The Healthy Neighbourhoods Data Challenge

Challenge Description

Identify and create novel data sets, data sources, and analytical methodologies to better understand the physical environment so that we can design healthier neighbourhoods.

Who Should Participate?

  • Students
  • Researchers
  • Public sector institutions
  • Private sector organizations
  • General public

Opportunity

  • Phase 1 (up to five $10,000 awards): provide data
  • Phase 2 ($50,000 award): add additional features
  • Post-challenge: validation, scaling, and adoption-oriented activities

What’s Happening Now?

Congratulations to the winner of the Challenge: Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health! Read more about their innovative solution here.

25/10/2019Finalists are in Phase 2
$100,000 prize pool

The Challenge

Urban sprawl and the convenience of various technologies has led to increasingly sedentary lifestyles, reduced physical activity and easier access to unhealthy food. Studies in Canada have also shown that chronic diseases and conditions linked to unhealthy living are on the rise.

Improving our neighbourhoods to reverse this trend is the obvious answer — but we need to better understand our physical environment to do this effectively and efficiently. In other words, we need to assess critical elements of our neighbourhoods that have positive or negative effects on both individual residents and the larger community.

MaRS is looking for innovators to identify and/or create new data sets, data sources and methodologies to improve our understanding of physical environments and promote healthy living. The relationship between space and the health of residents is complex. However, with the right design fueled by the right data, we can improve our neighbourhoods by giving people healthier choices.

 

What are the Data Gaps?

There is a lack of relevant, easily accessible, up-to-date and scalable information sources that can define and quantify our physical environment. This has limited the ability of community builders and other stakeholders to make informed decisions. Given these limitations, we now have an opportunity to create new data sources and tap into existing ones to enhance our understanding of communities and begin to design neighbourhoods that improve people’s health.

 

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Challenge Structure

This challenge is aimed at identifying data sets, data sources and methodologies that will provide a deeper understanding of the physical environment and improve health outcomes in our neighbourhoods.

 

Phase 1 – data

Innovators will provide data and/or methodologies to unlock critical insights and quantify different elements of the physical environment. These neighbourhood design elements will have identified linkages to health outcomes.

Innovators will choose neighbourhood design elements, sub-elements, and design metrics, as well as provide data (where each data point maps to a location and time). Refer to the Data Sources Document and Neighbourhood Design Dataset files provided in the Resources tab for additional instructions.

 

Below are the five neighbourhood design elements and their sub-elements.

  • Walkability: Urban/rural comparison, Street/community design, Other
  • Food environment: Food sources, Food establishment turnover, Other
  • Active transportation: Transit infrastructure, Cycling infrastructure, Walking infrastructure, Other
  • Green/blue spaces: Green spaces, Blue spaces, Street-side features, Other
  • Air quality: Indoor air quality, Outdoor air quality, Other

Submissions will be evaluated by an external panel of expert judges. Up to five $10,000 awards will be given to each challenge finalist for use in the continued development of their submission during Phase 2.

Data from Phase 1 submissions will be compiled and used to generate a publicly accessible visualization tool.

 

Phase 2 – additional features

Finalists will augment their Phase 1 submission by adding a qualitative layer to their chosen neighbourhood design element(s) and associated design metrics. For example, this can include information on microscale features of green or blue space (e.g. number of park amenities) or demographic information (e.g. types of park users).

Submissions will be evaluated by an external panel of expert judges. One $50,000 award will be available for the challenge winner. The winner will also have the opportunity to scale and integrate their concept into existing public health surveillance systems.

 

Post-challenge phase

The Challenge winner and Phase 1 finalists will have an opportunity to validate connections between neighbourhood design elements and health outcomes, and engage in activities related to adoption and use of their work by community builders in the design of neighbourhoods.

 

Timeline

Phase 1 Launch (06/06/2019)

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Phase 1 Submission Deadline (24/10/2019)

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Phase 1 Finalists Announced (25/11/2019)

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Phase 2 Launch (06/01/2020)

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Phase 2 Submission Deadline (09/04/2020)

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Winners Announcement (04/06/2020)

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FAQ

You may only enter the Challenge if at the time of entry you meet all of the below requirements:

  • You are a legal resident of Canada
  • You are at least 18 years old or the age of majority in the province or territory where you reside
  • You are not an employee of MaRS, or the Public Health Agency of Canada, and you are not the immediate family member of any such employee

Both individual and team submissions are welcome.

If you are applying as a member of a team, note that only one submission is required. Please identify a primary contact person on your team when completing the submission form. We ask that all team members sign up for individual profiles on marschallenges.com. There is no limit to the number of people on a team.

The innovator will retain all intellectual property rights.

No. All submissions are kept private and no details are shared with other competitors.

