Contestant Eligibility:

This Challenge is open to U.S. residents of the 50 States (plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa) who are 13 years and over (with a parent/guardian if under 18 years of age), and businesses and organizations domiciled in the United States.  Individuals submitting on behalf of corporations, nonprofits, or groups of individuals (such as academic classes or other teams) must meet the eligibility requirements for individual contestants; each individual team member need not meet every criterion, but the lead member of a team must all criterion.  An individual may join more than one team, corporation, or nonprofit organization.  Eligibility to be a Contestant is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.  Contestants may be required to disclose their employers to allow HHS to conduct debarment and compliance screenings. HHS will not select as Finalist or Challenge Winner a company, or an individual who works for a company, that is currently on the Federal list of debarred entities or that has significant compliance issues.                                                

A federal entity or federal employee acting within the scope of his or her employment is not eligible to participate.  Federal employees acting outside the scope of their employment should consult their ethics official before participating in the Challenge. 

Participation constitutes Contestant's full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules. 

Submission Requirements/Rules:

In order for Submissions to be eligible to win this Challenge, they must meet the following requirements:

  1. General – Contestants must provide access to the application/prototype, a detailed description of the application, instructions on how to install and operate the application/prototype, and system requirements required to run the application/prototype (collectively, “Submission”).
  2. Acceptable platforms – The application/prototype must be designed for the Web, a personal computer, a mobile handheld device (preferably on multiple platforms), console, or any platform broadly accessible on the open Internet.
  3. Accessibility – The application/prototype must, to the extent practicable, be accessible to a wide range of users, including users with disabilities.  Application/prototype should also aim to eventually meet objectives for federal compliance guidelines for information technology as addressed by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973: http://www.section508/gov.
  4. Deadlines – The Submission must be available for evaluation by 11:59 pm, EST, on October 17, 2011 for judging purposes.
  5. Modifications – Once a Submission is made, the Contestant cannot make any changes or alterations to any part of the Submission.
  6. Intellectual Property – The Submission must not infringe on any copyright or any other rights of any third party.
  7. No HHS logo – The application/prototype must not use HHS’s logo or official seal in the Submission, and must not claim federal government endorsement.
  8. Functionality/Accuracy – A Submission may be disqualified if the software application/prototype fails to function as expressed in the description provided by the Contestant, or if the Submission provides inaccurate information.
  9. Security – Submissions must be free of malware.  Contestant agrees that HHS may conduct testing on the application/prototype to determine whether malware or other security threats may be present.  HHS may disqualify the application/prototype if, in HHS’s judgment, the application/prototype may damage government or third-party equipment or operating environments.

 

HHS will also screen submissions for eligibility of the submitting Contestant and compliance with Challenge.gov's Standards of Conduct.  By submitting the entries, applicants consent to IT security testing and debarment and compliance screening.  Submissions satisfying these criteria will be deemed eligible and posted on the Challenge.gov website on a rolling basis.  Submissions from Contestants who are under the age of eighteen (18) will be deemed ineligible and will not be posted, until and unless a completed Parent / Legal Guardian Consent Form is received. 

Copyright/Intellectual Property:

Original Work:  Each Contestant warrants that he or she is the sole author and owner of the Submission, that the Submission is wholly original with the Contestant (or is an improved version of an existing application that the Contestant has sufficient rights to use – including the substantial improvement of existing open-source apps), and that it does not infringe any copyright or any other rights of any third party of which Contestant is aware.  Each Contestant also warrants that the application is free of malware. 

Submission Rights:  Each Contestant grants to HHS an irrevocable, paid-up, royalty-free non-exclusive worldwide license to post, link to, and display publicly the application on the Web, for the purpose of the Challenge, during the duration of the Challenge and for a period of one year following announcement of the winner.  All Contestants will retain all other intellectual property rights over their Submissions, except that the Finalists and the Challenge Winner agree that their applications will be available on the HHS website for free use and download by the public for a period of one year following the announcement of the Winner.

Verification of Finalists and Challenge Winner

Finalists and the Challenge Winner must continue to comply with all terms and conditions of these Official Rules, and winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements contained herein. The finalists will be notified by email, telephone, or mail after the date of the judging.  The Finalists (or Finalist’s parent/guardian if under 18 years of age) and Challenge Winner (or Challenge Winner’s parent/guardian if under 18 years of age), will be required to sign and return to HHS, within ten (10) days of the date notice being sent, an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability/Publicity Release (except where prohibited) in order to claim any recognition.  In the event that a potential Finalist or Challenge Winner is disqualified for any reason, HHS may award the applicable recognition to an alternate winner who had the highest score remaining of the eligible entries.

Privacy

If you choose to provide the HHS with personal information by registering or filling out the submission form through the website, that information will be used to respond to you in matters regarding your submission and/or the Challenge only -- unless you choose to receive updates or notifications about other competitions from HHS on an opt-in basis.  Information is not collected for commercial marketing. 

Liability

The Contestant shall be liable for, and shall indemnify and hold harmless the Government against, all actions or claims for loss of or damage to property (including any damage that may result from a virus or malware to HHS computer systems or those of the end-users of the software and/or applications), resulting from the fault, negligence, or wrongful act or omission of the Contestant.

Disclaimer

HHS and its contractors are not responsible for: (1) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by Contestants, printing errors, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Challenge; (2) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines or network hardware or software; (3) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Challenge; (4) technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Challenge or the processing of entries; or (5) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from Contestant's participation in the Challenge or receipt, use or misuse of any recognition.  If for any reason a Contestant's entry is confirmed to have been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, Contestant's sole remedy is another entry in the Challenge.  Recognition in connection with this Challenge does not constitute an endorsement of a specific product by the HHS.

General Conditions

HHS reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Competition, or any part of it, for any reason, at HHS’s sole discretion.  

ALL DECISIONS BY HHS ARE FINAL AND BINDING IN ALL MATTERS RELATED TO THE COMPETITION.