The World Bank invites individuals and teams of up to five (5)  creative thinkers (who are 18-35 years old) to submit a proposal for one of the four development cases that highlight real life challenges facing development organizations. The Development Case competition model is a platform for discussion and results. This year’s theme, cultivating an innovative spirit to alleviate global youth unemployment, focuses on the topics of education, entrepreneurialism, youth employment, and millennial communication. Deadline: September 8, 2013 

Inception Individuals and teams register with a group name under one case study. Each individual or team may only submit one proposal for the entire competition.

Proposal — Due September 1 (The deadline has been extended to September 8) Participants submit a proposal of up to 2,000 words, in English, that provides solutions to the development case they chose to address. A proposal can include any of the following:

  • Measurements of social impact
  • Market readiness
  • Competition and SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)
  • Strategic alignment and USP (unique selling point)
  • Risk assessment and analysis
  • Sustainable outcomes of the solution and operational impacts
  • Stakeholders
  • Team implementation strategy
  • Financial plan
  • Feasibility analysis

In addition to the proposal, participants must submit an executive summary of 400 words or fewerthat includes the following information:

  • Realizes the problem
  • States the solution in terms of a socially impactful product, project or development model
  • Addresses who the customer is and what is the benefit of the solution
  • Includes sustainability depth beyond revenue-generating concepts

The applications will be reviewed by a panel of internal and external judges. Winners and runners up will be contacted via email mid-September.

Presentation — October 3 Winning selections (winners and runners-up) for each case study are invited to the Youth Summit on October 3rd to present their winning proposals (either in person or by video-conference). World Bank President Jim Yong Kim will present participants with certificates. Additional awards will be given to the winners by the case sponsors.

Click here to learn more about the competition:  http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTCY/EXTYOUTHSUMMIT/0,,contentMDK:23449192~enableDHL:True~menuPK:9264482~pagePK:64168445~piPK:64168309~theSitePK:9264465,00.html