Introduction to the Challenge

Envision a future where everyone, especially policymakers and decision-makers, can access a Digital Twin of Earth. This advanced tool could be pivotal in addressing climate change and weather extremes. Consider the types of services it might offer, who would benefit from them, and their accessibility. Would these services be universally available, catered to specific needs, or both? What kind of data would be integral to their operation? This challenge invites you to conceptualise a service powered by DestinE, drawing inspiration from a narrative set in 2050. We seek innovative ideas that, while not necessarily feasible today, are imaginatively rich and could pave the way to a better future. Join us in envisioning a remarkable 2050, armed with the solutions to today's challenges.

About the DestinE Platform Challenge

DestinE, a groundbreaking initiative led by the European Commission and implemented by ECMWF, ESA, and Eumetsat (3E), aims to create a precise global digital twin of Earth. Utilising Earth Observation data, Big Data, and Data Lakes, DestinE aspires to craft a Digital Twin of Earth to assist in climate change mitigation and extreme weather response efforts (https://destination-earth.eu/). A key objective is to foster a community of stakeholders and visionaries to co-create the vision for the digital twin. As the technology develops, community engagement in visualising future possibilities and service mock-ups is crucial to shaping DestinE's trajectory. In this exclusively online challenge, participants will dive deep into the realm of DestinE, guided by the expertise of the 3E members. They will explore and envision how DestinE could beneficially alter the lives of its users. Participants are encouraged to collaborate in teams or work solo to craft visualisations and preliminary mock-ups of potential DestinE services, imagining a bridge from imaginative concepts to future realities across Europe. Submissions must be original and adhere to a Creative Commons license, ensuring respect for intellectual property. Awards will celebrate the most compelling proposals and visualisations, evaluating their coherence with the DestinE mission, their potential to enrich human lives and the environment, and the ingenuity of the mock-ups. While the technical feasibility and readiness of these ideas will be assessed, immediate practicality is not a prerequisite. This opens the door for participants to prioritise creativity, narrative crafting, and presentation prowess over technical problem-solving, encouraging a broad spectrum of innovative ideas.

Timeline

• 20 March 2024 – Challenge Kickoff Watch the recording of the challenge kick-off webinar. There, you will be able to find out more about the work EUMETSAT, ECMWF and ESA are doing to make DestinE a reality. Additionally, the challenge will be presented in greater detail and participants will have an opportunity to interact with the challenge organisers.
• 21 April 2024 – Submission deadline Proposals will be submitted by teams or individuals through the webform here.
• Early May 2024 – Winner announcement Following judging of submitted proposals, winners and runner ups will be contacted and announced on the website.
• End of May 2024 – Public presentation of winners The moment to shine, winners and runner up proposals will have the chance to present their ideas to the DestinE community.

More information will be made available in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

Watch the Challenge Kickoff webinar now

https://youtu.be/g3NtnkVYoBA

How to participate

1. Watch the recording of the Kickoff event.
2. Submissions are open to teams located within the Destination Earth Participating Countries. For the full list see the FAQ tab. Team submissions are encouraged. Individual submissions are also accepted.
3. Be inspired by one of the stories from 2050 you find here.
4. Submit your proposal here by the 21 April 2024. This should be a 500 word text to pitch your proposal, a brief 50 word summary, descriptive visualisation(s) and a presentation (ppt, pdf or other) of the proposal which should make clear:
   • The name of proposal.
   • Who the stakeholders of the proposal are (think of the organisations, establishments and people who would make your proposal possible, people who take care of the processes you propose from a B2B perspective).
   • Who the service benefits, and what their needs and problems are (consider the end user of the platform and the value they get from the tool).
   • What the scenario in which the proposal takes place is.
   • How people and the environment benefit from the proposal.
   • What people, the context and environment are expected to look like, once the proposal is realised.
   • How DestinE is positioned within the proposal’s scenario. How it helps or supports the proposal.
   • How the proposal looks and feels.
   • How ready the proposal is to be implemented. What its technological maturity level might be.
5. Winners and-runners up will be informed via email in early May 2024.
6. Winners and-runners up will be invited to present their proposals in a public online event towards the end of May 2024.
7. Winners and runners-up will be showcased on the DestinE website.

Prizes

Submitted proposals will be up for the following categories:

Most Promising Proposal: This award goes to a concept so viable and visionary that it feels as though it could come to life as soon as tomorrow. It brings a novel perspective to uncharted challenges, showcasing immediate potential and innovative thinking.

Radical Realities: Recognised for its profound potential impact, this proposal may not be ready for immediate realisation due to current technological limitations or societal readiness. Nevertheless, its powerful vision promises significant transformations for its intended beneficiaries in the foreseeable future.

BlueSky Concept: This category celebrates the most imaginative and groundbreaking ideas, those that may not see realisation in the immediate next few years but captivate with their bold promise. This proposal stands out for its creativity and the profound impact it could ultimately have, marking it as a truly inspiring vision of the future.

Awards

The three winning proposals will be awarded resources for DestinE Platform, equivalent to 2000 Euros.

Winners and runner ups will be given the opportunity to present their proposals, narratives and imaginaries in a public community event in the end of May.

Winners and runner ups will be considered being included in future DestinE community activities.

Judging criteria

The judging of the challenge revolves around six key pillars designed to evaluate each proposal’s impact, innovation, and alignment with DestinE’s mission.

