As part of the Open Data Program, Transport for NSW runs various innovation challenges throughout the year to encourage innovation through healthy competition and fast track any potential apps or products to market. Learn more about innovation challenges below.

What are Innovation Challenges?

Innovation challenges are competitions that are run throughout the year where the public are asked to come up with a solution to a particular customer problem or focus area using data and technology. An innovation challenge generally consists of an idea submission, a pitch day, a judging panel and finally an incubation program for the winners. Anyone is welcome to enter the challenges but we find that our usual contestants are normally app developers, entrepreneurs and startups. Most innovation challenges give you the opportunity to make your idea a reality and also gain official endorsement from Transport for NSW.

How are Innovation Challenges initiated and formalised?

The creation of an innovation challenge is usually driven by government strategy and the Future Transport 2056 roadmap. If there is a problem area or topic that Transport for NSW has identified needs solving and it involves data and technology, it is likely an innovation challenge will be created from the problem. Once a topic is established, a challenge name and problem statement are defined so it's clear what needs to be solved. A timeline is set and the challenge will be launched on a specific information site, along with information on entering the challnege and appropriate FAQs and Q&As. Our challenges are usually promoted via our social media channels, including @DataTfNSW (give us a follow if you haven't already!).

How are Innovation Challenges run?

End to end, innovation challenges can take months to run. Ideation, defining the problem and getting all the material ready normally takes us a couple of months to prepare before the public even knows about the innovation challenge. Once we get closer to launch day we'll start to promote the challenge on social media and contact our open data community who have registered on our mailing list. When the innovation challenge is launched, the public will then have access to all the information and the submission form. Entries typically remain open for two or three weeks. This gives participants enough time to take in all the information and prepare the best submission they can. 

Once entries close, the entries/ideas are collated and reviewed by Transport for NSW subject matter experts. We will then invite selected participants to pitch their idea at a pitch day in front of a judging panel consisting of both internal and external parties. Pitch days can be public or "private" (behind closed doors) depending on the topic and preferences. Following the pitches, the judging panel will vote and decide who has won the right to continue to the incubation phase. Normally two or three ideas will be selected. Getting through to incubation doesn't necessarily mean guaranteed endorsement, however it does mean that you will have the opportunity to work together with Transport for NSW to develop your app or product and launch it to market. To gain endorsement and support from TfNSW the developers must adhere to set criteria and produce a product that meets the requirements of the innovation challenge.

Example of an end to end timeline for a typical innovation challenge

Why should I participate?

Innovation challenges present a great opportunity to not only gain endorsement from Transport for NSW but also gives you the chance to develop and launch your idea into the market. On top of that many of our innovation challenges offer a monetary prize as well as exclusive access to data and other resources. A healthy competitive environment also pushes you to produce a great submission and end product that benefits not just yourself but also the greater community.

What about hackathons?

Some innovation challenges will be run as a hackathon if we identify that it will be more appropriate in that format. We had great success earlier this year with CongestionHack, a hackathon to help solve the problem of congestion on our roads, where some of the top ideas caught the eye of Transport for NSW executives. The main difference between hackathons and normal innovation challenges is that hackathons are run over a weekend and the winning ideas won't necessarily move on to an incubation phase. Hackathons focus more on networking and idea generation while normal innovation challenges are more suitable for ideas or products that are somewhat established or thought out and apply to the problem statement.

How do I keep up to date with new innovation challenges?

The best way to be aware of new innovation challenges that are coming up is to follow us on Twitter or keep an eye on our Open Data Forum. You can also check our innovation page on the Open Data Hub.

To have a look at past events and any information on current challenges please visit the Innovation Challenges page on the Open Data Hub.

- The TfNSW Open Data Team