About The Hackathon
Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) play an important role in socioeconomic resilience, with their creative ideas and new business models, while tapping on available science, technologies, and/or innovative tools. In order to tap on SME’s potential to be a frontline of economic recovery process, UNDP, and the General Secretariat of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development (GSSCPD), are hosting this “Kuwait hacks the Crisis” hackathon in partnerships with the National Fund for SMEs Development, the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), and Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR).
Who can Join?
SMEs with innovative solutions to tackle socioeconomic challenges incurred by covid19 pandemic
Participating SMEs must be registered in Kuwait.
Each team should have at least 3 (three) members and maximum of seven (7) members. We encourage participating SMEs to form a multidisciplinary team to benefit from diverse background, ideas and experiences to come up with innovative solution.
At least one of team members should be Kuwaiti, it is up to your company whether to invite external people to form a team.
How It Works
01
Registration
12PM May 4 - 11:59PM May 11
Interested SME should form a team and register to submit their ideas.
02
Onboarding
9PM May 13
The coaches shall be introduced to participants on Slack and Zoom platform. Teams begin brainstorming and formulating solutions.
03
Hackathon Begins
9:30PM May 13
Teams start developing their solutions in the span of 5 days. The coaching team is there to provide guidance and encouragement.
04
Submission
11:59PM May 17
On the 5th and last day of the hackathon, teams submit their finalized written proposals and business plans along with links to videos, as well as pictures and graphics according to given submission guidelines.
05
Awards Ceremony
The two winning teams are announced during the awards ceremony. Winners are presented with a 5000 KWD award. The award ceremony to be held end of May under the auspices of H.E The Minister of Economic Affairs.
Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony will kickstart the hackathon on May 12 at 9:00pm. It will include remarks from the organizers and partners, introductions to the coaching teams, and will be concluded by an interactive Q & A for the SME participants.
Director General
Kuwait Foundation for Advancements of Sciences
Dr. Adnan Shihab-Eldin
Director General
The National Fund for SME Development
Manaf Al-Menaifi
Director General
Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research
Dr. Samira Omar
Secretary General
of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development
Dr. Khaled Mahdi
UNDP Innovation Advisor
Jennifer Colville
UNDP Kuwait Resident Representative
Hideko Hadzialic
Selection Criteria For Challenge 1
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Clear identification of supply-chain vulnerability within identified sectors (which goods and/or services; clear indication of current sources)
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Creativity in addressing defined vulnerabilities
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Sustainability of solutions: Does the proposed set of solutions can be also effective in a longer-term?
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Cost-effectiveness / cost conscious ness of the proposed solutions
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Overall benefit to people residing in Kuwait,
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Is the solution based on sound forecast of supply chains?
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The degree to which a proposal can contribute to SDG 12 on responsible production and consumption,
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Replicability by other SMEs.
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The degree to which a proposed business plan can contribute to any of the 7 pillars of Kuwait Vision 2035, in particular “Diversified Sustainable Economy” pillar.
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[Secondary criteria] Replicability to other goods and/or services.
Selection Criteria For Challenge 2
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Creativity of proposed new business
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Feasibility of starting up in 2020/2021 per proposed business plan
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Potential number of beneficiaries
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Sustainability of proposed ideas
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Replicibility by other SMEs
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The degree to which a proposed business plan can contribute to any of the 7 pillars of Kuwait Vision 2035
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The degree to which a proposed business plan shall contribute to any SDGs (in particular SDG3)
The Coaching Team
The virtual coaching team is made up of advisors from various background, ranging from innovation advisors, business administration, science and public administration. The role of the Coaching Team is to facilitate your design thinking and invigorate discussions amongst team members to arrive at a set of solutions.
