FutureHack Hackathon (the “Hackathon”) Official Rules

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. 

ENTRY OF A SUBMISSION CONSTITUTES AGREEMENT TO THESE OFFICIAL RULES AS A CONTRACT BETWEEN ENTRANT (AND EACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER OF ENTRANT), THE HACKATHON SPONSOR, AND DEVPOST.

1. Dates and Timing.

Submission Period: Wednesday October 5, 2022 (10:00 am Gulf Standard Time) – Wednesday October 12, 2022 (1:20 pm Gulf Standard Time) (“Submission Period”).

Judging Period: Wednesday October 12, 2022 (4:30 pm Gulf Standard Time) (“Judging Period”).

Winners Announced: On Wednesday October 12, 2022 (5:00 pm Gulf Standard Time).

2. Sponsors and Administrator.

Sponsors:

Emirates NBD and Future Lab™ by Emirates NBD (Central Bank of the UAE, Baniyas Road, Deira, P.O. Box: 777, Dubai, UAE)

Virtusa (tbc.)

Administrator:

HACKMASTERS (303 The Pill Box, 115 Coventry Rd, London E2 6GG, UK)

3. Eligibility.

A. The Hackathon IS open to: 

• Individuals who are at least the age of majority where they reside as of the time of entry (“Eligible Individuals”);

• Teams of Eligible Individuals (“Teams”); and

• Organizations (including corporations, not-for-profit corporations and other nonprofit organizations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and other legal entities) that exist and have been organized or incorporated at the time of entry.

(the above are collectively, “Entrants”)

An Eligible Individual may not join more than one Team or Organization and an Eligible Individual who is part of a Team or Organization may not also enter the Hackathon on an individual basis. If a Team or Organization is entering the Hackathon, they must appoint and authorize one individual (the “Representative”) to represent, act, and enter a Submission, on their behalf. By entering a Submission on behalf of a Team or Organization you represent and warrant that you are the Representative authorized to act on behalf of your Team or Organization.

B. The Hackathon IS NOT open to: 

• Individuals who are residents of, or Organizations domiciled in Brazil, Quebec, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Crimea or Russia.

• Organizations involved with the design, production, paid promotion, execution, or distribution of the Hackathon, including the Sponsor and Administrator (“Promotion Entities”).

• Employees, representatives and agents** of such Promotion Entities, and all members of their immediate family or household*

• Any other individual involved with the design, production, promotion, execution, or distribution of the Hackathon, and each member of their immediate family or household*

• Any Judge (defined below), or company or individual that employs a Judge

• Any parent company, subsidiary, or other affiliate*** of any organization described above

• Any other individual or organization whose participation in the Hackathon would create, in the sole discretion of the Sponsor and/or Administrator, a real or apparent conflict of interest 

*The members of an individual’s immediate family include the individual’s spouse, children and stepchildren, parents and stepparents, and siblings and stepsiblings. The members of an individual’s household include any other person that shares the same residence as the individual for at least three (3) months out of the year. 

**Agents include individuals or organizations that in creating a Submission to the Hackathon, are acting on behalf of, and at the direction of, a Promotion Entity through a contractual or similar relationship.

***An affiliate is: (a) an organization that is under common control, sharing a common majority or controlling owner, or common management; or (b) an organization that has a substantial ownership in, or is substantially owned by the other organization.

4. How To Enter.

5. Submission Modifications.

A. Draft Submissions: Prior to the end of the Submission Period, you may save draft versions of your Submission on Devpost to your portfolio before submitting the Submission materials to the Hackathon for evaluation. Once the Submission Period has ended, you may not make any changes or alterations to your Submission, but you may continue to update the project in your Devpost portfolio.

B. Modifications After the Submission Period: The Sponsor and Devpost may, in their sole discretion, permit you to modify part of your Submission after the Submission Period for the purpose of adding, removing or replacing material that potentially infringes a third party mark or right, discloses personally identifiable information, or is otherwise inappropriate. The modified Submission must remain substantively the same as the original Submission with the only modification being what the Sponsor and Devpost permits. 

6. Judges & Criteria.

Eligible Submissions will be evaluated by mentor groups and a panel of judges selected by the Sponsors and Administrator (the “Judges”). Judges may be employees of the sponsor or third parties, may or may not be listed individually on the Hackathon Website, and may change before or during the Judging Period. Judging may take place in one or more rounds with one or more panels of Judges, at the discretion of the Sponsor. 

Stage One: The first stage will determine via pass/fail whether the ideas meet a baseline level of viability, in that the project reasonably fits the theme and reasonably applies the required APIs/SDKs featured in the Hackathon.

