Building a Smart and Waste-Free Destination
- Spanish Briefing available / bases del concurso disponible en español -
#innovateecuador #sustainabledevelopment #smarttourism
How can we build a smart and waste-free touristic destination that accelerates economic, social and sustainable development? Help the local government of Portoviejo (Ecuador) in building its city as a blueprint for a sustainable and smart destination. Develop or apply your technology-driven innovations in order to foster positive change.
✅ Completed 🏁 Winner Congrats to Multiverz for winning the Challenge!
🏆 Prize EUR 3,000 per Challenge + funding programs with Atos, BMZ digilab and Make-IT Alliance + joint publication | For more see Tab “Rewards”
🌎 Scope Open to participants from all over the world
Who can participate?
The Use Case is calling students, researchers, professionals involved in digital solutions for eco-agriculture and startups to innovate African agriculture.
Tourism in Portoviejo
Portoviejo aims to develop as the best city to live in Ecuador, but also to become the first Intelligent Tourist Destination in the country.
The emblematic tourist site is the Cerro Hojas Jaboncillo Archaeological - Complex, since it has a patrimonial perimeter of approximately 3,500 hectares, surrounded by a dry and humid tropical forest with a high diversity of flora and fauna.
More than 900 building foundations and around 60 stones in the shape of a "U" have been identified, together with other unique vestiges of this millenary culture, which shows the importance of the "City of the Hills".
This patrimonial, cultural and touristic space is complemented by La Rotonda and Las Vegas Parks, converging in a perimeter of relevance for the economic dynamization of the city due to all the dynamizing axes that converge in it, among them the socioeconomic, environmental and cultural ones.
Sustainable tourism
Sustainable tourism development balances economic growth with environmental sustainability. Sustainable tourism is designed for the long term, follows ethical principles, is socially just, culturally respectful and environmentally sound. At the same time, sustainable tourism development should be economically productive and employment-intensive, thereby safeguarding the local economy and development.
Disadvantaged populations and small and micro entrepreneurs can also participate in this development. For many jobs in tourism, neither special expertise nor high investments are required. In addition to the hotel and catering industry, sectors such as agriculture, handicrafts, arts and crafts, and transportation also benefit from the increasing number of foreign guests. Tourism is thus an effective instrument that can directly and indirectly generate income and thus prospects.
Smart destination
A smart destination goes beyond the use of technology, incorporating the following strategic axes in the management of the destination: Governance, Innovation, Technology, Universal Accessibility, and Sustainability in its economic, socio-cultural and environmental aspects.
These five axes influence each other and are interrelated.
At the same time, any type of tourist destination can be constituted as such, regardless of its conception (holiday, urban, natural, etc.) or size, and the nature of its managing body. In the end a smart destination leads to the synergy of not only improving tourism but even more improving the quality of life of citizens.
Evaluation Criteria
1. political relevance (strategic relevance)
- Does digital innovation contribute to solving a developmentally important core problem for target groups, differentiated by vulnerable groups or disadvantaged groups (gender, minorities), or to a development bottleneck of a partner country?
- Does innovation make a clearly defined contribution to the SDGs (which ones?)
2. scalability (probability of success)
Impact
- Are the impact goals defined and is it explained how they will be achieved (e.g., Theory of Change)?
- Has digital innovation already been successfully piloted and implemented? Is there evidence that the intended impact was achieved?
- How high is the degree of goal achievement (effectiveness, quality of goal achievement) compared to other options? (Ratio result/target)
- What are the economic, social, and environmental risks associated with innovation (especially with regard to the Safeguards+Gender areas of the environment, climate, human rights, conflict, and gender)?
Scaling intention
- Are initial scaling objectives and further scaling options coherently presented?
- Is digital innovation sufficiently independent of context-specific determinants and local system requirements?
Team
- Is digital innovation backed by a diverse team with a clear vision characterized by leadership and entrepreneurial thinking?
- Does the team have clear ambitions to scale their digital innovation?
- Target group centricity
- Is there broad knowledge of the target audience and stakeholder needs?
- Have elements of digital innovation been tested and developed together with the target group?
- Are vulnerable target groups (esp. women) or is the partner country able and willing to use the innovation in the long term (long-term demand)?
Sustainability
- What is the benefit or added value of digital innovation for target groups or the partner country?
- Is there a comprehensible business model that ensures sustainable financing of the digital solution?