Hack the Planet 2021 Terms & Conditions

 

1. Background and Introduction 

Hack the Planet is an international Ideas Competition (“the Competition”). The Competition aims to stimulate ideas pertaining to the sustainability of Oceans incorporating satellite data and/or connectivity aligned to the goals established in the Commonwealth of Nations Blue Charter.  

The Competition is run primarily via www.hacktheplanetcompetition.com (“the website”)

The Competition is organised by the Satellite Applications Catapult, a company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales with company number 07964746, with its registered office located at Electron Building, Fermi Avenue, Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0QR (“Satellite Applications Catapult.”, also referred to as “the organiser”, “we”, “us” and “our”). We are running this Competition in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat (“Commonwealth Secretariat” also referred to as “Partners”).

The Competition is run and administered by the Satellite Applications Catapult, Electron Building, Fermi Avenue, Harwell, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0QR.

These terms, conditions and any rules for the Competition on the Competition Website (together the “Terms and Conditions”) operate for the benefit of the Satellite Applications Catapult, and Satellite Applications Catapult partners who contribute to or are involved in the administration, operation and maintenance of the competition.

Please read these Terms and Conditions carefully before you enter the Competition. By submitting an entry, you accept these Terms and Conditions and agree to comply with them.

A copy of these Terms and Conditions can be provided to you via email.

2. Eligibility 

Who can enter the Competition?

1. Anyone from within the Commonwealth of Nations (https://thecommonwealth.org/member-countries with an idea which answers the challenge that has been set.
2. You may enter as an individual or as part of a team of no more than 5 members.
3. You must be over the age of 18.
4. Hack the Planet is not open to businesses of a size above the UK definition of micro-SME (fewer than 10 members of staff and turnover under £2m).
5. The competition is not open to employees from the Commonwealth Secretariat or the Satellite Applications Catapult.

If you are unsure about your eligibility to enter the Competition, please contact us at hacktheplanet@outsourcedevents.com before submitting an entry.

3. Entering the Competition  

In order to enter the Competition, you must fill in all mandatory fields and answer all questions within the application form on the Competition website.  

Applications must comply with the guidelines and recommendations set out on the Competition website.  

Applications must be submitted in English.  

Submissions for entries start on 19th April 2021. The submission deadline is published on the program website. 

We are not liable for possible deficiencies of the platform. Please note that we are not responsible for problems regarding computers, networks or any other reasons that may lead to lost, damaged or late entries. However we will make reasonable adjustments to entry and access to the competition to facilitate the best and widest range of entries. 

Unless we say otherwise, you are responsible for all costs and expenses related to your entry into and participation in the Competition. 

4. Timeline 

Hack the Planet 2021 is an entirely virtual competition. 

After the applications have been submitted, the programme will run in accordance with the following indicative timeline. We reserve the right to change any of the timeframes indicated on the Competition website (changes will be posted on the competition website):

19th April 2021 – Competition opens for entries

11th June 2021 – Submission deadline

21st June 2021 – Announcement of shortlisted entries

Up to 30 individuals or teams will be shortlisted to participate in the knowledge exchange programme, which aims to educate and tutor entrants to turn their ideas into a honed idea pitch for our judges. Where appropriate, we will encourage teams to join their ideas with other groups to aid idea development and collaboration opportunities

1st July – 31st August 2021 – Delivery of Knowledge Exchange programme for shortlisted entrants

Over two months, Hack the Planet will deliver a wide range of virtual summer school tutoring sessions covering topics from Geospatial Information and Ocean Science to creating powerful pitches

3rd September 2021 – Submission deadline for final pitches

With the knowledge exchange programme over, it’s time to submit your final pitch for judging by our panel of expert judges

22nd September – Finalists announced

We will select six finalists from the final pitches received to participate in our final pitch event

14th October – Final pitch event and winners announced

In this live event, the six finalists will pitch their ideas live to our panel of judges, and the winners will be selected

 

 5. Public Relations and Media Activity

The Competition will be of interest to press and media outlets which may publish articles about the launch of the Competition, its progress and its conclusion. 

