The 2023 United Nations Datathon will be hosted by the members and partners of the UN Committee of Experts on Big Data and Data Science for Official Statistics (UN-CEBD), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY), Uruguay's National Institute of Statistics (INE), and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD), and will be co-organized by the four regional hubs of the United Nations Global Platform for Big Data (UAE, Brazil, China, Rwanda). The UN Datathon is planned to take place from 3 to 6 November 2023.

This year's UN Datathon will, for the first time, have a dedicated division for participants from China. The Datathon of China Division will be jointly organized by the United Nations Global Platform for Big Data China Hub (referred to as "the China Hub") and Zhejiang Lab. We cordially invite statisticians, data scientists, academic researchers, practitioners, and young talents from all over the world to join us and help address global sustainability challenges with their data science skills.

I. Forms of the Competition

1. Theme and Objectives:

The theme of the 2023 UN Datathon will be announced prior to the competition. Participants should work in teams and are encouraged to utilize technologies such as big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to provide innovative solutions that contribute to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In alignment with the objectives of this year's UN Datathon, the scope of the theme of the Datathon of China Division will be even broader and will be announced in due course together with the announcement of the theme for the UN Datathon. The theme includes but is not limited to the 17 UN SDGs. Participants are strongly encouraged to use data from China and propose solutions based on Chinese experiences in addressing global sustainability challenges, thereby contributing Chinese wisdom and strength to global development.

2. Participants

1) Team size: 3-5 people each team.

2) Each team needs to assign a team leader who will be responsible for the application, results submission and communication throughout the whole process.

3) It is recommended that the team should be composed of people with diverse backgrounds in data science, statistics, economics, or social sciences.

4) The same team can participate in the UN Datathon and/or the Datathon of China Division.

3. Location

Participants of the UN Datathon can participate virtually or in-person at the main venue in Uruguay (NSO building in Montevideo) and at select satellite venues around the globe (e.g., Dubai UAE, Rio de Janeiro Brazil, Indonesia).

In principle, participants of the Datathon of China Division will participate virtually.

4. Submission Requirements:

1) Each team can select only one topic and submit one solution.

2) The submission should include:

- Presentation explaining their solution or other data visualization (free format).

- Video with maximum length of 10 minutes with voice-over.

- Coding scripts.

3) Language Requirements:

The UN Datathon requires submissions to be in English. The Datathon of China Division requires submissions to be in Chinese.

For teams that participate in both tracks, please submit the version that comply with the language requirement of the submission channel.

4) All solutions submitted must be original, and plagiarism is strictly prohibited.

II. Awards and Prizes

1. The UN Datathon

The awards list of 2023 UN Datathon:

- Outstanding Teams: one 1st Place, one 2nd Place, and one 3rd Place

- Special Awards: Best teams by region, Best visualization, Best presentation, Best university student team, Best high-school team, Best team mentoring other teams

In addition to the above awards, the winning teams will also receive multiple opportunities and rewards. The possible prizes are as follows:

- The opportunity to attend international forums or conferences.

- The possibility of becoming a long-term service project of the FAO incubator for early-stage ideas to receive further training, mentoring, and assistance from the UN community.

- The full access to the UNGP AIS platform for a long period of time...

In addition, all submitted qualified videos will be showcased during the "Festival de Datos" (7-9 November 2023) in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

Punta del Este, Uruguay, known as the "Miami of South America". Photo by Jimmy Baikovicius, Source: jikatu

2. The Datathon of China Division

The awards list of 2023 China Division:

- Outstanding Teams: one 1st Place, two 2nd Place, and three 3rd Place

- Special Awards: Best visualization, Best presentation, Best university student team and so forth

The certificates of all the winning teams will be jointly issued by the UN Datathon hosts and the UN Global Platform for Big Data China Hub. In addition, the winning works will be displayed in video form on the China Hub's platform.

III. Registration

The same team can participate in both the UN Datathon and the Datathon of China Division simultaneously, or participate in only one of the tracks.

Teams interested in participating in the UN Datathon and/or the Datathon of China Division can register on the website by scanning the corresponding QR code provided below. The registration deadline for both tracks is September 30, 2023.

                                     The UN Datathon                        The Datathon of China Division