Umeå launches Climate Challenge with open data

The City of Umeå has launched the first Umeå Open Data Climate Challenge to encourage participants to create innovative climate solutions based on open data from Umeå. Six finalists will have the opportunity to share a total prize pool of 130,000 Swedish kronor.

– We want to promote collaboration and the use of open data in the fight against climate change. We look forward to the smart solutions that this challenge can create, says Maria Söderlind, central coordinator for Open Data Umeå, part of Umeå Municipality.

Participants are encouraged to develop innovative solutions and applications that address climate challenges using open data sources available at opendata.umea.se and similar sources.

– Umecom is about coming together to find new solutions to societal challenges. My hope is that the Umeå Open Data Climate Challenge becomes an annual event that really makes a difference, adds Ida Hillebjörk, project manager for the Umecom citizen workshop.

The Open Data Climate Challenge is supported by several cooperation partners, including Länsförsäkringar, one of the 40 partners in Umeå's Climate Action Plan.

– We have direct experience of the consequences of climate change in our operations, as natural disasters and their effects account for a significant proportion of our industry's claims costs. To meet the challenges posed by the climate change, new ideas are needed. Through our support of the Umeå Open Data Climate Challenge, we hope to discover both new technologies and new ways of thinking that can help us on this journey. The entire work of Umeå's Climate Action Plan is in line with our vision to create a safer Västerbotten, says Göran Karmehag, CEO of insurance company Länsförsäkringar Västerbotten.

– SLU's environmental work fits well with Umeå City Council's Climate Action Plan, to which we are linked. It's exciting to be a co-organiser of this initiative. I look forward to seeing the results of this challenge, says Pernilla Christensen, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Forest Sciences at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

Balticgruppen, INAB, Tyréns, HYBES and Umeå University are also supporting the challenge.

Individuals and teams from all over the world can participate in the challenge. A jury will select six competition entries based on criteria such as the use of open data, climate impact, realism of the project and the degree of innovation.

The deadline for submissions is Sunday 27^th of august at 21:00 CET. Following this, the jury will announce the six finalists, who will implement their projects / proposals during the months of September/October. The winners from among the six finalists will be announced at the end of November. The prizes are 50,000 SEK for the first prize, 30,000 SEK for the second prize, 20,000 SEK for the third prize and 10,000 SEK for the remaining finalists.

– Our hope is that this challenge will lead to an increase in access to open data and an increase in collaboration between different stakeholders. We're hoping that someone will come up with the ingenious solution that we haven't even thought of yet. Together we can make a real difference for the climate, says Maria Söderlind.

All finalists retain ownership of their solutions and decide what happens to them after the challenge. However, they are encouraged to continue to maintain and develop their solutions.

The main organiser of the challenge is Open Data Umeå, a part of Umeå Municipality. More information about the challenge can be found at https://opendata.umea.se/pages/climate_challenge/

For further information:
Maria Söderlind
Central Coordinator for Open Data Umeå
Tel: +4690163250
E-mail: maria.soderlind@umea.se