Last updated: 8 July, 2018
This document includes the legal nitty gritty required to protect you (Participant), the Ministry of Data (MoD) Committee, Sponsors and Ministry of Data HQ Ltd.
In attending or participating in a MoD hackathon you are deemed to have read and agreed to the following terms and conditions:
- Terms & Conditions
- Purpose
- Your Participation
- Eligibility and Ticketing
- Judging
- Intellectual Property
- Privacy
- Ownership of Entries
- Prizes and Awards
- Publicity
- Data Resources
- Confidentiality
- Termination of Entry and Refund Policy
- Definition of Terms
- Terms & Conditions
By attending or registering for any ‘Ministry of Data’ (MoD) event you agree to abide by these terms and conditions.
MoD is facilitated by Ministry of Data HQ Ltd, a not-for-profit organisation registered under the laws of Western Australia.
MoD may update the terms and conditions at any time.
Non-compliance with these any of these terms may lead to a disqualification of the participant, the participant’s team, and discontinued support by MoD post event.
MoD will not be held accountable for the outcome of any recommendations made within these Terms & Conditions (T&C).
- Purpose
A MoD event series, of which hackathons are a part, is where:
- Participants are encouraged to develop solutions that may become sustainable businesses;
- Participants develop solutions for specific problem statements provided by Sponsors;
- Problem statements have been validated by both the Sponsors and the MoD Committee;
- Subject Matter Experts (SME) will be on hand to provide mentorship to all Participants at scheduled times leading up to and during the event series;
- SME and Sponsor communication will be via the MoD Committee unless direct contact is agreed to by the Sponsor or SME;
- Ongoing engagement with Sponsors at the conclusion of the event series is possible subject to the discretion of both the Sponsors and MoD Committee;
- All Participants are considered MoD Alumni post the event series with ongoing MoD mentorship subject to the discretion of the MoD Committee.
- Your Participation
You can participate either as part of a team or on an individual basis. Switching teams or participation in multiple teams is up to the individual Participants. MoD is not responsible for any disputes between team members. MoD Committee can be asked to act as a mediator to help move quickly pass any dispute, will only engage at the discretion of the MoD Committee, and will not be held responsible for any advice given to Participants.
To participate, a least 50% (i.e. half) of your team’s members must attend the Ministry of Data hackathon in the event series.
As a Participant you must make your own travel and accommodation arrangements and cover all associated costs and expenses. Participants must supply their own equipment and all other materials required for them to participate. In no event, in particular in case of disqualification, will MoD reimburse any costs.
You, as a Participant, will be required to create and present to the judges a proof of concept solution for any of the problem statements provided by the sponsors. A team or individual may only submit one entry and must identify which of the Sponsor Challenges it address. Incomplete entries may be disqualified.
- Eligibility and Ticketing
The Hackathon is open to all individuals. To ensure that the judging process is not biased MoD Committee Members and employees of sponsors that are involved event planning are ineligible to participate. This ineligibility can be waived by the MoD Committee.
To be eligible for prizes all participants will need to purchase a ticket via the website: https://ministryofdata.org.au/sign-up-now/; and sign up as members of GovIP at https://govip.com.au/. Tickets are available through Eventbrite for a fee of $10.00 plus GST and associated booking costs.
- Judging
A panel of individuals will be invited by the MoD Committee to judge the solutions developed by participants of the hackathon. These individuals may be from the Sponsors, broader WA innovation ecosystem, or other organisations. The entries will be judged according to the following criteria:
- Resolution of agency problem statements (30%)
- Originality and creativity (20%)
- Proof of concept development (10%)
- strategic thinking (15%) and
- Practicality of implementation (25%)
The percentages assigned to these criteria are intended to be a guide and nothing more. Judges and the MoD Committee will use these criteria as a guide. The decision of the judges will be final.
Judging will commence in the afternoon of the final day of the hackathon. A minimum of 50% of the team must be available during the judging period to demonstrate the Participant’s or team’s entry. Participants may raise concerns about the judging process with the MoD Committee prior to the final day of the hackathon.
Each Entry should be original, of the Participant’s or Participant’s team’s own creation and must undertake some development over the Hackathon’s duration. Entries may use existing elements of software or knowledge which the Participant owns.
Entries may be subject to a due diligence review at any time for eligibility and compliance with these Terms.
Determination of eligibility and compliance is at the sole discretion of the MoD Committee. The MoD Committee reserves the right to disqualify any Entry if the Entry, or a Participant, or a team of Participant’s do not comply with these Terms.
- Intellectual Property
You will not present or use content that is copyrighted, protected by trade secret or otherwise subject to third party intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights unless you are the owner of such rights, or other proprietary rights. You must be the owner of such rights or have permission from their rightful owner or partners to present or use the content here.
MoD recommends using only third party works that are licensed through open source (for software), open hardware (for electronics) or creative commons licence (for all other works).
Participants retain all intellectual property rights developed during a MoD Hackathon. Where participants jointly develop intellectual property, the Participants within a team shall (unless agreed otherwise in writing) have joint ownership and use of that developed intellectual property. However, nothing in these terms shall give any participant any rights or interest in any pre-existing intellectual property of another participant.
Participants are expected to respect the intellectual property developed by other Participants and it is a condition of these terms and conditions that Participants do not appropriate the intellectual property, or breach the confidentiality of, any other Participant.
