AcceliGOV Competition Rules

(as of January 1, 2024)

These rules (“Rules”) govern each city applicant (Participant, Participant Team or Participants) that enters Leading Cities’ AcceliGOV Competition.

By entering the competition, you, as an individual or as a team, are indicating your and your organization’s agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions during and after the competition you are entering, and throughout your association with Leading Cities. For purposes of these Rules, all Participants, regardless of whether you become a “Semi-Finalist,” “Finalist,” or a competition “Winner,” may be referred to as an AcceliGOV “Participant,” and collectively as AcceliGOV “Participants.”

Eligibility

To be eligible to enter the AcceliGOV competition you must fulfill the eligibility criteria set out in these Rules.

Generally, every Participant or Participant Team must represent a municipal government or organization on whose behalf they are participating with all proper authorization to do so including, but not limited to, the authorization to deploy the project offered by the AcceliGOV competition.

Each Participant is only allowed to submit 1 application per pilot project offering. Past and current Leading Cities mentors and judges are eligible to participate in a competition. However, they will not be able to participate in Judging activities during any AcceliGOV competition cycle in which they are already participating as a participant in the competition.

Ineligible to Participate

The following individuals and entities are NOT eligible to participate in an AcceliGOV Competition:

Any person/team who has been disqualified for not following the Rules, or not abiding by the terms and conditions of AcceliGOV and/or Leading Cities, is disqualified from all future competitions.

Any person who is prohibited from participating because of a contractual or other legal obligation to another person or entity (such as an employer) is ineligible to enter.

Any person or entity that has a conflict of interest is ineligible to enter the competition.

Methods of Entry

To enter the AcceliGOV competition, an application must first be submitted by an authorized member of an eligible municipality or organization using the AcceliGOV website and online application form. Selected applicants may be invited to a short phone/video interview. There is no special treatment for any applicants, every participant must complete an application and be evaluated.

Upon submission of an application, each team member included on said application will be considered a registered member of the Participant Team and will, by inclusion of their name on the application, have agreed to abide by these Rules and the Leading Cities terms and conditions. At the time of application submission, you will also acknowledge the opportunity to have reviewed Leading Cities’ Privacy Policy. Incomplete entries may not be considered by the Judges.

Originality

All entries, work and submissions of AcceliGOV Participants must be original to the participant/team, or, if not original, used with written authorization of others whose contributions must be identified in the submission. Applications submitted after the application deadlines will not be considered. See the application deadline on the Leading Cities website

(www.LeadingCities.org/AcceliGOV)

Judging

The competition is designed to provide globally sourced, expert-vetted solutions to serious challenges facing communities worldwide. The overall goal of the program is to help AcceliGOV Participants implement a pre-paid (free) pilot project in a local jurisdiction. All Judging is intended to identify the highest-potential, highest impact, and most committed partner.

Applications are reviewed and determinations made on each Participant’s potential for long-term success based upon the Judge’s experience and the quality of the Participants’ application.

In the Application Review stage, Judges base their decisions on whether a team advances as Finalist to the technical review phase of AcceliGOV. This phase may require the submission of additional information pertaining to the Finalist and specific details related to pilot project implementation.

All decisions of the Judges are at their sole discretion and are final.

Phases of Competition and Programs

Note the following phases.

Applications Open: Applications are available for completion on the Leading Cities website.

Application Review: During this time, the applications are reviewed by judges. After Finalists are selected, they may be invited to submit additional information and/or may be invited for a phone/video interview.

Leading Cities Announces Awards: Announcement of winners and celebration of all participating Finalists will be posted on social media and other media outlets.

Award

Each AcceliGOV award is provided directly by the solution provider, as generally outlined in their pilot project offering. Once selected, the winner and the solution provider will engage directly to tailor the pilot project for local deployment. Leading Cities makes no guarantees about the outcomes of the pilot project.