By entering the competition you agree that, at the request of the organiser, you are willing to participate in any media activity surrounding the competition and that you may be mentioned in articles and in other media sources. 


6. Judging the Competition


Shortlisting:

Competition entries will be shortlisted by a team of experts from the Satellite Applications Catapult and our partners. The composition of the team of experts may vary.

The team of experts will decide which entries best meets the assessment criteria, as set out on the competition website.

Decisions made by the experts are final. No correspondence will be entered into.

We expect to shortlist a maximum of 30 entries, although this number may vary at the discretion of the experts.

Finalists:

Shortlisted entries will be judged based on their final pitches by a group of expert judges.

The team of judges will be formed from a variety of relevant organisations and will decide which entries best meet the assessment criteria.

Decisions made by the judges are final. No correspondence will be entered into.

We expect to select a maximum of six finalists, although this number may vary at the discretion of the judges.

 

Winner:

The winner will be chosen from the finalists by a group of expect judges.

The team of expert judges will be formed from a variety of relevant organisations and will decide which of the finalists best meet the assessment criteria.

Decisions made by the judges are final. No correspondence will be entered into.

  1. The Prize

    The organisers will award a prize to one winner and two runners-up (collectively known as “the winners”) as follows:

    There will be a £10,000 prize available for the winner and two runners-up prizes of £5,000! In addition, the following satellite data prizes will also be provided courtesy of our sponsor Planet:

The winner:

  • AOI size: 5.000 sqKm - to be defined by end user.
  • TOI: 1 year archive ending with the subscriptions start date.
  • Data: PS Imagery, Sentinel and Landsat. 
  • Download quota: 20.000 sqKm.
  • Subscriptions TOI: 3 months - start date to be defined by end user.

2nd place runner-up:

  • AOI size: 1.000 sqKm - to be defined by end user.
  • TOI: 1 year archive ending with the subscriptions start date.
  • Data: PS Imagery, Sentinel and Landsat. 
  • Download quota: 10.000 sqKm.
  • Subscriptions TOI: 3 months - start date to be defined by end user.

3rd place runner-up:

  • AOI size: 1.000 sqKm - to be defined by end user.
  • TOI: 1 year archive ending with the subscriptions start date.
  • Data: PS Imagery, Sentinel and Landsat. 
  • Download quota: 5.000 sqKm.
  • Subscriptions TOI: 1 month - start date to be defined by end user.

 

In addition, Amazon Web Services will also provide cloud computing services to the value of $25,000 credits for the winner and $10,000 credits for the two runners-up to run on AWS.

Prizes for the Hack the Planet competition from sponsors are offered solely at the discretion of sponsors. Neither the Satellite Applications Catapult nor the Commonwealth Secretariat shall be held responsible for any failure to supply prizes by sponsoring organisations.

In the event the winners refuse acceptance of the prize or, for whatever reason cannot accept the prize, or if the organiser is unable to make contact with the relevant winners within seven days of the announcement of the winners, the organiser reserves the right to award it to  alternative winners without liability to the original winners, as applicable.

The winners prizes must be claimed by a legal entity or company set up by the winners during or following the competition to further the concept/idea developed in the competition. Where this is not possible, the prizes may be made to individuals where clear plans are in place for progression of the ideas developed as part of the competition.

Cash payments to winners will be staged with half of the prize payable following announcement of the competition results and half 6 months following completion of the competition. Winners will be required to demonstrate that money is being used to support the development of the concept/idea before further funds will be released. The organiser reserves the right to withhold the second half of the prize money if the winners are unable to demonstrate suitable progress with the development of the concept/idea.

By accepting a prize, the winners agree to release and hold the organiser and its partners harmless against any and all claims and liability arising out of the award of, the use or misuse of any prize. Where the law implies warranties, which cannot be excluded, the organiser’s liability for breach of those warranties is limited to resupplying the prize (or paying for the costs thereof), where this is permitted by law. The winners assume all liability for any injury or damage caused, or claimed to be caused by participation in this competition or use or redemption of any prize.

