Regulation

1. General description and requirements

1.1 What is BlogContest IOT360?

BlogContest is a competition focused on the topic of Internet of Things and held in the context of the Summit IOT360 – The Gateway to Innovation, organized by the European Alliance for Innovation (EAI). The aim of the contest is to investigate the IoT and what it entails: a trend that accepts network as an element of connection that allows information technology to leave the computer and enter the things, potentially turning all the objects around us into smarter instruments.
The competition aims at:

1) discussing the IoT, building a global narrative on the upcoming innovations;

2) involving students, experts, companies and organizations that are interested in the topics of the IoT;

3) highlighting the role of information in the process of information sharing and dissemination regarding the IoT through social media, particularly through blogging.

1.2 Requirements

- The competition is open to bloggers from all over the world (graduate or under-graduate students, journalists, researchers passionate about the topic of hi-tech and the usage of new media) who are aged 18 and above. Articles can be written in any language.

- With “blogger” we mean either a creator and/or an administrator of a blog, or somebody who simply publishes contents in forms of posts on blogs managed by third parties that accept comments sharing and other actions usually carried out by the social media. As such, the blog may be personal or part of a network. It may be amateur or professional.

- The candidate is required to notify about his/her candidacy and to be present in Rome on 28th and 29th of October, 2014 for the award ceremony, which will take place within the Summit IOT360 – The Gateway to Innovation, promoted by EAI.

1.3 The topic of the BlogContest

The main topic is the Internet of Things at 360° as “the industrial revolution” that, thanks to its various opportunities, fosters changes in the futures of people, organizations and businesses. Also researchers and the innovators can try and turn ideas and projects inspired by IoT into concrete proposals with a commercial value.

1.4 Participation fees to the BlogContest

No participation fees apply.

2. The Competition

Interested bloggers are asked to write an article on the IoT topic. There are no given requirements on the maximum number of characters (min 1,500 characters) nor on the specific formatting rules (it should be possible to attach a photo or a video to the post). The articles should be published on the bloggers’ own blogs or on online newspapers/blogs that they usually collaborate with. Mentioned articles may also be published on external blogs and web-sites, on social media or on other communication tools.

Articles may be written in a personal style. The purpose of the contest is to relate about the IoT at 360°, to introduce the phenomenon of the IoT and to exploit the network of bloggers as a tool for the dissemination of topics relating to the IoT.

Important: Articles should include a link to the web-site of the Summit IOT360 (https://iot-360.eu/)

Once the article has been published, the blogger should send a notice of participation in the BlogContest to the e-mail info@iot-360.eu specifying his/her full name, e-mail address, telephone contacts, place of birth, age, type of studies, current job, the URL of the blog for which he/she is a funder or/and an editor and the link where the article has been published. Bloggers are welcome to post the link of their article on the Facebook page of the Summit (https://www.facebook.com/eai.eu), and on twitter using the hashtag #IOT360.

Note: It is essential to send the registration e-mail once the article has been published in order to participate in the contest. By sending the above mentioned email the blogger accepts the terms and conditions of the contest.

2.1 Deadlines

Bloggers may post their articles and inform us about their participation starting from the date of publication of the present regulation and through September 30, October 10th, 2014.

2.1 Material not admitted

Works including pornographic materials, hate messages, defamatory or somehow offensive statements, will not be considered and evaluated in the contest.

2.2 Terms and conditions

EAI assumes that all the articles written by the participants to the contest are original and that the participants own intellectual property rights to their works. Should an article not be covered by intellectual property rights, it will be excluded from the contest. EAI is not responsible for the violation of authors’ rights by contest participants.
The presentation of any material entails rights to EAI on the use of the material for promotional purposes, mainly by sharing it through social media. EAI will not use the material without a prior and explicit consensus by the author. The copyright will remain to the participant.

3. Winners and Awards

3.1 Winners and awards

The competition envisages a single first prize winner who will receive an iPad with Retina display and 5 free tickets to the Summit IOT360: The Gateway to Innovation. The second and third place winners will be awarded 3 free tickets each.

The first place winner will be notified via e-mail by October 17, 2014, and will be awarded an iPad with Retina display on October 29, 2014, during the Summit IOT360.

3.2 Selection process

The articles submitted to the contest by September 30, 2014, will be assessed by a committee of experts in the fields of ICT and Innovation, including representatives of industry, university and research. The articles written by the candidates will be evaluated by the members of the Steering Committee of the IOT360 Summit.

The articles will be assessed based on publishing and editorial criteria, such as content, accuracy of the information and language style. Aspects of usability, strength of the message and originality will be also evaluated, together with the number of sharing on social networks.

The final assessment will be based on the 2 criteria as follows:
- editorial aspects (mark from1 to 6)
- creative component (mark from 1 to 6)
- sharing on social networks (mark from 1 to 6)

The final score will determine placement on the winners table.

The evaluation committee reserves the right not to assign the first prize should the articles’ quality be too low according to the given criteria obtaining a final score lower than 9 (out of 18 points).

3.3 Taxes

There is no tax burden on the winners. All the fees are to be paid by EAI or the sponsoring company.

3.4 Place and date of the award ceremony

The award ceremony will take place in Rome on October 29, 2014, within the Summit IOT360: The Gateway to Innovation. Travel costs are to be paid by the participants.

If the winner is not able to reach Rome for any reasons, the selection committee might consider the chance to establish a conference call to proceed with the ceremony.

4. Information privacy

Bloggers implicitly accept the content of the present document (Regulation) when sending the registration e-mail. Moreover, participants accept the personal information privacy as provided for by the Italian Law Legislative Decree 196/2003 – “Privacy Policy”.

5. Organizing Team contacts

IOT360 Organizing Team
Email: info@iot-360.eu
Website: www.iot-360.eu
Phone number: +39 0461 408400 ext. 1202
Twitter: #iot360