Deadline: 7 January 2020
Applications are open for Asia-Pacific Google News Initiative (GNI) Innovation Challenge to support projects that drive digital innovation and develop new business models.
The Challenge will focus on creative projects that increase audience engagement for news providers.
Funding Information
Google will fund selected projects up to USD $250,000 and will finance up to 70% of the total project cost.
Eligibility Criteria
The Asia-Pacific GNI Innovation Challenge is open to organizations of every size – digital natives, startups, NGOs, industry organizations, broadcasters, traditional news organizations and freelancers – that aim to produce innovative, original journalism and to enlighten citizens with trustworthy journalistic content, and whose projects focus on encouraging a more sustainable news ecosystem.
Eligible Regions
Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Cook Islands, East Timor, Easter Island, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Vietnam
Projects Evaluation
Projects will be evaluated against four main criteria:
- Impact on the news ecosystem: Projects should demonstrate potential for significant positive impact in respect of audience engagement.
- Innovation: Preferred projects will be innovative (use of technology, business model, new reader engagement approaches, etc.) and transformative for the applicant and for users.
- Feasibility: Projects should demonstrate clear indicators and metrics or even a business plan, when relevant, and set out key risks and mitigation steps.
- Inspiration: How can the project help news organizations learn from each other? Willingness to share knowledge, open source code and/or contribute to the improvement of the ecosystem overall.
For more information, visit https://newsinitiative.withgoogle.com/innovation-challenges/how-to-apply/apac/