MoD recommends, should a Participant plan to use any pre-existing intellectual property that they communicate this to their Team in writing before starting. A simple written note expressing the date, existing intellectual property to be used, its rightful owner, and its original purpose should help avoid any conflict.
MoD is intended to foster the development of solutions and nothing more. Neither the MoD Committee, nor Ministry of Data HQ Ltd provide any warranty or guarantee about any intellectual property developed. In the event of any dispute, participants and teams will need resolve any legal disputes about their property rights independently.
- Dispute Resolution
By engaging with the Ministry of Data event series you agree, should any dispute occur with either the MoD Committee or Ministry of Data HQ Ltd, that cannot be settled privately, it will be settled in a single two hour mediation session. At this session each party may have a single legal representative present should they choose. A final and binding decision will be made at the end of the session. More details around mediation can be found at the Supreme Court’s website:
This overarching aim is to resolve any legal dispute simply, quickly and cost-effectively. MoD hopes to act in the best interest of our stakeholders and the Western Australia business community to ensure involved parties do not suffer prolonged financial or reputational pressures, and can continue to collaborate together with confidence.
- Privacy
We are committed to protecting your privacy. During the registration process you will provide basic information:
- including name;
- address;
- email;
- phone number, and;
- intended Sponsor Challenge to be approached.
The information will be stored by MoD. If you do not wish for your information to be shared you may contact MoD and request it be withheld. Authorized members within MoD, on a need to know basis, may use some information collected during the registration process.
Participants shall respect privacy in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles – as set out in the Privacy Act 1989 (Cth) – and in general shall not share the any personal information about an individual (whether a fellow participants, or otherwise obtained during the course of the event) with third parties, without the consent of the individual.
Any identified data breach will be communicated immediately to the Ministry of Data HQ Ltd Public Officer and communicated to the individuals in a manner consistent with Notifiable Data Breach scheme. MoD will follow the data breach response plan as set out by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Details are available at:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/about-us/corporate-information/key-documents/data-breach-response-plan
- Ownership of Entries
Participant represents and warrants that the Entry is and will be Participant’s own original work and does not and will not, to the best of the Participant’s knowledge, infringe the intellectual property or proprietary rights of any third party, including, without limitation, any third party patents, copyrights or trademarks.
- Prizes and Awards
The prizes and awards will be communicated to the Participant via the MoD website. These may be subject to change, and will be by the first day of the Hackathon event.
Awards to Participant, or team of Participants will be based on the average score given by the judge.
The Ministry of Data Committee, in consultation with sponsors and the Judging panel may award additional opportunities funded by the ‘Launch Fund’ upon written request from competing teams after the conclusion of the hackathon. Please contact the MoD Committee for an application form.
To be eligible for prizes participants and MoD mentorship participants need to be members of GovIP.com.au. This enables our Committee to better champion your teams and direct relevant opportunities to your teams.
- Publicity
Except where prohibited, by participating in the MoD event series, Participant consents to the use of his/her name, photo and/or likeness, biographical information, entry and statements attributed to Participant (if true) for advertising and promotional purposes, including without limitation, inclusion in Sponsors’ newsletters, or Sponsor’s’ website.
- Data Resources
MoD will provide access to all data resources in line with the sponsor’s requirements. This includes but is not limited to:
- How the datasets are presented and acquired,
- How the datasets are stored,
- The type and nature of the datasets being provided, and
- The duration of a dataset will be made available during the defined event.
The datasets will remain the property of the respective sponsors throughout the entire event. Any dataset supplied is only intended for use during the event and must not be used outside of the event without permission from the respective agency. Competitors are encouraged to seek permission should they want to continue working with the data sets provided and MoD can help facilitate that conversation.
MoD welcomes and encourages the use and combination of external data sets. Should additional data sets be used it is the Participants responsibility to ensure that are used in line with the data’s licence and with the permission of the data’s owners.
- Confidentiality
We will not sell, share, or rent your personal information to any third party or use your e-mail address for unsolicited mail. Any emails sent by MoD will only be in connection with the provision of agreed services related to an event series.
- Termination of Entry and Refund Policy
The MoD Committee have the right to terminate any entry for any reason. No refunds shall be offered.
- GovIP.com.au
GovIP is an initiative being undertaken by the MoD Committee to build a community for the MoD alumni. The purpose of this platform is to help foster the relationships between teams and event Sponsor. While active participation is at the discretion of participants, the team must be enrolled to be eligible for continued MoD mentorship and hackathon prizes.
- Definition of Terms
Participant/s: Any persons attending part of an event series not active on the MoD Committee, supplying services or part of a Sponsor organisation.
MoD Alumni: Any person who has registered, attended and submitted an entry at a Ministry of Data event series hackathon.
MoD Committee: A core group of volunteer members who either directly organise or champion the Ministry of Data event series.
Ministry of Data HQ Ltd: A legal entity registered as a not-for-profit in Western Australia representing the MoD committee and facilitating the MoD event series.
Sponsor: Agency or other organisation / individual providing funding, support, prizes, or challenge statements for the purpose of a MoD event series.
SME: Subject matter experts on the challenges statements provided by an event sponsors. These individuals also be referred to as mentors.
MoD mentorship: Continued support or benefits provided by the MoD Committee.
Event Series: A series of events held to promote and solve agency (sponsor) challenges, this include but are not limited to; Launch Events, Hackathons, Workshops, and Networking Events.
Entry: A competitive submission to the judges at conclusion of a MoD Hackathon.