Applications Closed For The D4GX 2023 India Empowerment Challenge

In partnership with Bloomberg, Societal Thinking, and Stanford PACS, Dasra is hosting a series of Data for Good Exchange (D4GX) 2023 India events. Our aim is to use data to empower India's most vulnerable communities with greater agency to confront and address challenges.  

About The Challenge

The COVID pandemic sparked a heightened sense of urgency among Indian nonprofits, funders and the governments. It is now more crucial than ever to collaborate to empower communities with access to data, provide mechanisms for them to request new data points, and establish universally recognized service metrics that are relevant to local communities. The D4GX 2023 India Empowerment Challenge seeks to drive positive change by promoting data and community-driven decision-making in India's development efforts. 

We are looking for solutions that ​​

• ​Create platforms for easy sharing, usage, analysis and management of data
• Ensure users have agency to use data to improve solutions and services
• Build touchpoints to enable multi-stakeholder data interactions
• Strengthen systems for better supply of data 

2023 Themes & Eligibility Criteria

Non-profit organizations with early-stage innovations, that fall into the thematic categories below: 

DATA TO ENABLE Learning to Livelihood​

Marginalized communities in India are disproportionately affected by poor learning outcomes and insufficient connections between policymakers and employers. Because of this, 75% of the 15 million youth seeking to enter the workforce each year are unemployable. 

• How can reliable and dynamic data be made accessible to all, enabling better career pathways and more effective school-to-work transition?
• Can civil society help improve learning outcomes by defining KPIs within the education system that are mandated by regulation?
• How can data address skill deficits, empowering individuals to build skillsets, increase earned income and eventually break the cycle of​ poverty?

DATA TO ENABLE Community Resilience​

In 2021, India ranked 66th out of 195 on the Global Health Security Index. The index evaluates various factors, including public health capacity, healthcare access, and emergency preparedness.​ Elected local governments, citizens, and technology can work together to build communities better equipped to handle emergencies. During the pandemic, for example, women's self help groups in 27 states produced around 19.6 million masks & 100,000 litres of sanitizer for their communities. Access to health information and services also needs improvement to reducing loss of life due to preventable diseases.

• How can communities take charge of their problems?

• How can data help improve ease of living and quality of life and help provide better services to citizens?
• Can common health-research dissemination platforms democratize access to healthcare expertise and reduce barriers to accessing affordable services, especially for preventable diseases?
• Can digital and physical platforms improve feedback mechanisms, enabling communities to interface with elected representatives and foster a deeper sense of community​ ownership?

dATA TO ENABLE Climate and Sustainability ​

Climate change is the defining crisis of the 21st century. It has many negative effects, including leaving the poor and underserved at greater risk of hunger and malnutrition through crop destruction. With 40% of its food demand met through rainfed agriculture, India ranks seventh most vulnerable to the effect of climate change out of a list of 180 countries.

• How can data empower communities to demand action on climate change?
• Can data help agriculture and boost the resilience of crops?
• Can we anticipate consequences and track vulnerability of communities through data and evidence?
• How can we plan cities better to ensure sustainability through adaption and mitigation​ strategies ?

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA​

•  The innovation should have passed the idea stage to either ready to deploy, or pilot, or proof of impact stage.​
•  The innovation must show potential for scale and financial investment.​
•  The core team should have strong organizational experience of scaling and sustaining social innovations in the past, especially those related to data or information technology. ​
•  The project/innovation must align with one of the thematic tracks for the D4GX 2023 India Empowerment Challenge.
•  Applicant should be a registered Nonprofit organisation in India.​
•  The project/innovation must address at least one of the following barriers that impede data-led empowerment and build user-  centricity towards data through the solution:

D4GX 2023 India Empowerment Challenge Timeline

Innovation design grants
Worth INR 10L, given to the winner in each of the three thematic categories.​

​Showcase opportunity
​At the D4GX India Annual Conference 2023.

Amplification support
​Across Bloomberg, Dasra, Societal Thinking, and Stanford PACS Digital Civil Society Lab's networks for all shortlisted innovations.​

Mentorship & networking opportunities
Capacity-building workshops and networking opportunities to interact with prominent stakeholders and gain insights about best practices.

Our Past Winners

2021 Winners

2022 Winners

If you are using data to create impact across communities but do not meet the eligibility criteria listed above, we would love to chat! Please reach out to us at d4gxindia@dasra.org and we can explore ways to collaborate.