If you have a question that is not answered in the FAQ, you can contact the challenge sponsor by e-mailing challenges@marsdd.com.

Challenge Sponsors

This project has been made possible through funding from/Le projet “Défi sur les données pour des quartiers sains” est rendu possible grâce au financement de:

sponsor logo

Accept Challenge

MaRS Healthy Neighbourhoods Data Challenge Contest Rules

 

MaRS Discovery District (“MaRS”) is pleased to present the MaRS Healthy Neighbourhoods Data Challenge (the “Contest”).

The Contest is governed by the rules as set out below. By entering the Contest, you agree to abide by the rules and decisions of MaRS and the Contest judges. You also agree to comply with all applicable laws. The Contest is void to the extent prohibited or restricted by law.

 

THE RULES

1.     Contest Purpose

The Contest asks Canadians to identify novel sources of data and analytical mechanisms that can improve our understanding of our physical environments in order to promote healthy living and improved health outcomes in our neighbourhoods.

2.     Contest Period

The Contest will open at 12:01am EDT on June 6th, 2019, and will close on 11:59pm EDT on June 4th, 2020.

3.     How to Enter

You may enter the Contest by filling out the registration form at www.marschallenges.com (the “Contest Website”), and providing the submission as described in section 5 below and any other materials you may provide to MaRS (collectively, the “Submission”). You must provide the required information accurately, and accept the terms and conditions displayed as part of the registration process.

The Contest consists of two phases as follows:

Phase 1 begins on June 6th, 2019, and ends on October 24th, 2019.

All Phase 1 entries must be received by MaRS on or before 11:59pm EDT, October 24th, 2019.

Contest judges will select the top five Phase 1 finalists on or before November 25th, 2019. These top five finalists will be eligible to enter Phase 2.

Phase 2 begins on January 6th, 2020, and ends on April 9th, 2020.

Contest judges will select and announce the top Phase 2 winner on or before June 4, 2020.

It is solely your responsibility to ensure that you are properly registered. MaRS will not be responsible for any lost, delayed, misdirected, illegible, incomplete, damaged or undeliverable entries, or any delay or failure to transmit, process, receive or consider entries.

4.     Eligibility – Entrants

You are not required to make any purchase or pay any fee to enter or win the Contest.

You may only enter the Contest if you meet one of the two criteria:

1. You are an individual and, at the time of entry: (a) you are a legal resident of Canada, and (b) you are at least the age of majority in the province where you reside.

OR

2. You are a company which was incorporated in Canada, and the person who agrees to these terms on your behalf has the legal authority to do so.

MaRS’ employees and their immediate families (i.e., their spouses, siblings, children, spouses’ parents, and the spouses of any of those individuals) and their household members (related or not), and anyone otherwise connected with the Contest, are not eligible to enter the Contest.

MaRS may at any time in its sole discretion disqualify any entrant who: does not meet the Contest’s eligibility criteria, fails to comply with these rules, attempts to enter the Contest in any manner or through any means other than as described in these rules, attempts to disrupt the Contest or attempts to circumvent any of these rules.

5.     Your Submission

The Submission you develop in connection with the Contest must meet all of the following criteria:

(a)   It must not contain, depict or refer to any crude, vulgar, obscene, sexually explicit, disparaging, discriminatory, offensive, illegal or otherwise unsuitable language, activity or other content (all as determined by MaRS in its sole discretion).

(b)   It must not contain, depict or refer to any content which disparages or refers negatively to MaRS, the Contest, or any other person or entity (all as determined by MaRS in its sole discretion).

(c)   It must not conflict with any of MaRS’ core values, or otherwise be objectionable to MaRS (as determined by MaRS in its sole discretion).

(d)   It must not contain any content that violates any law or any third party’s rights (including privacy, personality and intellectual property rights).

(e)   It must not have been submitted to any other website or contest.

(f)    It must meet all other guidelines and criteria listed on the Contest Website.

MaRS may disqualify any Submission if MaRS determines (in its sole discretion) that the Submission does not comply with the above requirements or otherwise with these rules.

6.     Your Additional Representations and Warranties

By submitting a Submission to MaRS, you represent and warrant that:

(a)   you are the original creator of the Submission;

(b)   you are the sole owner of the copyright and all other rights in the Submission;

(c)   MaRS will not infringe or violate any third party’s intellectual property, privacy, personality or other rights when MaRS copies, displays, edits, modifies, transmits or otherwise uses that Submission in connection with the Contest or the publication the Contest or any future MaRS event; and,

(d)   the Submission meets all of the eligibility requirements set out in these rules.