Stage Two: All Submissions that pass Stage One will be evaluated in Stage Two by mentor groups based on the following equally weighted criteria (the “Judging Criteria”).

Stage Three: The eight highest scoring teams across the Judging Criteria will be evaluated in Stage Three by a panel of judges based on the Judging Criteria.

Judging Criteria:

Entries will be judged on the following equally weighted criteria, and according to the sole and absolute discretion of the Judges:

• 1. Impact
  How much impact (quality and quantity) can this project have? Does it solve a big problem or a little problem? Will it inspire or help many, or a few?

• 2. Creativity
  How creative/innovative is the approach? Is the project novel and something that hasn't been attempted before, or is it an incremental improvement on something that already exists?

• 3. Relevance
  Is this project responsive to the challenge for which it was submitted? Is it a complete solution or does it have a long way to go? Is it technically feasible? How usable or user friendly is the solution?

• 4. Technical Feasibility and Implementation Quality
  Is the solution technically feasible? Will it do what it sets out to do? Can it work in the real world?

• 5. Presentation
  How well did the team communicate their project? Were they effective in telling the story of the project: the challenge, the solution, and why is it important?

The scores from the Judges will determine the potential winners of the applicable prizes. The Entrant(s) that are eligible for a Prize, and whose Submissions earn the highest overall scores based on the applicable Judging Criteria, will become potential winners of that Prize.

Tie Breaking: In every event when two or more Submissions are tied, the tied submission with the highest score in the first applicable criterion will be considered the higher scoring Submission.

In the event any ties remain, this process will be repeated, as needed, by comparing the tied Submissions’ scores on the next applicable criterion. If two or more Submissions are tied on all applicable criteria, the panel of Judges will vote on the tied Submissions.

7. Intellectual Property Rights.

Subject to the licenses and rights to feedback described above and/or elsewhere in these Official Rules, all Submissions remain the intellectual property of the individuals or organizations that developed them. By submitting an entry, entrants agree that the Sponsor will have a fully paid, non-exclusive license to use such entry for judging the entry. Entrants agree that the Sponsor and Devpost shall have the right to promote the Submission and use the name, likeness, voice and image of all individuals contributing to a Submission, in any materials promoting or publicizing the Hackathon and its results, during the Hackathon Period and for three years thereafter. Some Submission components may be displayed to the public. Other Submission materials may be viewed by the Sponsor, Devpost, and judges for screening and evaluation. By submitting an entry or accepting any Prize, Entrants represent and warrant that (a) submitted content is not copyrighted, protected by trade secret or otherwise subject to third party intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless Entrant is the owner of such rights or has permission from their rightful owner to post the content; and (b) the content submitted does not contain any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware or other disabling devices or harmful or malicious code.

8. Prizes.

IMPORTANT: Each Eligible Submission can win a maximum of one (1) prize.

A. Substitutions & Changes: Prizes are non-transferable by the winner. Sponsor in its sole discretion has the right to make a Prize substitution of equivalent or greater value. Sponsor will not award a Prize if there are no eligible Submissions entered in the Hackathon, or if there are no eligible Entrants or Submissions for a specific Prize.

B. Verification Requirement: THE AWARD OF A PRIZE TO A POTENTIAL WINNER IS SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION OF THE IDENTITY, QUALIFICATIONS AND ROLE OF THE POTENTIAL WINNER IN THE CREATION OF THE SUBMISSION. No Submission or submitter shall be deemed a winning Submission or winner until their post-competition Prize affidavits have been completed and verified, even if prospective winners have been announced verbally or on the Competition Website. The final decision to designate a winner shall be made by the Sponsor and/or Administrator.

C. Prize Delivery: Prizes will be payable to the Entrant, if an individual; to the Entrant’s Representative, if a Team; or to the Organization, if the Entrant is an Organization. It will be the responsibility of the winning Entrant’s Representative to allocate the Prize among their Team or Organization’s participating members, as the Representative deems appropriate.

D. Fees & Taxes: Winners (and in the case of Team or Organization, all participating members) are responsible for any fees associated with receiving or using a Prize, including but not limited to, wiring fees or currency exchange fees. Winners (and in the case of Team or Organization, all participating members) are responsible for reporting and paying all applicable taxes in their jurisdiction of residence (federal, state/provincial/territorial and local). Winners may be required to provide certain information to facilitate receipt of the Prize, including completing and submitting any tax or other forms necessary for compliance with applicable withholding and reporting requirements. United States residents may be required to provide a completed form W-9 and residents of other countries may be required to provide a completed W-8BEN form. Winners are also responsible for complying with foreign exchange and banking regulations in their respective jurisdictions and reporting the receipt of the Prize to relevant government departments/agencies, if necessary. The Sponsor, and/or Prize provider reserves the right to withhold a portion of the Prize amount to comply with the tax laws of the United States or other Sponsor jurisdiction, or those of a winner’s jurisdiction. If any Prize involves travel, all potential winners are responsible for obtaining all necessary travel documents, including valid passports, visas and travel insurance, and complying with all health or other government regulations.