Legal Action

Leading Cities shall be held harmless in the event of any legal action. By entering the competition and otherwise being an AcceliGOV Participant, each AcceliGOV Participant agrees to:

(a) comply with and be bound by these Rules and the decisions of Judges, which are binding and final;

(b) release and hold harmless Leading Cities, together with its affiliates and all of their respective past and present officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives, as well as the Judges, Mentors, Experts, Partners and other volunteers involved with the competition, and all of their respective past and present officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives (collectively, the “Released Parties”) from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liability, including (without limitation), any third party claims of intellectual property infringement, breach of confidentiality or trade secret claim(s) brought against the Released Parties asserting that the content, work product or activities of an AcceliGOV Participant infringe(s) the intellectual property, contract, trade secret or other rights of any other person (including any other AcceliGOV Participant), as well as claims asserting damages of any kind to persons arising out of the competition(s), the AcceliGOV Participant’s participation in the competition and any Leading Cities program; and

(c) indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Released Parties from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or relating to participant’s participation in any competition or Leading Cities program and/or participant’s acceptance, use or misuse of any award or cash prize.

Other Agreements

Leading Cities takes no responsibility for agreements between any AcceliGOV Participant with any other Participant or any Leading Cities Expert or any other third parties. A Leading Cities Expert is either or any of a Leading Cities “Mentor,” “Judge” or “Speaker,” all of whom provide time to Leading Cities on a volunteer basis.

Intellectual Property & Confidentiality

Leading Cities Participants should not and expressly agree not to use or share any confidential or proprietary information that belongs to any other person or entity. Likewise, any confidential or proprietary information shared among or between AcceliGOV Participants during the competition or during any Leading Cities program must be maintained by each AcceliGOV Participant as confidential and proprietary.

AcceliGOV Participants are not authorized to use any intellectual property of Leading Cities or any other Leading Cities Participant, including but not limited to any trademark, copyrightable content, trade secret, technology, patentable subject matter or other proprietary content without the express authorization of the owner of such rights.

Each AcceliGOV Participant agrees that Leading Cities may use his or her name, image, photograph, biography, and each Participant Team’s “story,” video, company overview, biography and any other materials used in connection with the promotion of Leading Cities and its activities in perpetuity, in all manner of media, without further authorization from or compensation to the AcceliGOV Participant. All Leading Cities Participants hereby waive and release Leading Cities, its affiliates and sponsors and each of their successors and assigns from all claims and causes of action arising out of the uses set forth in this paragraph.

Privacy

Leading Cities protects personal information collected in connection with its competitions and your participation.

(See privacy policy on http://LeadingCities.org/privacy-policy).

Compliance with Rules and Code of Conduct

Any violation of these Rules will disqualify a n AcceliGOV Participant, including the Participant Team of any violator of these Rules, from the competition, and result in forfeiture of any awards awarded to the Participant Team, including but not limited to the reimbursement of any grants awarded, if applicable, to the disqualified Participant or Participant Team. Furthermore, Leading Cities reserves the right to remove or disqualify any AcceliGOV Participant from a competition and from all Leading Cities programs at any time, at its sole discretion and for any reason. Without limiting the foregoing, any AcceliGOV Participant who engages in immoral, illicit, or illegal conduct, including activities that violate these Rules, including but not limited to lying, cheating, engaging in any criminal activity (whether or not related to the competition) and/or any activity that, in the sole discretion of Leading Cities, may adversely affect the competition, other AcceliGOV Participants, the image of Leading Cities, or any of our affiliates or sponsors, automatically becomes ineligible for the competition, forfeits any awards, and shall be disqualified from participating in the current and any other Leading Cities competitions or programs in the future.

Law

The competition is subject to applicable laws, including, for U.S. programs and competitions, federal, state, and local laws, and for programs outside the U.S., the laws of the country in which the programs take place.

Updates

Leading Cities may update these rules throughout the competition and participants will be responsible for compliance with all changes. All updates will be posted on the Leading Cities website and Leading Cities Participants that are subject to Rules changes will be alerted to changes by email at the contact details provided when they registered. These Rules incorporate by reference any materials produced or posted on the Leading Cities website concerning the competition(s). However, in the case of conflict between these Rules and other information on the website, these Rules shall control.