7.     Voting and Judging Process

For Phase 1, the judges will select the top five (5) Submissions in their sole discretion on or before November 25th, 2019, based on the criteria described on the Contest Website. For Phase 2, the judges will select one of the top five Phase 1 Submissions as the top Phase 2 Submission. Decisions of the judges will be final and binding. Phase 1 and Phase 2 judging criteria are attached hereto as Exhibit A.

8.     Winners

Entrants who have been selected to receive a prize will be notified by e-mail. In order for an entrant to be declared a Contest winner and be eligible for a prize, he or she must have complied with, and remain in compliance with, these rules, and must sign and deliver to MaRS (within 10 days after MaRS’ request) a standard declaration and release form, which will include: a declaration of the entrant’s compliance with these rules, an acceptance of the prize as awarded, a publicity release, a liability release, and any other documentation that MaRS may require.

MaRS may request valid proof of identity, residency, age and other relevant documentation, and MaRS may disqualify an entrant if MaRS determines (in its sole discretion) that the provided proof is not sufficient.

If the prize notification is returned as undeliverable or if a selected entrant does not comply with all of the above requirements within the above time frames, or does not otherwise comply with these rules, MaRS may disqualify the finalist, and the Contest judges will select a replacement finalist.

MaRS expects to announce the names of the five Phase 1 winners on or before November 25th, 2019, and the one Phase 2 winner on or before June 4th, 2020.

The chances of winning will depend upon the number of entrants.

9.     Prizes

There are six (6) prizes to be won, with a total approximate retail value of CAD$100,000.00. These prizes will be awarded to the top finalists (as chosen by the Contest judges) as follows:

One prize of CAD$50,000.00 will be awarded to the top Phase 2 Submission, and five (5) prizes of CAD$10,000.00 each for the Phase 1 top five (5) Submissions, as chosen by the judges.

All prizes must be accepted as awarded (with no substitutions), and may not be sold, transferred, or converted into cash. The winner(s) will be solely responsible for all travel and other costs associated with obtaining or redeeming the prize(s).

MaRS will make reasonable efforts to deliver prizes to the addresses/accounts provided by entrants. However, MaRS cannot guarantee that any prizes returned to MaRS due to non-delivery at the provided address will be re-sent to the prizewinner.

10.  Cancellation

If for any reason MaRS cannot run the Contest as planned (including as a result of bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, infection by computer virus or any other cause that corrupts, impairs or affects the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest), MaRS may cancel, modify, extend or suspend the Contest. In that event, MaRS may award prizes at random from among the eligible entries received up to the time of the impairment, or award no prizes.

MaRS may also disqualify any individual who tampers with or in any way corrupts the entry or voting process, or who attempts to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest by cheating, hacking, deception, or other unfair practices, or by attempting to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other entrants or MaRS representatives.

11.  Licence from all Entrants to MaRS

You will retain the intellectual property rights in your Submission. However, you hereby grant to MaRS the unrestricted, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, sublicensable, assignable, licence (but not the obligation) to reproduce, communicate, modify, display, transmit, publicly perform, make derivative works from, and otherwise use your Submission (in whole or in part) without any fee or other form of compensation, and without further notification or permission, for the following purposes:

(a)   administering the Contest;

(b)   identifying you by name as the creator of the Submission;

(c)   displaying the winning entries in the Contest; and,

(d)   advertising in any media, including to advertise the Contest, future Contests, and MaRS’ products and services.

12.  Publicity

Except where otherwise prohibited by law, participation in the Contest constitutes a winner’s consent to MaRS’ use of the winner’s name, home town and photograph for promotional purposes without further notification, permission, payment or consideration.

13.  DISCLAIMERS, LIABILITY AND INDEMNIFICATION

MaRS DOES NOT ACCEPT LIABILITY FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY SUBMISSION OR FOR ANY OTHER LOSS OR DAMAGE RESULTING DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY FROM YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE CONTEST OR YOUR RECEIPT, USE OR REDEMPTION OF ANY PRIZE(S), OR YOUR INABILITY TO RECEIVE, USE OR REDEEM ANY PRIZE(S).

MaRS IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR: (1) INCORRECT OR INACCURATE TRANSCRIPTION OF ENTRY INFORMATION OR LATE, LOST, INCOMPLETE, MISDIRECTED ENTRIES, OR ENTRIES RECEIVED THROUGH IMPERMISSIBLE OR ILLEGITIMATE CHANNELS; (2) TECHNICAL FAILURES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING THE MALFUNCTIONING OF ANY TELEPHONE, COMPUTER, NETWORK, HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE; (3) THE UNAVAILABILITY OR INACCESSIBILITY OF ANY SERVICE; (4) UNAUTHORIZED HUMAN INTERVENTION IN ANY PART OF THE ENTRY PROCESS OR THE CONTEST; (5) ELECTRONIC OR HUMAN ERROR WHICH MAY OCCUR IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE CONTEST OR THE PROCESSING OF ENTRIES; OR (6) ANY INJURY OR DAMAGE TO PERSONS OR PROPERTY, INCLUDING YOUR COMPUTER, WHICH MAY BE CAUSED, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, FROM YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE CONTEST OR FROM DOWNLOADING OR USING ANY MATERIAL PROVIDED BY MaRS.

