Deadline: April 30, 2020

Result notification: August 1, 2020

Presentation: September 2020 at UN high-level week in New York, USA

Are you a programmer? Do you have an idea to design an application for Digital peace? If yes, apply to Apps 4 digital peace competition organized by the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) to get cash prizes and attend the annual meeting of Cybersecurity Tech Accord in San Fransisco.

21st-century challenges need 21st-century solutions, especially when it comes to creating a safer and more secure online world. The global ICT environment is facing a dramatic increase in the malicious use of ICTs by State and non-State actors and may harm international peace and security. To Bring greater security and stability to cyberspace, we will need new and different ideas compared to what has worked in other domains of conflict and collaboration across disciplines.

The (UNODA) partnered with the Cybersecurity Tech Accord to launch the Apps 4 Digital Peace Competition. This first-of-its-kind competition aims to stimulate new thinking from innovative young minds across the world. The Competition goal is to develop original technology-based solutions, such as mobile apps, to both help limit the use of the internet as a domain of conflict, and to increase the security and stability of the online environment.

The Competition is meant to complement the work of the United Nations in promoting an open, secure, stable, accessible, and peaceful cyber environment through:

• Addressing existing and potential cyber threats,
• Ensuring respect for international law in cyberspace,
• Adherence to voluntary norms, rules, and principles,
• Fostering confidence building, and
• Cybersecurity capacity building.

Who can apply?

• Applicants should be a team of one or more people (max 5)
• The age of applicants and team members should be between 16-32 as of July 30, 2020.
• A person can only be a member of one team.
• Bringing expertise from multiple disciplines such as international law, politics, cybersecurity, and technology is desirable.
• Teams are able and encouraged to seek advice and support from mentors, sponsors, and others.
• The team members should give the name to the team and it must not be related or connected with registered trademarks or companies or use expressions promoting violence, discrimination, obscene or any form of defamation.
• The judging members, cybersecurity tech accord, UNODA staffs, affiliates, agents, and family members and people living in their households are ineligible to participate.

How to apply?

Applicants (individuals and teams) wishing to apply for the competition, should send their topic of submission and individual team members details to the email: apps4digitalpeace@cybertechaccord.org.

After registration and receiving a confirmation email instructing the submission of the final submission, you should act according to the instruction.

Policy experts and technical experts from the Cybersecurity Tech Accord and UNODA will review the submissions, and finalists will have an opportunity to present their proposals during a dedicated event during High-Level week of the United Nations in September 2020.

UNODA and Cybersecurity Tech Accord hope that this initiative will help bring together young innovators and leaders from the policy and technology communities to address the urgent need to improve cybersecurity and reduce tensions between nations online.

Benefits:

• Cash prizes of $15,000- $10,000- and 5000 for first, second and third positions in order.
• Networking opportunities
• Attending the cybersecurity tech accord’s annual meeting in San Francisco
• Presenting the winning submission to some of the world’s leading technology companies committed to improving security online for users everywhere.

The Competition will begin accepting initial submissions in January; however, we encourage those with interest to start brainstorming now, consulting with friends/colleagues/classmates, and building the multidisciplinary teams that will develop a winning submission.

For more information on the rules of the Competition and to register, visit the Cybersecurity Tech Accord website here.