The organiser should not be held accountable if any sponsors should not fulfil their commitments, including prizes or money promised to both contestants or the winners.

The prizes are personal to the winners and not transferable.

The winners are responsible for the payment of any taxes and charges on any prizes.


We may alter, withdraw or modify any prizes at our discretion.

 

8. Intellectual Property Rights, Information and Publicity 

You confirm by entering the competition that, to the best of your knowledge, you own all Intellectual Property Rights (“IPRs”) subsisting in your entry to the competition and that your entry does not infringe any third party’s IPRs. You are responsible for obtaining any necessary permission from third parties to use their IPRs in your submission. We reserve the right to disclose your identity to any third party claiming material posted or uploaded by you to the competition website constitutes a violation of their IPRs, or their confidentiality/privacy rights. We reserve the right to ask for additional evidence or documents to validate that all information you supply is true and complete. 

Subject to the terms of this clause 8, we recognize your ownership of the IPRs subsisting in your entry to the competition. 

The Hack the Planet competition, its organisers and partners do not retain any equity or ownership of the idea upon application. You retain full and exclusive ownership of your information and intellectual property rights. Any idea you submit will only be used for the purpose of evaluating your application to Hack the Planet.

9. Changes and Program Cancellation 

We may cancel the competition or vary these terms and conditions at any time at our discretion. We will post any changes to these terms and conditions on the competition website. 

We reserve the right to suspend the competition at any time and to change the form and substance, dates for deadlines and events, locations or specification of the competition and/or prize. 

We reserve the right not to award any prize. 


10. Use of Your Information and Privacy Statement 

Unless stated otherwise, information (including personal information) submitted in any entry will be used by the Satellite Applications Catapult and its Partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

By submitting your entry to the competition, you give us permission to use the information provided by you in your entry and during your participation in the competition (including your personal details; logos, photos, videos uploaded by you or your pitch and taken during events) for the purposes of administering and judging the competition, for any purpose connected to the competition and for promotional purposes. We may share this information with our judges, our partners, and anyone who is involved in the competition. 


11. Governing Law and Jurisdiction 

These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.   

By entering the competition, you agree to submit to the law of England and Wales, regardless of your country of establishment or residence. 

If any provision of these Terms and Conditions is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable, such provision shall not affect the other provisions. 


  1. Disqualification

    We reserve the right to refuse participation, or to disqualify, at any time during the competition, participants who have submitted incorrect or misleading information, or have participated in plagiarism.  

Participants who do not comply with these Terms and Conditions may also be disqualified from the Competition without further notice.  
Participants will have no recourse against disqualification decisions. 

If at any stage in the Competition a Participant/Team is disqualified from the Competition or a Participant/Team cannot be traced or contacted after reasonable efforts have been made by the Promoter, that Participant/Team will forego the right to progress to the next stage of the Competition and the Promoter at its sole discretion may arrange for a replacement Participant/Team to be selected, without liability to the disqualified, untraceable or uncontactable team, as appropriate.


  1. Miscellaneous provisions

    Headings of Sections herein are inserted for convenience of reference only and shall not affect the construction or interpretation of these Terms and Conditions. 

If there is any conflict between these terms and any other conditions regarding the competition, these terms shall prevail. 

We may update these terms at any point in time without providing you with a personal notification. The updated Terms and Conditions will be posted on the competition website.  

By utilizing this site you are consenting to be bound by the then current form of these Terms and Conditions.

EDI Statement

This event is a professional scientific meeting that provides a respectful, harassment-free and inclusive environment for all participants, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, education, socioeconomics or personal situation, or any combination of these. All participants are expected to behave with integrity and respect towards others either attending or involved with the event or related activity.  All communication, be it verbal or electronic, must be carried out in a respectful and polite manner. Inappropriate messaging or contact will not be tolerated.

The organisers are committed to ensuring all attendees as far as possible create an inclusive, welcoming and respectful environment for all participants. Participants are encouraged to report any experienced harassment. The organisers reserve the right to take any action deemed appropriate in case of harassment, and the host institutions of reported individuals will be notified about filed harassment reports.