MaRS WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH THE CONTEST OR THESE RULES.

YOU HEREBY RELEASE AND AGREE TO INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS MaRS AND ITS EMPLOYEES, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, AFFILIATES, AGENTS, JUDGES AND ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONAL AGENCIES FROM ANY AND ALL DAMAGES, INJURIES, CLAIMS, CAUSES OF ACTIONS, LIABILITY OR LOSSES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING ACTUAL LEGAL FEES AND EXPENSES), KNOWN OR UNKNOWN, ABSOLUTE OR CONTINGENT, NOW OR IN THE FUTURE ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO: (A) YOUR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH ANY OF THESE RULES; (B) ANY MISREPRESENTATION YOU MAKE UNDER THESE RULES OR OTHERWISE TO MaRS; (C) YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE CONTEST; OR (D) YOUR RECEIPT, USE OR REDEMPTION OF ANY PRIZE, OR YOUR INABILITY TO RECEIVE, USE OR REDEEM ANY PRIZE.

14.  Personal Information Consent

You consent to MaRS using and disclosing your personal information (or if you are a corporation, you consent on behalf of all individuals whose personal information is included in the Submission) for the purposes of administering the Contest; advertising the Contest and any future Contests and any of MaRS’ products and services; and for the other purposes described in these rules.

15.  Law

The Rules will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario, Canada, and the federal laws of Canada applicable in Ontario.

16.  Disputes

All disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with the Contest, prizes or these rules will be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the appropriate court of the Province of Ontario, Canada.

17.  Further Information

For more information please contact MaRS Challenges at:

MaRS Discovery District

MaRS Centre, South Tower

101 College Street, Suite 401

Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1L7

challenges@marsdd.com

 

A copy of these rules can be found in the “Resources” tab of the Challenge page.

 

BY CLICKING ON THE BELOW “ACCEPT” BUTTON, I ACKNOWLEDGE THAT I HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD THE RULES AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THEM. IF I AM A CORPORATION, I ALSO REPRESENT THAT THE PERSON CLICKING “ACCEPT” HAS THE LEGAL AUTHORIZATION TO DO SO ON MY BEHALF.

 

Exhibit A

Phase 1 Judging Criteria

The evaluation of Phase 1 submissions will be scored according to the following criteria:

Criteria Description Scoring

(maximum 100 points)

Data:

Neighbourhood Design Elements

(DSD column B)

How many neighbourhood design elements were covered?

·     1 point for having 1 neighbourhood design element.

·     3 points for having 2 neighbourhood design elements.

·     5 points for having 3+ neighbourhood design elements.

5
Novelty

(Submission form Q3, 4, 7, 9;

DSD columns F-H)

Are the data sources and methodology used different and/or unique from those currently used? 10
Adaptability

(Submission form Q10)

Can the data, data sources and/or methodologies be adapted to incorporate additional components and qualifying features? 10
Timeliness

(DSD column I)

How current is the data? How often is the data collected or generated (e.g. real-time, near real-time, hourly, weekly, monthly, etc.)? 15
Accuracy

(DSD column J)

Are the data and data sources accurate? What evidence is provided to support the accuracy of values reported for each metric (e.g. how data used was collected, generated, calculated, and/or validated)? 15
Applicability and Scalability

(DSD columns K-L)

 

Are the proposed data, data sources and methodologies applicable to other communities in Canada (e.g. different population centre classifications, provinces/territories, etc.)?

What geographic region(s) do the data sources cover? How feasible is the data and data sources for scaling across Canada? Is there evidence to support this?

20
Accessibility

(DSD column M)

Are the data and data sources easily accessible by different users (e.g. public versus private)? Are the resources required to access and use the data reasonable? 15
 

Privacy and Confidentiality

(Submission form Q8;

DSD column N)

Was sufficient consideration made to ensure the privacy, security, and anonymity of the data and data subjects? 10

 

Phase 2 Judging Criteria

The evaluation of Phase 2 submissions will be scored according to the following criteria:

Criteria Scoring

(maximum 100 points)

Data:

Additional features

40
Sustainability and Robustness 10
Applicability and Scalability 20
Project Plan 25
Privacy and Confidentiality 5

 

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