#VisualizeChange: A World Humanitarian Summit Data Challenge

Win a trip to Geneva, Switzerland to showcase your work at the Global Consultation Conference

Leading up to the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit convened by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, thousands of people worldwide have shared their ideas to reduce human loss and suffering from crisis. Can you help visualize these ideas? The winner will get the opportunity to present their work at the Global Consultation in Geneva, Switzerland in October 2015 and the best visualizations will be showcased at related events worldwide.

Download the visualization dataset here: WHS MASTER DATA CATALOGUE

We challenge you to:

Use the consultation data provided in order to develop an original and thought provoking illustration of information collected through the consultation process. The consultation data is by no means final or exhaustive but a comprehensive snapshot of an ongoing and dynamic consultation process to date.

Both infographics and interactive visualizations (preferred) may be submitted.

What is the task?

Visualize information based on topics, trends and issues emerging from the data collected through the consultation process. Information should be represented to allow for the disaggregation of data (type, input/output to the process, issues, geographical representation, contributor information).

Participants are encouraged to examine the following questions:

What topics were identified and how do they relate to each other? Qualitative data characteristics can be inferred from the WHS data collection and the developed taxonomy

What are the differences in how the topics arose across various data types (public submissions, final consultation reports, stakeholder analysis pieces, online consultation data characteristics and/or others)?

Are there other key elements or topics that can be defined emerging from the data collection within the predefined topics or outside of it?

Bonus: Visualization allows data points to refer back to original content from data collection

Data

World Humanitarian Summit Master Data Catalogue:

The World Humanitarian Summit Consultation data can be downloaded here: WHS MASTER DATA CATALOGUE or in the resource section on your right. The dataset includes information from nearly 500 documents (but not the documents themselves) that the consultation process has generated as per July 2015. The qualitative data is categorized in emerging themes and sub-themes that have been identified according to a developed taxonomy (blue columns). Please refer to the taxonomy documentation for further reference.

The data is further structured into specific data category tags (green columns) that specify the nature of the document (what type of document is it, where does it come from, what is the geographical context, what particular stakeholder groups are involved, is it an input or an output to the consultation process). In case a particular category applies, the document information is flagged with an “x” in the corresponding column. Please refer to the category documentation for further reference.

Please note that the data catalogue does NOT include the original raw data files for data security reasons. All substantive data has been preprocessed (extracted from these raw files, categorized and aggregated) already for your visualization pleasure. 

Who can participate?

 ● Any individual can participate – there are no geographical or age restrictions.

 ● Any institution or organization wishing to put together an entry should do so in the
 name of one person. Additional contributors may be added to the description of the
 visualization.

Please note that finalists will be subjected to normal travel regulations to Switzerland, and may be required to procure a travel visa.

Can I enter more than once?

Yes, as long as you enter before the deadline (EXTENDED) of 13 September 2015, 11:59 PM EST. Only your last submission will be judged.

Both static and interactive visualizations may be submitted. Entries will be judged on a combination of the following criteria:

 ● Originality

 ● Artistry

 ● Understanding of the data

 ● Clarity of information

 ● Usefulness to the viewer

When will the winners be announced?
Finalists will be announced in advance of the World Humanitarian Summit Global Consultation Conference, taking place in Geneva/Switzerland from October 14-16. The winner will be invited and sponsored to exhibit the work in Geneva in the margins of the WHS Global Consultation Conference.

For any questions regarding the challenge, please contact the #VisualizeChange team at visualizechange@whsummit.org

 (Note: For a Spanish version please download the pdf file in the resource section on your right / Para leer el reto en español descarga el pdf en la parte de “resources” en la columna de la derecha.)

View winning solutions