2013 IT Innovation Contest

A team-based contest for creative IT solutions

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Overview

In the spirit of promoting creativity and innovation at UCSF, Information Technology is sponsoring the second IT Innovation Contest to develop quick and creative IT solutions that benefit the University. This team-based contest is open to all UCSF Campus faculty, staff, and students; three winning teams will each be awarded $10,000. Projects must be implemented by December 13, 2013.

Successful projects will:

  1. Have an IT deliverable (e.g., web application, mobile app, database, voice or data network, online course/training, etc)
  2. Result in a deliverable that has significant impact on at least 2,000 people
  3. Will be developed by a team of 3-6 people (any combination of UCSF faculty, staff, and students)
  4. Be completed within 7 weeks of acceptance
  5. Provide each team with a $10,000 prize upon completion of the project (equally divided among the team members)

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Eligibility

  • All UCSF Campus faculty, staff, and students
  • If the proposed work will be done during work hours, staff must get pre-approval from the supervisor. Departments are encouraged to grant such requests. Note: documentation of this pre-approval must be uploaded with your proposal as an attachment.
  • We encourage diverse teams with people from multiple departments having different skills and varied experiences.

Review Criteria

  1. Scope and impact of project
  2. Realistic probability of success of deliverable (we don't expect that every project will necessarily be successful, but part of this initiative is to take some risks and explore the creativity that is hidden in all of us)
  3. Talent and relevance of experience of team (an effective team will need different types of members, including a technologist, a user, a visionary, and a subject matter expert)
  4. Proposals will be reviewed by a committee and up to 3 projects will be selected.

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Proposal Format

Submit a maximum, 1-page proposal that addresses:

  1. Project Title
  2. Description of project
  3. Deliverables
  4. Impact on UCSF's mission and/or community
  5. List of team members and their roles
  6. Estimated time devoted by each team member

All submissions must be input through the online "Open Proposal" Forum, which will allow others at UCSF to review your proposal, comment on it, and if appropriate reach out to you to join the team.

Final decisions will be made by October 25, 2013.

 

Timeline and Open Proposal Process

  • August 15 – October 10: Open Submission Phase
    • Develop proposal offline and submit and/or
    • Propose idea online to look for team members
    • Subscribe to email updates to view new proposals and comments
  • October 10: Proposal Submission Deadline
    • All initial proposals should be submitted by this deadline
  • October 11 - 17: Open Improvement Phase
    • Make improvements based on feedback
    • Browse proposals and offer comments to improve a proposal
    • Comment on a proposal to state your interest in joining the team
  • October 17: Final Proposal Deadline
    • No edits to proposals allowed after this date
  • October 18 - 24: Review Phase
    • Proposals will be reviewed
  • October 29: Awards Announced
  • October 30 - December 13, 2013: Implementation Phase
    • Projects must be completed within this time period

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