​Applications open for the 1st UN Citiverse Challenge

This challenge champions a transformative approach to urban innovation, harnessing digital public infrastructure alongside technologies such as AI, metaverse, digital twins, and open-source solutions to reimagine cities as inclusive, resilient, and sustainable hubs of progress.

This challenge is a call to action for visionaries, innovators, and changemakers to collaborate in building an equitable and sustainable digital future. Join the 1st UN Citiverse Challenge and help redefine the digital public infrastructure of future cities in alignment with global priorities outlined in the Pact for the Future and the Global Digital Compact.

Prizes Information

• Exciting prizes await the most innovative and impactful solutions! The winning individual or team will receive recognition for their creativity and ingenuity and also receive a cash prize.
• Students Category: CHF 5,000 for the winning team or individual.
• Startups Category: CHF 5,000 for the most scalable and impactful solution.

Problem Statements

• Access to Public Services
  • SDG 1: No Poverty
• Sustainability and Resilience
  • SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • SDG 13: Climate Action
• Tourism and Digital Culture
  • SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
  • SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

Possible Output

• Students
  • Research Papers
    • Research papers or reports that provide evidence-based insights, use cases, and recommendations for how digital public infrastructure can be implemented and scaled in the citiverse, addressing issues like equity, sustainability, and resilience.
  • Prototypes
    • Working prototypes demonstrating how digital public infrastructure can be integrated into the citiverse to solve global challenges listed in the problem statements.
  • Cultural Experience Designs
    • Designs for immersive cultural experiences in the citiverse, focusing on the digital preservation of cultural heritage, enhancing accessibility to cultural assets, and promoting inclusive tourism in the citiverse.
  • Community Engagement Initiatives
    • Propose initiatives or campaigns that encourage partnerships between governments, businesses, and communities to develop and scale digital public infrastructure solutions in the citiverse to mitigate the real world challenges.
• Startups
  • Scalable Solutions
    • Scalable, innovative solutions that can be implemented at a city or national level, focusing on how startups can help transform digital public infrastructure using the citiverse.
  • Functional Prototypes
    • Functional prototypes using advanced technologies such as AI, metaverse platforms, gaussian splatting, digital twins, and open-source tools to address specific challenges in the citiverse listed in the problem statements.

Eligibility Criteria

• Category 1: Students: Open to graduate-level students or recent graduates, individually or in teams, to propose innovative ideas or prototypes addressing real-world challenges in the citiverse.
• Category 2: Startups: Open to startups. Startups are required to submit cutting-edge prototypes or scalable solutions leveraging AI, metaverse, gaussian splatting, digital twins, and open-source tools.

For more information, visit International Telecommunication Union.