The Stockholm Challenge:
An Award, An Event, A Community
The Stockholm Challenge promotes ICT for development with an award that invites entries from projects that use ICT to tackle the world's biggest problems. Since it began in 1995 it has won a world-wide reputation for finding and connecting innovative information and communication technology based projects in Health, Education, Government, Culture, Business and Environment.
The award is open for applications from January 1st to December 31, 2007 and offers a chance to win the prestigious Stockholm Challenge Trophies. To enter the Stockholm Challenge visit the registration page and enter your details.
The prize ceremony in the Stockholm City Hall will take place during Challenge Week from May 18 - 22, 2008. This five day event for the finalists has become one of the strong features of the Challenge programme. The invitation-only event is free to all finalists who have come to constitute a community of energy, expertise and inspiration in social entrepreneurship. In May 2006 Challenge Week brought over 200 people to Stockholm to participate in workshops, a conference, study visits and the prize giving event in the City Hall.
In addition to the regular awards programme, the Stockholm Challenge is collaborating with the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) on an extended opportunity for participants; the Stockholm Challenge GKP Awards 2007. This award is especially for participants that are also Multi Stakeholder Partnerships (MSPs). The Stockholm Challenge GKP Awards 2007 will be presented in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the Global Knowledge III conference.
A Browser for the Best Projects in the World.
In its ten years the Challenge has received over 3,000 completed entries, out of which some 500 projects have been identified by the international jury as finalists and winners. The Challenge projects illustrate how skills and efforts in applying ICTs - to create new and better services and products - can counteract the digital divide and and contribute to solving previously intractable problems.
By stimulating contacts between participants and partners with a wide range of experience, the Challenge creates a lively interaction to build networks of some of the best ICT groups and cross competence teams in the world.
Why Enter The Stockholm Challenge?
Every entry in the Stockholm Challenge is a commitment, not only of time and energy, but of reputation and self esteem. In recognition of that, the Stockholm Challenge uniquely promotes and profiles not only its winners, but all who complete the entry requirements.
A platform and an evaluation
Many people find that simply by having to answer the Stockholm Challenge Award questionnaire, they gain a fresh view of their own activities, their goals and how they are working to meet them. Participation in the Stockholm Challenge provides a platform where project teams can demonstrate their activities, and offer them for evaluation by a jury of experts from around the world.
One hundred winners
While only six participants, the winners in each category, take home a trophy from the award ceremony, all finalists win something equally valuable; participation in the Challenge Week. They are invited to join their peers in Stockholm for a week of workshops, conferences, discussions, social events and networking opportunities with some of the brightest minds and most determined achievers in ICT for development anywhere. Challenge Week is an invitation only event. All activities are free to the finalists, including the spectacular Award ceremony in the Blue Hall of Stockholm City. In each round of the Stockholm Challenge, about 100 projects reach the required standard to join this elite gathering.
World reputation
Those who succeed in the Stockholm Challenge earn a valuable addition to their brand. Finalists and winners in the Stockholm Challenge Award are offered a share in a global reputation gathered from many places; from the people of Sweden and their commitment to independence, equality, social and human progress, from the Advisory Board which includes luminaries such as Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and Sun Microsystems's John Gage and from the breadth and depth of experience of its international jury. Winners and finalists of the Stockholm Challenge are global role models for cities, companies, organisations, schools and others who are involved in adapting and spreading the use of ICT.
A knowledge bank
In the global knowledge economy the Stockholm Challenge acts as a bank; a bank of achievable, replicable ideas in its project database and a bank of expertise among its participants.
As multilateral organisations and funding agencies increasingly use the Stockholm Challenge as a source of information, those who enter have another channel to reach those eyes.
Owners and Sponsors
The Stockholm Challenge is owned by The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and supported by the City of Stockholm, Sida and Ericsson.