Entrant acknowledges and agrees that Sponsor has neither made, nor is in any manner responsible or liable for, any warranty, representation or guarantee, expressed or implied, in fact or in law, relative to any Prize or the Hackathon.  All warranties are hereby disclaimed; and each potential winner will accept the Prize "AS IS." All costs and expenses, including support services, not specifically listed above as part of the Prize, are solely the winner’s responsibility.

9. Entry Conditions and Release.

A. By entering the Hackathon, you (and, if you are entering on behalf of a Team, Organization each participating members) agree(s) to the following:

(i) The relationship between you, the Entrant, and the Sponsor and Administrator, is not a confidential, fiduciary, or other special relationship.

(ii) You will be bound by and comply with these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, Administrator, and/or the Hackathon Judges which are binding and final in all matters relating to the Hackathon.

(iii) You release, indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Promotion Entities, and their respective parent, subsidiary, and affiliated companies, the Prize suppliers and any other organizations responsible for sponsoring, fulfilling, administering, advertising or promoting the Hackathon, and all of their respective past and present officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives (hereafter the “Released Parties”) from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), including but not limited to negligence and damages of any kind to persons and property, defamation, slander, libel, violation of right of publicity, infringement of trademark, copyright or other intellectual property rights, property damage, or death or personal injury arising out of or relating to a Entrant’s entry, creation of Submission or entry of a Submission, participation in the Hackathon, acceptance or use or misuse of the Prize (including any travel or activity related thereto) and/or the broadcast, transmission, performance, exploitation or use of the Submission as authorized or licensed by these Official Rules. 

B. Without limiting the foregoing, the Released Parties shall have no liability in connection with: 

(i) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by the Sponsor or Administrator’s electronic or printing error, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Hackathon; 

(ii) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines, internet connectivity or electronic transmission errors, or network hardware or software or failure of the Hackathon Website;

(iii) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Hackathon; 

(iv) technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Hackathon or the processing of Submissions; or 

(v) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from the Entrant’s participation in the Hackathon or receipt or use or misuse of any Prize.

The Released Parties are not responsible for incomplete, late, misdirected, damaged, lost, illegible, or incomprehensible Submissions or email address changes of the Entrants. Proof of sending or submitting the aforementioned will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by the Sponsor or Administrator. If for any reason any Entrant’s Submission is determined to have not been received or been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, the Entrant’s sole remedy is to request the opportunity to resubmit its Submission. Such a request must be made promptly after the Entrant knows or should have known there was a problem and will be determined at the sole discretion of the Sponsor.

10. Publicity.

By participating in the Hackathon, Entrant consents to the promotion and display of the Entrant’s Submission, and to the use of personal information about themselves for promotional purposes, by the Sponsor, Administrator, and third parties acting on their behalf. Such personal information includes, but is not limited to, your name, likeness, photograph, voice, opinions, comments and hometown and country of residence. It may be used in any existing or newly created media, worldwide without further payment or consideration or right of review, unless prohibited by law. Authorized use includes but is not limited to advertising and promotional purposes.

11. General Conditions. 

A. Sponsor and Administrator reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Hackathon, or any part of it, in the event of a technical failure, fraud, or any other factor or event that was not anticipated or is not within their control.

B. Sponsor and Administrator reserve the right in their sole discretion to disqualify any individual or Entrant if it finds to be actually or presenting the appearance of tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Hackathon or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or in a manner that is inappropriate, unsportsmanlike, not in the best interests of this Hackathon, or a violation of any applicable law or regulation.

C. Any attempt by any person to undermine the proper conduct of the Hackathon may be a violation of criminal and civil law. Should the Sponsor or Administrator suspect that such an attempt has been made or is threatened, they reserve the right to take appropriate action including but not limited to requiring an Entrant to cooperate with an investigation and referral to criminal and civil law enforcement authorities.

D. If there is any discrepancy or inconsistency between the terms and conditions of the Official Rules and disclosures or other statements contained in any Hackathon materials, including but not limited to the Hackathon Submission Form, Hackathon Website, or advertising, the terms and conditions of the Official Rules shall prevail.

