Terms and Conditions

The below are the terms and conditions established for participation in the Digital@UNGA Awards 2026:

1. General Rules             
By entering the Digital@UNGA Awards (the “Competition”), you (the “Participant”) hereby warrant that all information submitted is true, current, and complete. The International Telecommunication Union (the “Organizer”) reserves the right to verify the eligibility of all participants.
By entering the Competition, the participant accepts the present terms and conditions.
“Participant” refers to any legal entity representing government, private sector companies, civil society organizations, academic institutions, and technical communities. The participant must meet all eligibility criteria outlined here and agree to comply with the Terms and Conditions set forth by the Organizer. No purchase of payment of any kind is required to enter or win the Competition.
The Competition will be administered by the Organizer through the Digital@UNGA website.

The category:  Digital Pioneers recognizes outstanding innovations led by young pioneers (25-40 years old and with a minimum of 5 years of professional experience) or youth-led organizations driving positive change through creative and impactful digital solutions. Participants must be within the age range mentioned above at the time of entry to be considered eligible to participate and win in the Competition.
The Organizer does not provide the equipment or technical/communication infrastructure necessary to participate, create and submit an entry to the Competition.
Participant must not be an employee (or members of an employee’s nuclear family or household) of ITU or holding an offer for future employment with ITU. Participants must also not be employed by or related with any member of the Jury of the Competition.
You hereby acknowledge that participation in the Competition is free of charge but does not entail any right to compensation of any kind or to reimbursement of any expenses incurred.
All entries must be submitted in English.

All entries, regardless of categories, must not: (a) violate the intellectual property rights of third parties; (b) be illegal under applicable national laws and international law; and (c) depict or incite hatred, defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten a specific person or social group, incite violence or conflict, contain offensive content or violate the legal rights of third parties (including those of privacy and publicity).
Two finalists per category will be notified to attend the Digital@UNGA Awards ceremony in New York in September. Winners will be revealed at the Digital@UNGA Awards event.

2. Material specifications
The Competition shall consider only those submissions that fulfil the following requirements:
A maximum of 5 submissions may be submitted by a participant. Submissions by a participant are not restricted to a single category.
To enter the competition, you need to submit through the official entry form available on the Digital@UNGAwebsite, a specific solution. Solutions may fall under one of the four types listed here: Projects, Policies and Regulatory Frameworks, Innovative Digital Aapplications and Solutions and Youth-led initiatives (applicable only to the Digital Pioneers Category).
c. Submissions must be sent by no later than 4 August 2026 at 23:59 (Central European Summer Time).
The Organizer has the right to exclude submissions shall they not conform to the above conditions.

3. Selection Process
The selection of winners will be made by a jury determined by the Organizer and will evaluate the submissions based on the following criteria:
Relevance and measurable impact
Innovation and originality
Scalability and sustainability
Inclusiveness, accessibility, and people-centred design
Partnership and effective collaboration
Decisions of the jury are final and without appeal.
The four (4) winners of the Competition, one per each category shall be determined by the jury and will be announced at the Digital@UNGA Awards ceremony in September in New York. The Organizer will notify two finalists per category via email and notify them to attend the award ceremony, physically in New York. Winners will be revealed at the Digital@UNGA Awards event.

4. Travel and Visa
The Organizer shall not be responsible for the travel and accommodation arrangements and costs, which are exclusively the responsibility of the finalists.
Upon notification , acceptance must be confirmed within one week by the finalist. If confirmation is not received within the aforementioned period (together with the name of representative attending the Ceremony and a copy of valid passport for the duration of the travel), the Organizer reserves the right to withdraw its invitation, by notifying the finalist accordingly.

5. Copyright
All participants will retain the intellectual property rights on the contents of their submissions. However, by entering the Competition, each participant grants the Organizer a limited, non-exclusive, global, royalty-free right and license to use, reproduce, communicate, demonstrate, make available for public, display and distribute the content of his/her submission for the Organizer’s marketing, promotional, informational and educational or awareness purposes, via printed or digital or online media, including the Organizer’s website. The participant hereby represents that he/she has the legal right to grant such license to the Organizer.
All submissions may be used by ITU to further the aims and work of ITU.

6. Data protection
In addition to the terms of the general privacy notice of ITU’s website, the following terms shall apply with respect to the collection and processing of your personal information by the Organizer for the Competition:
You hereby provide your consent for the processing, including collection, use and storage by the Organizer of all contact information submitted by you in the Submission Form (hereinafter, the “Participant Data”), for the purpose of managing your participation and for enabling and facilitating your participation in the Competition, including notifying the finalists of the competition. You acknowledge that, to the extent that it is necessary, the Organizer may pass specific Participant Data to third parties who assist the Organizer in the organization and management of the Competition, such as the jury participants, or provide Competition-related services on behalf of the Organizer. Prior to sharing Participant Data with third parties, the Organizer satisfies itself that such third parties afford appropriate protection with respect to the processing of personal information.
Furthermore, the Organizer may also use the Participant Data to provide participants with information about future competitions, upcoming events of the Organizer which the Organizer reasonably believes could be of interest to a participant or his/her organization. In case of questions or concerns about the processing of your personal data, please contact ITU at DigitalUNGAAwards@itu.int

7. Other conditions
By entering the Competition, participants agree to release and hold harmless the Organizer from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liability, including but not limited to negligence and damages of any kind to persons and property, infringement of trademark, copyright or other intellectual property rights arising out of or relating to their participation in the Competition and the contents of their submissions.
The Organizer reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any submission which does not comply with the present Terms and Conditions.
The Organizer is not responsible for lost, late, corrupted, mutilated or misdirected submissions, or submissions not received in time for judging.
Participants in the Competition are not allowed to use the titles, acronyms and logos of the Organizer or other branding elements of ITU on material that was produced by them. Participants are also not allowed to use their submissions for purposes and aims inconsistent with ITU’s mandate and mission.
The Organizer shall have the right, in their sole discretion, to abbreviate, modify, suspend, cancel or terminate the Competition without any future obligation, by notifying the participants via an announcement at the Digital@UNGA website.
The Organizer reserves the right to make all final decisions. Nothing herein shall be considered to be a limitation or a waiver of the privileges and immunities of the ITU, which are specifically reserved.

All necessary information for the Competition shall be announced at the Digital@UNGA website.For any additional queries regarding the competition rules, please contact  DigitalUNGAAwards@itu.int