Dear all, United Nations Global Pulse (http://unglobalpulse.org/), an innovation initiative of the United Nations on Big Data and Data Revolution, has launched the Data for Climate Action challenge: a call to researchers and innovators around the world to put their skills to use to help achieve the Goal 13 (combat climate change and its impacts) of the Global Goals. Learn more and apply to participate by 10 April 2017 at http://www.dataforclimateaction.org. Press release available at http://bit.ly/2njpSa2 1. WHAT IS DATA FOR CLIMATE ACTION? Big data is transforming business and society. Imagine if we could apply it to address one of the world’s most pressing challenges—climate change. Data for Climate Action is an open innovation challenge to unlock new data sources and harness data science for climate action. The challenge will provide a platform for teams of researchers to work with companies willing to grant access to selected datasets for analysis, with the goal of generating insights relevant to climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience. The challenge aims to demonstrate how data-driven innovation could transform how society approaches climate change, mobilizing both business leaders and the data science community to participate. 2. WHAT IS THE TIMELINE OF THE CHALLENGE? In March 2017, UN Global Pulse launched a public call for proposals, inviting researchers and teams to apply to participate in the challenge. This application period ends on April 10th! The challenge will then follow this approximate timeline: • Spring – Summer 2017: Research period • Fall 2017: Evaluation period and announcement of selected projects 3. HOW WILL SUBMISSIONS BE EVALUATED? Data for Climate Action is inviting prominent individuals with expertise in climate change and/or data science from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to serve as members of the Challenge’s review committees. Submissions will be evaluated on the following basis: • Preliminary review of research proposals to assess quality, clarity, credibility and potential impact. • Final review of completed research projects to assess scientific rigor and potential real-world impact, and to ensure that the research is ethical and privacy compliant. 4. WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATION? The projects developed through the challenge will add to the growing body of examples that reveal the shared value of big data and public-private cooperation for climate action and sustainable development. Selected projects will be featured and publicized. When possible and practicable, the Challenge will also aim to connect research teams with relevant field practitioners at UN agencies and within national governments in order to facilitate pilot projects and operational solutions. 5. HOW CAN BIG DATA CONTRIBUTE TO CLIMATE ACTION? Big data can complement traditional sources of climate data in two ways: Monitoring and impact evaluation. Big data can reveal the effectiveness of current efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change, and the impacts that climate change is already having on communities. For example: aggregated mobile data has been used to understand the effects of flooding on mobility patterns, yielding insights that could improve disaster relief management and infrastructure planning. Development of new solutions. Big data can generate insights to help identify novel approaches to climate mitigation and adaptation. For example: aggregated mobile data has been used to measure urban traffic congestion. Transportation companies and policymakers can use such insights to improve fleet management and transit planning, reducing emissions while better serving their communities. With best regards, Jonggun -- Jong Gun Lee Data Scientist Research Lead Pulse Lab Jakarta Wisma Nusantara Jl. MH. Thamrin No. 59 Jakarta 10350 - Indonesia Phone: +62-(0)21-3983-8473 Email: jonggun.lee@un.or.id http://unglobalpulse.org/jakarta Twitter and Facebook: @pulselabjakarta