USAID to Host ‘DataJam’ Challenge in Cali to Develop Security Solutions

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will host another edition of its “DataJam” technology and problem-solving challenge next year in the western Colombian city of Cali from February 21-22.

The competition will take place over 27.5 hours as participants race come up with a solution, preferably by using some element of open data, that will help solve three specific problems related to the theme of “citizen security.”

Each three-person team will only learn about the requirements and challenges right before the clock begins to count down. They will then have the rest of the day and following morning to work on proposals before the buzzer sounds and they submit their proposals for review.

A panel of judges will then select the winners of DataJam 2019. The overall objective is for the winning teams, or partner organizations, to see enough potential in the best solutions to attempt to implement them in the real world.

Funding was handed out to the winning teams at a previous edition of the event in Bogotá, where the top team to develop a rural development solution was awarded $10,000 USD and a total of $20,000 USD was distributed.

Elizabeth Mendenhall of USAID during a 2017 DataJam event in Bogotá. (Credit: USAID)

Registration for the Cali event has already begun and will remain open through February 3. Tems can sign up at the DataJam 2019 website.

USAID has encouraged each team to have a diverse makeup of the following three different types of disciplines: a person with experience in “citizen security” or who generally promotes citizenship; a data scientist, analyst, mathematician, or other statistically minded individual; and a creative, particularly someone with skill in graphic or industrial design.

People from across Colombia are encouraged to participate. The only location-based requirement is that all team members must be present in Cali during the two days of the event.

READ MORE: DataJam 2017 Awards $20,000 USD for Creative Solutions to Rural Development Challenges

The event, which has previously been held in Bogotá, will be hosted by the U.S. governmental agency in partnership with the Colombian government and Cali mayor’s office, academic institutions including Sergio Arboleda University and ICESI University, and enterprises such as Tableau Software and Esri Colombia.

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