Congratulations to the Top 15 USAID Development Challenge Projects moving on to the next round of judging! Many thanks to all who participated and stay tuned for more Challenge announcements coming soon from NetSquared. Continue to engage with your favorite Projects by adding stars and comments.

N2Y3 Mashup Challenge FAQ

Project Gallery | FAQ | Community Guidelines | N2Y3 Winners

About the N2Y3 Mashup Challenge:

Q: What is the goal of the N2Y3 Mashup Challenge?
A: The N2Y3 Mashup Challenge is all about helping projects gain new insight into the data that applies to their mission-based activities. We believe that sharper insight leads to smarter decision-making about how best to spend limited resources and time.

Q: What types of activities are part of the N2Y3 Mashup Challenge and how many hours does a typical week involve?
A: To be fair, mileage may vary from one Mashup Project applicant to another, but we do know that time spent on the challenge depends on a number of variables:

Complexity of your Mashup Project vision.
Your and NetSquared’s ability to recruit appropriate technical expertise and resources.
Your own measure of what a great Mashup is.

Q: What does NetSquared expect from N2Y3 Mashup Challenge participants?
A: Please see our N2Y3 Mashup Challenge Community Guidelines for more information on this.

Q: What is the exact definition of a Mashup Project in this context?
A: N2Y3 Mashup Challenge Projects are created at the time the N2Y3 Mashup
Challenge Project Submission Form is submitted. Once you’ve clicked "Publish" your Mashup Project is live.

Q: Are Mashup Projects expected to produce an actual working solution or a concept or feasibility study?
A: Mashup Projects that are able to illustrate their vision in a clear and compelling way will inevitably draw the greatest support from N2Y3 Mashup Challenge project designers and engineers. We encourage project submitters to focus their efforts on illustrating:

Commitment to the work at hand.
Credibility in the Cause Area field.
An innovative approach to getting things done.

Links to actual work are a great way to illustrate all of the above.

Q: What kind of support will I get for my Project?
A: The NetSquared Team is busy recruiting Business Analysts, Product Managers, Business Mentors and Engineers to help Mashup Projects build a team that is capable of bringing your Mashup vision/concept/specification to life.

Q: What happens to Mashup Projects after the program ends?
A: Whatever floats your boat. NetSquared is currently developing into a full-fledged program of TechSoup. There will be plenty of opportunities to continue learning, contributing and collaborating with the people you’ve gotten to know in this process.
Stay tuned for more details about the NetSquared program soon!

N2Y3 Winners

NetSquared is pleased to announce the top three N2Y3 Winners:

First Place ($25,000):
Ushahidi: Mapping Reports of Post-Election Violence in Kenya

Second Place ($15,000):
KnowMore.org Firefox Extension - Get Alerts of Corporate Abuses When You Visit Company/Brand/Product Websites

Third Place ($10,000):
A Mashup of 29+ Social Action Platforms -- Social Actions

Each of the 18 additional Projects walked away with an equal share of the remaining prize money. Congratulations!

About the N2Y3 Mashup Challenge Project Submission Process:

Q: Who can apply?
A: People using web-based tools to address social issues that affect local communities everywhere.

Q: If you submitted a project last year, can you submit one this year?
A: Absolutely, yes.

Q: Are we accepting project submissions from outside the United States?
A: Yes. We encourage project submissions from around the globe. Having said this, we recognize the limits of our Submission Form, which is currently only available in English.

Q: When I try to publish my mashup, I get an error that says there is a character error even though I am under the character limit. What is going on?
A: The character count includes the HTML code that will be automatically generated when you publish on our site. Please shorten your answers and try again. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Q: I applied for a user account and have not received confirmation, how long do I have to wait?
A: We are approving user accounts on a continual basis. The confirmation email often gets filtered into junk mail so please be sure to double check your junk mail folder.

Q: What are the key dates of the Mashup Project Submission and Selection processes?
A: You can find more information about dates on the N2Y3 Mashup Challenge Announcment page.

Q: Whom do I contact if I encounter problems during the application process?
A: The NetSquared team is here to help you. Contact us at net2@techsoup.org.

Outcomes We're Shooting for this Year:

Develop a catalogue of Mashups built by and for social-change groups.
Identify and organize open data sets available for social-benefit organizations to use for their Mashups.
Mobilize Business Analysts, Product Managers, and Software Developers in cross-sector collaboration.