The 2014 FII Open Data Analysis Challenge
NOTE: Registration Deadline Extended to Wednesday June 11
WHAT is the FII Open Data Analysis Challenge?
The FII Open Data Analysis Challenge is an opportunity for researchers, data crunchers, data visualizers and anyone else to dig into the FII country datasets to produce rigorous analytical reporting and/or compelling visualizations.
The goal is to stimulate broad analysis of these rich datasets and produce practical, accessible evidence to support the work of financial inclusion stakeholders worldwide, particularly work focused on digital financial inclusion.
Why? There is mounting evidence that poor households’ access to the right financial tools at critical moments can determine whether these households are able move out of poverty or absorb a shock without being pushed deeper into poverty. However, poor households in many countries typically have not had have access to such tools.
That is changing. Over the last decade, a dramatic increase in the breadth of mobile coverage and penetration in developing countries has spawned the emergence of mobile money and other digital financial services which are currently or potentially within reach for many millions of poor households who were previously out of reach. But gaps in our understanding of access to and use of such services remain. The FII Open Data Analysis Challenge is a chance to mine a wealth of timely, detailed, demand-side data to help fill some of these gaps and further financial inclusion globally.
HOW Does the Challenge Work?
The Challenge features a $5000 Grand Prize for the most outstanding submission and $1000 each for up to three runners-up, as judged by a panel of experts. In addition, the first prize winner will be eligible to receive a travel honorarium to present his or her analytical work at a relevant conference. Winning entries also will be disseminated through the FII network.
The FII datasets are from nationally representative surveys conducted in the FII study countries in Asia and Africa (note: Indonesia data will not be available in the 2014 Challenge). They include core modules on demographics, mobile telephone access, use patterns in formal financial services (mostly banks) and use patterns in mobile money services, and combinations of other modules related to financial inclusion. View the FII Research Program page for more information about the surveys.
Participants must fill out the FII Dataset Request Form to receive the datasets they are interested in analyzing. Or, participants who do not wish to analyze the full dataset can simply use the data query tool in the FII Data Center to access summary information about the data. Participants may select one or more of the FII datasets to use in their study. We also welcome cross-analysis with other non-FII datasets.
By submitting an entry to the Challenge, each participant agrees to the 2014 FII Open Data Analysis Challenge Rules & Guidelines (“FII Challenge Rules”) and warrants that his or her entry complies with all requirements set forth herein in a timely manner. Please read the FII Challenge Rules carefully before submitting your entry. This is a skills-based contest, and chance plays no part in the determination of winners.
The Registration Deadline for the FII Open Data Analysis Competition is Wednesday June 11, 2014
WHO Can Enter?
The Challenge is open to any individual, group of individuals or entity. No purchase of any kind is necessary to enter or win the Challenge.
Please read the FII Challenge Rules before registering!
Any questions? Email us: FIIchallenge@intermedia.org