What is the GNI Innovation Challenge?

The ambition and intent of the Innovation Challenge in the Asia-Pacific is bold: to help incentivise innovation and spark new thinking, which could come from anywhere in the news ecosystem, to give news organizations - of all sizes - the space to try some new things.

The Challenge is open to news organizations that aim to produce original journalism whose projects focus on innovation towards creating a more sustainable and diverse news ecosystem. Established publishers, online-only players, news startups, publisher consortia and local industry associations as well as individuals, are eligible to apply. Applicants should be based in the Asia-Pacific region and have their principal place of business there (eligible countries listed in Terms & Conditions).

The application window opened on 6 July 2022 at 9 am Singapore Time (GMT+8), and closed on 23 August at 23:59 Singapore Time (GMT+8).

We’re looking for specific projects that demonstrate new thinking in the practice of digital journalism; that support the development of new business models, or change the way users consume digital news. Successful projects will show innovation and have a positive impact on the production of original digital journalism.

What do we mean by innovation?

We’re not seeking to define innovation, as that will depend on the applicant’s starting point and the environment they operate within. Instead we ask applicants to describe what is innovative about their idea. Typically this will mean ideas which haven’t been tried by the applicant previously or at least show a new approach.

The range of projects could be varied - we are intentionally not being prescriptive and instead welcome your boldest ideas. This could be anything from using artificial intelligence in the newsroom to diversifying your business model or figuring out ways to increase audience engagement or even reach new audiences. Whatever it is, we want to hear your sharpest solutions to the challenges faced on the ground.

Seeking inspiration? Have a look at previous projects selected by the Innovation Challenge in the Asia-Pacific and bear in mind that, this year, there is no specific theme so think broadly.

• Here are the winners of the GNI Innovation Challenge in Asia-Pacific (March 2019)
• 18 Asia-Pacific news organizations with big ideas (April 2020)
• From rural India to the world: These women make the news (December 2021)
• The News Minute turns fans into members (November 2021)

Not enough? See here all 227 projects funded by the Innovation Challenge since 2018.

What do we mean by a ‘project’?
Funded projects will need to complete development within 12 months after the funding is received, and conclude with the launch of a tangible new news product, service or tool to help the news organization thrive. Funded projects are not about the applicant’s day-to-day activity or simply an expansion of something that already exists.

All projects should have a significant digital component. Please note there is no requirement to use any Google products.

We need two things to accept your application.
1) A completed online application form
2) A PDF presentation about your project submitted through the same form

Online applications in English, Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean and Thai only will be considered. Please note the character count and limitation are mentioned directly in the template. We recommend you to be as brief and explicit as possible. Applications also include a mandatory PDF presentation which has a template that is linked [here]. This template is an example presentation that also contains prompts in the slides and the speaker notes to help you create the most effective presentation. Please follow the outline of the presentation as suggested in the example. In addition to the form and the slidedeck you will also be asked to accept the Asia-Pacific GNI Innovation Challenge Application Terms & Conditions.

The application window lasted for nearly 7 weeks. Take advantage of this time to document your application as thoroughly as possible:

1. Please download and review this PDF of application form questions in advance of starting work.
2. Download the slidedeck from this link to review the information required.
3. Take the time to consult and do research, brainstorm with your team and prepare the best responses.
4. When you are ready, please go to the online version of the form and submit the application and slidedeck.

If you need additional information, please contact us at apacgnichallenge@google.com

The title should sum up the purpose of the project. What will be the top line achievement of this project? It's a bit like a headline or tweet, a simple statement that the assessors will be able to use to understand the topic area and idea. Please note there is a 140 character limit.

This is a required question in the application form. You should use your answer to detail exactly what it is you will do, the value the project will add for your organization and beyond. Using an elevator pitch format could be useful but be specific about what your proposed project is and what you aim to build.

When answering this question, bear in mind that the 5 point criteria outlined below will be used to evaluate your application. Please detail how your proposal answers each of those points and tell us why this project is innovative for your organization.