E. The terms and conditions of the Official Rules are subject to change at any time, including the rights or obligations of the Entrant, the Sponsor and Administrator. The Sponsor and Administrator will post the terms and conditions of the amended Official Rules on the Hackathon Website. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any amendment will become effective at the time specified in the posting of the amended Official Rules or, if no time is specified, the time of posting.

F. If at any time prior to the deadline, an Entrant or prospective Entrant believes that any term in the Official Rules is or may be ambiguous, they must submit a written request for clarification. 

G. The Sponsor or Administrator’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. Should any provision of these Official Rules be or become illegal or unenforceable in any jurisdiction whose laws or regulations may apply to an Entrant, such illegality or unenforceability shall leave the remainder of these Official Rules, including the Rule affected, to the fullest extent permitted by law, unaffected and valid. The illegal or unenforceable provision shall be replaced by a valid and enforceable provision that comes closest and best reflects the sponsor’s intention in a legal and enforceable manner with respect to the invalid or unenforceable provision.

H. Excluding Submissions, all intellectual property related to this Hackathon, including but not limited to copyrighted material, trademarks, trade-names, logos, designs, promotional materials, web pages, source codes, drawings, illustrations, slogans and representations are owned or used under license by the Sponsor and/or Administrator. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized copying or use of any copyrighted material or intellectual property without the express written consent of its owners is strictly prohibited. Any use in a Submission of Sponsor or Administrator’s intellectual property shall be solely to the extent provided for in these Official Rules.

12. Limitations of Liability.

By entering, all Entrants (including, in the case of a Team or Organization, all participating members) agree to release the Released Parties from any and all liability in connection with the Prizes or Entrant’s participation in the Hackathon. Provided, however, that any liability limitation regarding gross negligence or intentional acts, or events of death or body injury shall not be applicable in jurisdictions where such limitation is not legal.

13. Disputes.

A. Except where prohibited by law, as a condition of participating in this Hackathon, Entrant agrees that:

1. any and all disputes and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Hackathon, or any Prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action lawsuit.

B. Under no circumstances will Entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and Entrant hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys’ fees, other than contestant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e., costs associated with entering this Hackathon), and Entrant further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.

C. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the Entrant and Sponsor in connection with this Hackathon, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the substantive laws of the United Arab Emirates.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

14. Additional Terms.

Please review the Devpost Terms of Service at https://info.devpost.com/terms for additional rules that apply to your participation in the Hackathon and more generally your use of the Hackathon Website. Such Terms of Service are incorporated by reference into these Official Rules, including that the term "Poster" in the Terms of Service shall mean the same as "Sponsor" in these Official rules." If there is a conflict between the Terms of Service and these Official Rules, these Official Rules shall control with respect to this Hackathon only.

15. Entrant’s Personal Information.

Information collected from Entrants is subject to the Global DevSlam's Privacy Policy, which is available at https://globaldevslam.com/privacy-policy.

For questions, send an email to [email protected].

Our hackathon is dedicated to providing a safe and comfortable environment and harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of the following:

• gender

• gender identity and expression

• age

• sexual orientation

• disability

• physical appearance

• body size

• race

• ethnicity

• nationality

• religion

• political views

• previous hackathon attendance or lack of

• computing experience or lack of

• chosen programming language or tech stack

We do not tolerate harassment of hackathon participants in any form. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate at any hackathon venue, this includes the following.

• hacks

• talks, presentations, or demos

• workshops

• any parties associated to the hackathon

• social media

• any other online media

Hackathon participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the hackathon at the discretion of the hackathon organizers.

More information:

Harassment includes offensive verbal comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, nationality, religion or political views, sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, photography or audio/video recording against reasonable consent, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.

Photography is encouraged, but other participants must be given a reasonable chance to opt out from being photographed. If they object to the taking of their photograph, comply with their request. It is inappropriate to take photographs in contexts where people have a reasonable expectation of privacy (in bathrooms or where participants are sleeping).

Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.

As this is a hackathon, we like to explicitly note that the hacks created at our hackathon are equally subject to the anti-harassment policy.

Sponsors and partners are also subject to the anti-harassment policy. In particular, sponsors should not use sexualised images, activities, or other material. Sponsor representatives (including volunteers) should not use sexualised clothing/uniforms/costumes, or otherwise create a sexualised environment.

If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a member of hackathon staff immediately.

Hackathon staff will be happy to help participants contact any local security or local law enforcement, provide escorts, or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the hackathon. We value your attendance.

If a participant engages in harassing behavior, the hackathon organizers may take any action they deem appropriate. This includes warning the offender, expulsion from the hackathon with no refund (if applicable), or reporting their behavior to local law enforcement.

We expect participants to follow these rules at hackathon and workshop venues and hackathon-related social events.