Last submission: 20 January 2023, 17h00 Central Eastern Time
Developing a more gender-inclusive digital innovation ecosystem can elevate the economy and society by creating more jobs and accelerating innovation which is critical for countries to thrive and recover from the socioeconomic impact of COVID-19.
Whilst the number of women operating their businesses is increasing globally, and female representation in business ownership has been positively correlated with the income level in countries, only one in three companies is owned by women globally. Women entrepreneurs significantly contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction worldwide. Yet, they still face legal, financial, and market inequalities that restrain their entrepreneurial success in most countries.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in collaboration with the Women Entrepreneurship Accelerator (WEA) and Mary Kay Global, has launched the 2022 WEA Digital Innovation Challenge with the theme of Building enabling ecosystems for women entrepreneurs. This challenge supports the commitment of WEA to empower 5 million women entrepreneurs by 2030 and is aligned with the 2023 Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67) Priority theme of “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.”. WEA is a multi-partnership initiative on women’s entrepreneurship convening the 6 United Nations agencies (ITU), International Labour Organization (ILO), International Trade Centre (ITC), UN Development Programme (UNDP) , UN Global Compact (UNGC) and UN Women).
More than ever, it is crucial to maximize women’s entrepreneurship impact in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by creating an enabling digital innovation ecosystem for women entrepreneurs worldwide.
CHALLENGE SCOPE
The Challenge will help identify scalable, innovative digital solutions that enable countries, societies, communities, institutions and individuals to develop a more gender-inclusive digital entrepreneurship ecosystem promoting an environment that supports the creation and growth of women-owned and women-led enterprises.
The Challenge objective is to build vibrant and inclusive digital innovation ecosystems that empower women entrepreneurs by supporting existing digital solutions developed by women-owned companies or with a minimum of one female founder or by women acting as micro-entrepreneurs or innovative change makers working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
AWARD
To increase the potential/ capabilities of the selected proposals/teams, the Challenge will open access to the Digital Innovation Challenge Acceleration Programme (“the Programme”), providing:
- capacity-building training, attending a virtual boot camp to refine further their plans and milestones (e.g. market entry, deployment, impact traction),
- a specialised mentorship scheme,
- access to a network of change-makers,
- a publication of the case in a Best Practice Report,
- and the possibility to attend the sixty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67), New York, USA.
The 2022 WEA Digital Innovation Challenge will bring resources and expertise from various industries and sectors to support mentoring and capacity development for the selected innovators.
MILESTONES
| Key Dates | Activities |
| 7 December 2022 | 2022 WEA Digital Innovation Challenge Launch |
| 20 January 2023 | End of 2022 WEA Digital Innovation Challenge 2022 |
| 27 January 2023 | Shortlisted Candidates Announcement |
| 1 February 2023 | Pitch Competition Session and 2022 WEA Digital Innovation Challenge winners announcement |
| 7 -10 February 2023 | Bootcamp |
| 13 February 2023 | Mentorship Programme starts |
| 6 March 2023 | CSW67/ Best Practice Report release |
| 28 April 2023 | End of Programme |
ELIGIBILITY
- The Challenge is open to governments, international organizations, NGOs, private sector companies and start-ups, research institutions, academia and civil society organizations (CSOs) (collectively, the “the Participants” and each a “Participant”).
- Only legal entities which are legally registered in an ITU Member State and have at least one female member in the leadership team (e.g. founder, chief executive, or similar) are eligible to participate in the Challenge.
- Only one submission per Participant will be permitted. Multiple submissions from the same Participant who submit multiple entries will be disqualified.
- Participants must have an existing project or minimum viable product (MVP) that:
- a.has already been implemented or tested
- b.promotes and supports female entrepreneurship within digital innovation ecosystems
- c.demonstrates a new innovative project/prototype, outlining its potential for scaling up
- d.is a digital solution
- Participants must have availability from the 7th to the 10th of February 2023 to participate in a four-day virtual boot camp for a two (2)-hour session per day and availability to meet their mentor and programme team until the end of April 2023.
- Representatives of Participants warrant that all information submitted is true, complete, and up-to-date and that they are authorized to participate in the Challenge on behalf of their respective institution/organization. ITU reserves the right to verify eligibility for participation in the Challenge as well as the accuracy of submitted information.
- All submissions must not: a. violate the intellectual property rights of third parties; b. be illegal under applicable national laws and international law; c. depict or incite hatred, defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten a specific person or social group, incite violence or conflict or otherwise violate the legal rights of third parties (including those of privacy and publicity) and d. violate the terms of use of any social media service, website, mobile application or any other platform used in connection with such submission.
SELECTION CRITERIA
The Selection Committee will use the evaluation criteria below for shortlisting, at its discretion, 20 to 25 best submissions. The final winners will be selected after the Pitch Competition 1 February 2023. Each criterion has been assigned a percentage weight for scoring:
- 20% for Relevance: The innovation should demonstrate how it contributes to the achievement of the the Sustainable Development Goals
- 15% for Adaptability: Should demonstrate its adaptability and replicability to the local context and global
- 15% for Sustainability: Demonstrate a business model that promotes sustainable and continuous impact in the short or long term
- 15% for Viability: Demonstrate the viability of the solution in terms of its effectiveness and feasibility
- 20% for Partnership: Engagement with local and global partners in other countries to assure viability in local conditions, and to promote sustainability and scalability of the solution
- 15% for Impact: The innovation must showcase how it has the potential and has already impacted lives and driven socio-economic benefit, especially among vulnerable and excluded populations