Asian Development Bank (ADB), in collaboration with the Open Government Partnership (OGP), aims to explore how digital technology can be leveraged to strengthen the monitoring of COVID-19 related spending and improve feedback and grievance redressal mechanisms.

Government Accountability and Responsiveness during COVID-19. Last Date to Apply 13th December 2020

 CHALLENGE OVERVIEW

ADB, in collaboration with the Open Government Partnership (OGP), aims to explore how digital technology can be leveraged to strengthen the monitoring of COVID-19 related spending and improve feedback and grievance redressal  mechanisms. 

COVID-19 continues to threaten lives and livelihoods throughout the Asia Pacific region. In response, governments have taken economic measures to safeguard the health of its citizens and support the economy. Stimulus and safety net packages have been distributed, intended to reach citizens and businesses in need. Governments continue to plan and allocate significant additional resources to fund COVID-19 response and recovery. Thus, public spending must be transparent and monitored. Institutions must be made accountable to manage the economic impacts effectively, as well as duly respond to citizens’ needs.

How can digital technology be leveraged to monitor COVID-19-related spending, stimulus, and safety net measures, and to create feedback and redress mechanisms to ensure assistance goes to those most in need?

Potential concepts could include:  

  • Tools or applications that allow citizens to track budgets, disbursements and expenditures on COVID-19 related stimulus measures, safety net packages, public procurement, or sectoral budgets, expenditures and spending 
  • Tools or applications that provide easy-to-understand and accessible information on target beneficiary groups (individuals, specific communities, or businesses including small and medium enterprises), and on specific assistance or relief provisions (eligibility criteria and process for assistance) 
  • Tools or applications that create mechanisms for targeted beneficiaries to provide feedback and complaints on government assistance and programs, and access redress or complaints mechanisms 
  • Tools or applications which expand the reach and accessibility of underserved and/or marginalized populations to government programs, including but not limited to informal settlers, minority ethnic groups, LGBT+ individuals and groups, the disabled, etc.
 

We encourage participants to include in their proposals the aspect of accessibility. Participants may consider bridging the digital divide for those with limited access to the internet. Entries should ideally be open-source solutions that can be adapted and replicated elsewhere.  

Your innovative solutions are what we need to guide citizens to monitoring the government budget!

 

 WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?

The selected solution will have potential funding of 

  USD 10,000  or more for selected pilots in ADB’s developing member countries. 

Participants from OGP member countries may also be connected to their respective national OGP stakeholders to explore how their ideas may be taken forward through OGP national action plans.

Application

The challenge will be open to individuals from ADB member countries. Organizations must designate individuals to join the challenge as team members. Individuals from different organizations may also team up to work together to submit entries. Teams are encouraged to have representatives from different backgrounds with the expertise and ability to continue to develop the prototypes beyond the duration of the challenge. Teams can have 1-10 members.

All entries must center on solutions that can be implemented in ADB’s developing member countries. The list of developing member countries can be found at the bottom of this page.

Please note that winning teams will need to designate one individual member to receive the funding on behalf of the team. All team members must meet the eligibility requirements as stated in the ADB Procurement Guidelines for them to receive the funding.

All entries must be submitted on or before December 13, 2020 with a deadline set at 1700 hrs [GMT +8]. The following content must be provided:

  • Team Profile: Please submit the following information: team name, assigned team leader and the names of all team members alongside a photo and a short bio of each member of the team (100 words only per team member). These are to be submitted in PDF format via the platform.
  • PowerPoint Presentation: The presentation needs to clearly articulate how the proposed solution addresses the core problem statement of the challenge. It should include a mock up of how the solution would work in practice, its proposed functionalities and features, the underlying process and data required to make the solution work, and the feasibility of taking the proposed solution from idea to implementation. It should include information on the technical capacity of the team to advance the further development of the solution and areas where the team might benefit from mentoring. Teams are encouraged to ensure that the presentation is visual, enabling the selection committee to gauge what the user experience of the solution may look like. Presentations are limited to 10 slides and must address all aspects of the challenge criteria, team profile and mentoring needs. The presentation is to be submitted in PDF format via the platform.
  • Prototype of Solution Proposed: All teams are required to submit an initial prototype of their proposed solution, by the final pitching stage. This may be in the form of either a functional application (either a mobile application or URL of a website) or a video mockup. Prototypes must be accompanied by a guidance note of no more than 2 pages detailing its features and functions. Videos must be limited to 2 minutes in length and accessible by a URL/link. These should be submitted via the platform.

Evaluation

All submissions will be evaluated and up to 10 will be shortlisted to proceed to the next round of the competition. Shortlisted teams will be notified on December 22, 2020 at 1600 hrs [GMT +8].

 

Mentoring

Shortlisted teams may be paired with ADB and OGP experts and other subject matter experts to further refine the proposed solution based on the problem context. Mentoring will take place from January 4 till January 22, 2021. The teams will also be invited to engage and submit questions in a webinar that will be facilitated by ADB and OGP.

 

Pitching

After the mentoring phase, up to 5 teams  will have an opportunity to present their final solutions to a panel of experts. The shortlisting will be done by the challenge selection committee, and selected teams will be notified.

Presentations will require a live demonstration of tools, methods, and implementation plans. Participants need to upload their revised presentation and a prototype as Deliverables.

The Challenge Pitching will take place on January 28, 2021. Winners will be announced on the same day.

The selected solution will receive potential funding of up to USD 10,000 for selected pilots in ADB’s developing member countries.

Please note that winning teams will need to designate one individual member to receive the funding on behalf of the team. All team members must meet the eligibility requirements as stated in the ADB Procurement Guidelines for them to receive the funding.

 

All proposals will be judged based on the following criteria:

  • Relevance of the solution to a clearly defined governance challenge and rationale for the solution producing the desired change – 40%
  • Operational feasibility, scalability including aspects related to accessibility and inclusion and potential for institutionalization – 30%
  • Innovation – 30%
Eligibility:  Teams submitting original work that has not been previously submitted to other ADB challenges or challenge events will be preferred. All entries will be subject to integrity checks during the competition to ensure the originality of the work.

https://challenges.adb.org/en/challenges/new-normal-government-accountability-responsiveness?lang=en