Regional Open Data Challenge 2024

This initiative aims to promote the use of open data for addressing challenges recognised as the themes of common interest for ReSPA Members – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia (hereinafter: Members).

The RODC 2024 aims to recognise, award, and promote the innovative reuse of open data across Members for greater transparency, accountability, inclusiveness and effectiveness in service delivery and design.

The ultimate goal is to foster collaboration between government and initiatives from civil society organisations (CSOs), academia and the private sector to stimulate data-driven innovation and promote the positive impact of using open data. Whether it’s improving public services, empowering citizens, or driving economic growth, the RODC 2024 will emphasize the tangible benefits that open data can bring to communities. Additionally, it is expected that the RODC 2024 will raise public awareness about the importance and potential of open data across the region. It will convey the message to policymakers and decision-makers to support open data publishing as it can benefit citizens and businesses and boost economic activities.

Participants must develop mobile or web applications using open datasets published by public sector bodies across ReSPA Members. The Western Balkan needs innovative people’s vision, engagement, and participation to build a greener, more inclusive, and digital future.

Challenges

• The competition consists of four challenges. Each challenge is organised as a separate competition of equal importance. Applicants may participate in any or all of the following challenges:
  • Challenge 1: Mobility and Transportation Data
    • With autonomous vehicles and smart transport systems on the rise, there’s a growing need for real-time transportation data. Solutions about traffic flow, route efficiency, or transport system status can meaningfully benefit citizens as well as transportation management and planning.
      • Develop a solution or propose an idea that could be used for creating the solution for smart and sustainable transport models. Examples: more efficient travel patterns, identification of areas with alternative modes of transport such as public transport – cycling or walking, real-time information on workable routes in the Members or on waiting time at the borders crossings, identification of electric-vehicle charging stations, bicycle or carsharing schemes, green freight initiatives, etc.
    • Combine at least one dataset from open data portals within one or more Members with any other publicly available dataset(s) in the Members.
  • Challenge 2: Workforce mobility
    • Empower youth in the Members by facilitating skill development, job matching, and career advancement. The platform aims to bridge the gap between youth and employers, while fostering a dynamic and resilient workforce, empowers youth with real-time information for informed career decisions. The real time information on temporary employments in the region and in EU, “work and travel schemes” or internships would increase youth workforce mobility and enable employers to have bigger outreach to potentially interested youth. In certain sectors such as tourism there is considerable mobility of youth workforce within the region and with neighbouring EU countries that could entail more information on the demand for works within regulated schemes.
      • Develop a solution or propose an idea that could be used for a “digital skills passport” for each user, allowing them to showcase a comprehensive profile of their skills, experiences, and achievements. Implement a feature that provides real-time insights into the data from labor market, including demand for specific skills, emerging industries, and trending job opportunities. This helps youth make informed career decisions.
    • Combine at least one dataset from open data portals within one or more Members with any other publicly available dataset(s) in the Members.
  • Challenge 3: Tourism Atlas
    • Create an intelligent itinerary planner that considers user preferences, interests, and real-time events at the destination. Utilize machine learning algorithms to suggest personalized itineraries based on data and user feedback. The solution can encourage the local community to contribute their insights. Develop a solution or propose an idea that aims to enhance the overall tourism experience for travellers, such as:
      • Provide information on accommodations, transportation, and activities;
      • Implement a safety feature that provides real-time updates on local safety conditions and emergency contact information. Include an SOS button for immediate assistance.
      • Travelers can enjoy a personalized and enriched travel experience.
      • Encourages local communities and travellers to actively participate in sharing information.
      • Contribute to the promotion of sustainable tourism practices.
    • Combine at least one dataset from open data portals within one or more Members with any other publicly available dataset(s) in the Members.
  • Challenge 4: Demographic trends
    • Leverage data to enhance the understanding of demographic trends in the Members, fostering informed decision-making and community involvement, and analyse and visualize demographic trends in the Members.
      • Develop a solution or propose an idea that could provide insights into population dynamics, migration patterns, and other demographic factors to help policymakers, researchers, and the public understand and respond to changing demographic landscapes; aggregate and visualize key demographic indicators, including population size, age distribution, birth rates, mortality rates, and migration patterns, include a migration tracker that visualizes the flow of people within the region and beyond. This can provide insights into the reasons behind migration and its impact on population distribution and assess demographic trends’ social and economic impact.
    • Combine at least one dataset from open data portals within one or more Members with any other publicly available dataset(s) in the Members.

Funding Information

• The total award fund for the competition amounts to USD 20 000 and will be split in the following order

Eligibility Criteria

• The competition aims to create a for-profit or non-profit (social) business model through data exploration and/or in making the solution or idea based on open and public data.
• The condition for participation is that at least one set of open data from open data portals1 of ReSPA Members administrations is used. The additional data in the reusable format (example: excel sheets) should be used from any other publicly available dataset(s), for example, data from statistical offices, other public administration institutions, and data.europa.eu that refer to the Members.
• Solutions must be developed under an open licence (GPL, Creative Commons or similar), publicly available and currently or potentially replicable in other environments (s), i.e local, entity or state level.
• Throughout the challenge, in order to produce solutions or ideas, participants will have access to a variety of data sources as well as mentorship.
• They will have the opportunity to present the developed solutions to credible assessors for review and examination
• The competition will respect the principles of transparency and equal treatment.
  • Following categories are eligible to apply: companies, civil society organisation/foundations, science and research facilities, individuals/group of individuals (the contract will be signed with the leader of the team). Legal entities and individuals registered or residing in the participating economies – Members are eligible to apply.
  • A team can be composed of one or more individuals (up to 4), one or more companies (up to 4) or one or more other legal entities (up to 4).
  • The competition is not open to staff working in public sector bodies across ReSPA institutions.
  • Teams can be composed of persons under the age of 18. If that is the case, a written consent of the parents is required.

For more information, visit UNDP.