• Social Impact measures the proposal’s potential to significantly enhance lives and address broad societal challenges.
• Environmental Impact gauges its effectiveness in combating climate change and weather extremes.
• Feasibility examines the practicality of implementation, considering current or future technological needs.
• Novelty rewards creative solutions that offer new perspectives or disruptive approaches to existing problems.
• Fitting to DestinE assesses how well the proposal aligns with the initiative’s goals and contributes to a desirable future.
• Mock-up Quality evaluates the clarity and visual appeal of the proposed concept.

These criteria collectively ensure that selected proposals are impactful, feasible, and resonate with DestinE’s vision, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible for a sustainable future.

FAQ

What is Destination Earth, and how is it related with DestinE Platform?

Destination Earth (DestinE) is an initiative by the European Commission to build a highly accurate digital twin of the Earth. It is implemented by ECMWF, ESA and EUMETSAT.

ECMWF is implementing the initiative’s Data Lake, a centralized storage and preservation facility for all input and output data managed within DestinE and available for the DestinE users through DestinE Platform.

ESA is implementing the DestinE Platform that provides evidence-based decision-making tools, applications and services, based on an open, flexible, and secure cloud-based computing infrastructure.

EUMETSAT is implementing Digital Twins and the Digital Twins Engine, a generic software infrastructure featuring global-scale simulators, data handling and Machine Learning/Deep Learning (ML/DL) capabilities, able to host and run multiple instances of thematic Digital Twins.

For more information, follow the link to the initiative here.

What is the duration of this Innovation Prize?

The challenge begins with the kick-off event on Wednesday, 20 March 2024, 11:00 CET and the deadline is set for Sunday, 21 April 2024.

We missed the kick-off event. Can we still take part in the challenge?

Of course! For your convenience, you can find the recording of the kick-off event here to jump-start your imagination and creative thinking.

Which Countries are eligible to participate in the challenge?

Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czechia Denmark Estonia Finland France

Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg

Malta Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden

Should our proposal be something that works, like we’ve done in other hackathons and challenges?

No, this is not necessary. We are more interested in you being imaginative and creative rather than being constrained with what is and is not possible to build today. Therefore, for this Innovation Prize, imagination > problem solving skills. Hence the prize categories.

Do we get to select which prize category we submit proposals for?

This is up to your team. Each prize category has distinct enough characteristics for you to choose how to develop and finalise your proposal. When submitting your proposal, you will not be required to choose prize category.

Why use a narrative from the year 2050?

The future is uncertain, with many of its challenges already present. We need to be as prepared as possible, and storytelling is an age-old method for sharing visions of preferred and non-preferred futures, offering lessons we can learn from today. Using a narrative from the year 2050 aims to inspire creative thinking and the imagination of teams taking part in this event.

For this Innovation Prize, we have selected to use the publication by the European Commission “Stories from 2050 – Radical, inspiring and thought-provoking narratives around challenges and opportunities of our futures.” by Schindler, T. and Guadarrama Baena, G., as our starting point. Access the publication here.

In it, more than 20 stories have been created by professional authors, developed through a series of participatory futures workshops and foresight activities for participants to express preferred futures. Not all stories may be suitable for this Innovation Challenge.

Which narrative from the year 2050 may help inspire our proposal?

In the past, we have suggested for teams to use “Memories on the recovery of a Mediterranean fishing village and coastline.” by Totti Könnölä and Matthias Weber. This can be found on page 44 of the aforementioned publication.

Should the proposal we submit be placed in the story from the year 2050?

No. Instead, we would like you to be inspired by the story you read and uncover its most important aspects, to help envision a service within DestinE before 2050, when the initiative will be fully functional. Therefore, you may be inspired by “science fiction”, but we would like the proposals to be grounded in reality, as we experience it today.

A useful set of questions as you develop your proposal may be the following:

1. After reading the story, what struck you most, and why?
2. What are the main themes you identify in the story that you wish to address with your proposal? You may think of these in the frame of social, technological, environmental, economic and political lenses.
3. What is the status of these themes today, and where might they be heading towards in the future?
4. How might DestinE make a positive contribution to your themes of interest?
5. Express the vision and mission of your proposal, including how DestinE makes it possible. How do you expect the world to be different when your proposal is in place? How do humans and the environment benefit? How many do you expect the beneficiaries to be?
6. In your proposal, who are the people involved? Identify roles of those involved throughout the service. Who are the beneficiaries? Who make your service work? What do they all need to achieve?
7. What does your service look and feel like? Create a visual representation/mock-up/low fidelity prototype to convey your thinking to the judges. It can be digital or analogue. It does not have to work, so don’t set out coding. Static images can be enough. Videos, equally captivating! Imagination in how to portray your proposal is your best asset!

What will our final submission consist of?

• A title for your proposal
• A brief text summarising your proposal – max 50 words
• A short description of your proposal – max 500 words
• Visuals illustrating your proposal – 1 pdf file with multiple pages, max 30MB
• A presentation file describing your proposal in greater detail – 1 ppt of pdf file, max 10MB
• Optional supportive material your team deems appropriate – e.g. video, gifs etc
• Names and contact details of all contributing team members

Where can I find more information if I need it?

We are interested in informing these FAQ’s based on your recommendations. If you feel there is an extra question to be considered for this list, please send it is to us via email at communications@destination-earth.eu, with the title: Innovation Challenge FAQ proposal.

Submissions Closed