be represented by a legal entity (NPO, Media, or Business or consortia).

Over 18 – Individuals need to be 18 or over in order to take part in the Challenge. Groups and organizations do not have to be legally constituted to enter.

Willingness to share learning– All entrants need to demonstrate a willingness to share their experiences and learning to help establish a body of knowledge that can bring about a sustained change in the use of data to improve public procurement. A summary of each application will be made public to help generate discussion about each Challenge. We will also share progress and results in stories from each project.

Capacity to deliver – Entrants need to ensure that they have the capacity to quickly develop, or begin implementing their project or solution and the capacity to work with procurement and contracting datasets.

Incomplete Entries – Entries will not be assessed if all required fields have not been completed. This applies to any stage of submission for the Prize and also relates to missing documentation that may have been requested.

How to make sure our team is suitable for the Challenge?

In our experience, reformer teams and consortia are most powerful when they have: A leader with authority to coordinate the team and move the project forward; An external relations manager who is familiar with the bureaucracy and knows how to gain political support; Procurement expert with in-depth knowledge of the procurement system; and an IT expert who understands data analysis and, if necessary, will oversee the technical implementation. Please explain in your application who will fill these roles. Note: one person can fulfill several roles. For example, a technical expert can also be a team leader.

We also draw your attention to the fact that we have a number of restrictions:

Responsibility Determination – We will conduct a responsibility determination prior to award, to ensure that the award to the organization meets applicable U.S. laws.

Cannot fund party-political activity – We cannot fund activity that is party-political in intention, use, or presentation nor to support or promote religious activity. Funding cannot be used to carry on propaganda, influence legislation, fund any political campaign, influence the outcome of any election, carry on any voter registration drives, or violate any applicable local, state, federal, or foreign law.

Prize funding – Be able to receive funding in the form of consultancy contracts. Prize funding will only be awarded for projects that have an identifiable public benefit related to the aims of the Open Contracting Innovation Challenge and where any private benefit to individuals, companies, or shareholders is incidental and not excessive. Winners of the Government Innovation Prize are not eligible for but receive mentorship to develop and execute their idea.

NB! Unfortunately, we can not fund government organizations & businesses, however, we are able to support collaborations & partnerships of non-governmental actors with central & local authorities.