The Challenge 22 innovation competition is aimed towards engaging Arab youth, who can come up with creative solutions and innovations to problems that can leave a direct impact on Arab society, ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™.

Individuals and groups (of up to four people) who propose the most innovative ideas will win prizes of USD 15,000 and receive mentoring from leading scientists and researchers in the region.

Those with the very best ideas – the ones with the greatest potential to contribute to an amazing tournament in 2022 – will receive up to USD 100,000 in additional funding to develop their ideas to proof of concept stage.

The challenges for the competition revolve around contemporary issues like sustainability, health & safety, tourism experience, and Internet of Things.

Sustainability: Create innovations that have a measurable outcome in the areas of sustainable energy, water, design, or grass generation. 

Health & Safety: Accidents in the workplace are unavoidable. In this challenge, participants will have to come up with ways to raise awareness towards the health & safety of employees, in means to enhance, monitor, and control their wellbeing.

Tourism Experience: Participants will have to come up with ways to ensure that the influx of tourists and visitors during 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar™ will have an exceptional experience introducing them to the culture, the people, and the historical sites, all while contributing to the long-term diversification of the Qatari and regional economies.

Internet of Things: The challenge is to identify ways in which the internet of things can provide innovative services, creating a more accessible, safer and better tournament experience for all.

 

Applications will be open from September 27 till December 12, 2016. 

Once the application passes the first round, the applicants can choose to have a mentor assigned for one month, in order to create a more refined proposal. From this, up to 18 finalists will be flown to Doha to present their projects in front of a panel of judges.

For more information on the application process, evaluation criteria, and phase two of the contest, please visit this website.