D4GX 2024 India Empowerment Challenge

Deadline Extended till 10th July

Dasra is inviting applications for the Data for Good Exchange (D4GX) 2024 India Empowerment Challenge.

Since 2021, Dasra, alongside Bloomberg, Societal Thinking, and Stanford PACS, has orchestrated a series of events through Data for Good Exchange (D4GX). In a digital age where innovation is paramount, the dedication to uplifting marginalized communities stands strong. The mission is to harness the power of data and empower India’s vulnerable populations, granting them the ability to address challenges with greater autonomy. Together, they strive to forge a more accessible and inclusive, and resilient future for all.

Four years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the steadfast commitment to leaving no one behind, particularly the most marginalized, remains unchanged. Since its inception in 2021, the response to the Empowerment Challenge has showcased an array of innovative and scalable solutions rooted in data, poised to uplift the most vulnerable members of the society. The need for such initiatives persists, perhaps now more than ever. As they launch the D4GX 2024 India Empowerment Challenge, they embark on a new phase in the quest for solutions that leverage data to drive exponential change and bolster the resilience of vulnerable communities.

Themes

• Non-profit organizations with early-stage innovations, that fall into the thematic categories below:
  • Data to enable Learning & Livelihood
    • Despite significant improvements in literacy rates and school enrollment in recent years, India still faces substantial challenges in education quality, dropout rates, and access, especially in rural areas and among marginalized communities. A significant portion of India’s workforce is engaged in the informal sector, often without job security, social security, or adequate income.
    • This thematic track looks at data solutions which help improve learning outcomes for individuals and build their capacities to access livelihood opportunities and increase income.
    • Data solutions in this category may enable learning by​
      • Identify specific areas of need, track progress over time, and tailor educational programs to local contexts
      • Help improve learning outcomes for those who are marginalized and vulnerable​
    • And enable livelihood by
      • Enable individuals to find better career pathways and enable school-to work transition
      • Address employability skill deficits, empowering an individual to build requisite skills
      • Support individuals transitioning to more sustainable employment
  • Data to Enable Community Building and Resilience
    • India’s vast population is exposed to a vast range of socio economic challenges, ranging from urban & rural living conditions; health infrastructure & access challenges; public safety & security; and disaster preparedness and response.
    • Looks at data solutions to help empower citizens, local bodies and communities to build resilience; help improve ease of living, and democratize access to healthcare expertise making healthcare more accessible.
    • Data solutions in this category may:
      • Promote inclusivity, diversity, and social integration, and encourage dialogue and understanding among different community segments
      • Help communities take charge of the problems they see and experience
      • Help improve ease of living and quality of life (including safety) in urban and rural areas, and provide better services to citizens
      • Democratize access to healthcare expertise and reduce the inequity in accessing affordable services, especially for preventable diseases
      • Improve feedback mechanisms, enabling community interface with elected representatives, fostering a deeper sense of community ownership
  • Data to Enable Climate and Sustainability
    • Climate change is the defining crisis of the 21st century. More than 80% percent of India’s people live in districts that are at risk of climate-induced challenges.
    • This thematic track looks at data solutions that empowers marginalized communities to anticipate, be aware and demand sustainable solutions to safeguard themselves from effects of climate change​
    • Data solutions in this category may:
      • Empower communities to demand implementable smart responses to climate change
      • Help develop smart agriculture and boost resilience of crops to climate change
      • Anticipate consequences and track vulnerability of communities affected by climate by data and evidence, to help them build resilience
      • Help plan cities better to ensure sustainability with adaption and mitigation strategies in place
      • Lower carbon footprint & ramp up or promote usage of renewable sources of energy

Benefits

• Top 3 winners and up to 6 shortlisted projects will be supported to scale their innovations with
  • Innovation design grants
    • Worth INR 10L, given to the winner in each of the three thematic categories.​
  • ​Showcase opportunity
    • ​At the D4GX India Annual Conference 2024.
  • Amplification support
    • ​Across Bloomberg, and Dasra networks for all shortlisted innovations.​
  • Mentorship & networking opportunities
    • Capacity-building workshops and networking opportunities to interact with prominent stakeholders and gain insights about best practices.

They are looking for solutions that ​:

• ​Create platforms for easy sharing, usage, analysis and management of data
• Ensure users have agency to use data to improve solutions and services
• Build touchpoints to enable multi-stakeholder data interactions
• Strengthen systems for better supply of data

Eligibility Criteria

• The innovation should have passed the idea stage to either ready to deploy, or pilot, or proof of impact stage.​
• The innovation must show potential for scale and financial investment.​
• The core team should have strong organizational experience of scaling and sustaining social innovations in the past, especially those related to data or information technology. ​
• The project/innovation must align with one of the thematic tracks for the D4GX 2024 India Empowerment Challenge.
• Applicant should be a registered Nonprofit organisation in India.​
• The project/innovation must address at least one of the following barriers that impede data-led empowerment and build user-centricity towards data through the solution:
  • Lack of universally acknowledged actionable metrics 
    • Developing a widely accepted Data taxonomy
    • Creating a sector-wide, open performance Management System
  • Vulnerable communities are not truly empowered 
    • Building end-use agency over data
    • Cultivating community ownership of solution
  • Insufficient feedback loops enriching commons 
    • Bridging the Information Gap
    • Elevating marginalized voices
  • Siloed and inaccessible data supply 
    • Making data more accessible to solution users
    • Elevating marginalized voices

For more information, visit Dasra.