The GNOME Foundation, in partnership with Endless, has announced a competition the goal of which is to encourage individuals or teams to submit stimulating ideas that will connect the next generation of coders to the free and open-source software (FOSS) community and keep them involved for years to come.

The judges in the competition say they want entries that are fun, educational, creative and unique. They want them to show that coding is fun and interesting, and that the FOSS community is a good place to be. The project should also improve the coding skill of the novice programmer, and either add something new to open source or improve an existing project.

The challenge is in three parts, and there's $65,000 in cash prizes and other rewards to the winners of each phase. Phase One is the Idea part, where competitors submit a written proposal with a description of their entry and their team background. There's no restrictions what form entries have to take. According to the competition guidelines:

"They may be software projects, educational materials, videos, games, presentations, events, or anything else that promotes engagement of beginning coders with the FOSS community. Be as creative as you would like to be." 

Phase Two requires a proof of concept, a basic prototype to demonstrate the feasibility of the project, and Phase three entrants will need to submit a sample product that demonstrates the program goals.

Phase One of the challenge is now open, and requires you to submit a Proposal Application using an online form that asks 21 questions. The rubric advises that completing it should take 60–90 minutes, you should save as you go to avoid losing any information and that you will not be able to edit your proposal once it has been submitted. The deadline for this is July 1, 2020.

Phase One will have 20 winners, who will each win $1000, along with server space to store their entry, and an invitation to present their idea at an upcoming event, and an invitation to participate in Phase Two.

There will be four winners in Phase two, each winning $5,000. The winners of Phase Three will get $15,000 for the first place and $10,000 for the second place, along with a stipend to attend an award ceremony at GUADEC for one team member of the 1st and 2nd placed teams.

If you want to know more, a Q&A Session is scheduled to take place on April14, 2020 from 15:00 to16:30 UTC on Rocket.Chat using this link: #CEChallenge Channel.

More Information

Community Engagement Challenge Entry Form

Community Engagement Challenge Homepage

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