Projects will be evaluated against five main criteria:

1. Innovation: Preferred projects will be innovative and transformative for the applicant and for the users.
2. Impact on the news ecosystem: Preferred projects should demonstrate potential for significant positive impact for the wider industry. For example, collaborative approaches, open source projects or just ideas that inspire others and nurture innovative thinking for quality journalism are welcome.
3. Feasibility: Preferred projects should demonstrate their potential through clear indicators and expected metrics. They should set out key risks and mitigation steps.
4. Diversity: Preferred projects will be able to demonstrate their self-defined commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion whether that is within their audience, organization or content. Google is committed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and works to support companies/projects which are inline with such values.
5. Inspiration: Preferred projects will show willingness to share knowledge and to contribute to the improvement of the ecosystem overall. Selected recipients will be required to produce a public report with learnings from the project.

Use this section of the application form to identify the problem you’re trying to solve and describe how you plan to tackle it. Articulate how you will implement the idea with details about the steps you will take, the resources you will require and precisely what the funding will be spent on. Take this opportunity to describe how you will progress the project.

Providing a slidedeck is a mandatory requirement. Click here to open the slidedeck template which provides the recommended structure and some guidelines and tips to help you. The slidedeck gives you an opportunity to focus and refine your idea in a simple to understand way. The slidedeck template is intended to be directional, i.e. outlining everything we would like addressed. However, please freely express your creativity and team culture through layout and design.

Collaborative applications with other industry players, associations or academic bodies for example are very welcome. You can find more information on how to make a collaborative application in the Asia-Pacific GNI Innovation Challenge Terms & Conditions.

You can find the Asia-Pacific GNI Innovation Challenge Terms & Conditions here.

Yes, we will review all eligible applications received by the application deadline.

If you would like to contact the team please email apacgnichallenge@google.com.

Each applicant may only submit one application and we will not consider multiple applications in respect of the same project. For organizations that are part of a larger group or holding structure with many different titles, please restrict applications to a maximum of 3 projects. Organizations and groups are therefore encouraged to focus their applications on top priority projects.

A limited number of people will have access to the responses that applicants provide. They will use the responses to assess the projects. Please see the Application Terms and Conditions for further details on how we will treat the information that you provide to us. As set out in the Terms and Conditions, we require that applicants do not submit to us any Business Sensitive Information. If the applicant has indicated that they wish to be connected to other applicants or industry groups, the Project Team may contact the applicant to offer knowledge sharing opportunities (featuring projects at events, case studies, etc).

Eligible expenses include personnel costs, engineering costs and the purchase or licensing of any equipment, tools, hardware, software and other assets or materials needed for the project. Marketing expenses should not exceed 20% of the total amount of Google funding requested. Editorial expenses are not part of the eligible costs and will not be covered. Funding may not be spent on general and overhead costs. Please see the Asia-Pacific GNI Innovation Challenge Terms & Conditions for more details. Please note that the effective date for the project will be the date that Google countersigns the funding agreement. No expenses incurred before this date can be covered by the funding.

As set out in the Asia-Pacific GNI Innovation Challenge Terms & Conditions, we require that applicants do not submit any Business Sensitive Information (as defined in the Application Terms and Conditions). Google intends to publicize its activities relating to the GNI Innovation Challenges. As outlined in the Application Terms and Conditions, it is a condition of the application that Google may publicize aggregated data showing how funds have been offered in the GNI Innovation Challenges and certain project-specific information.

Business Sensitive Information is confidential information which, if disclosed, would provide your competitors with a competitive advantage over you or would otherwise cause substantial harm to you.

As the owner of your project, you are the best judge on what information is Business Sensitive. However, if you are in any doubt about this then we recommend you seek independent legal advice.

We may contact applicants if we require further information or clarification prior to making our final selection. In that case, we would contact you via email. Our project team endeavors to review and select applications within three months, however timing may change due to the number of responses. We will notify all projects of whether they have been selected or not, but we can't provide specific feedback to applications who haven't been selected.