WELCOME TO THE ASTRAZENECA/HEALTH INNOVATION WEST FEMTECH INNOVATION HACKATHON!

The “AstraZeneca/Health Innovation West Femtech Innovation Hackathon” hereafter referred to as “HackHERHealth” is conceived to create solutions that help to close the gender health gap. HackHERHealth is a truly collaborative event harnessing the power of industry, academia, and the healthcare sector. It is organised by AstraZeneca, marketed under the Health Innovation West umbrella, and hosted by GoCo Health Innovation City and Sahlgrenska Science Park.

Participants of HackHERHealth will benefit from:

• Showcase your talent to leading organisations.
• Being inspired by professionals and mentors working in the fields of femtech, health innovation, and life science, as well as experienced leaders from renowned startup incubators.
• Expand your professional network.
• Learning about and mastering the use of Generative AI both as a tool and as a partner in the innovation process (using Microsoft’s platform for LLMs and multimodal chatbots).
• Contributing to closing the gender health gap.

HackHERHealth is dedicated to fostering an inclusive and diverse environment, welcoming participants from a wide spectrum of professional backgrounds. This includes, but is not limited to, individuals from various sectors of healthcare, such as clinicians, healthcare providers, administrators, and educators; professionals and students in AI and IT; researchers and academics in biotechnology, health informatics, and epidemiology; as well as experts in health economics, policy, and management. Our aim is to unite a rich mix of perspectives and expertise, ranging from technical and clinical to administrative and supportive roles, all united by a common goal of addressing and minimizing the gender health gap.
HackHERHealth is committed to enhancing the participant experience through a multifaceted approach. Firstly, we provide access to a knowledgeable and experienced team of mentors from the healthcare sector, ensuring participants have the guidance and insights they need to excel. Additionally, the event serves as a platform to expand professional networks, connecting participants with a diverse range of stakeholders including businesses, public administrations, NGOs, and community members. This collaborative environment is key to co-creating innovative solutions aimed at bridging the gender health gap. Finally, a significant aspect of our mission is to raise public awareness about the life science industry, highlighting its importance and impact on society. Through these efforts, HackHERHealth aims to empower participants and foster a broader understanding and engagement with health and life sciences.

The “Winners” of HackHERHealth will receive:

• Monetary Prize: A significant financial reward to support and advance their projects.
• Mentorship Opportunity: Optional, personalized mentorship from professionals at AZ/BVH, CoAx, and DAYA accelerator programs, tailored to the winners’ specific interests.
• Conference Attendance: Tickets to GAIA 2025, a leading artificial intelligence conference, for networking and showcasing their work.
• Trophy: A commemorative statue recognizing their achievement and excellence in HackHERHealth.

Participation is entirely free and open to individuals from all countries.

All event times are Central European Time (CET) until the 31st of March 2024. From the 1st of April, the event times will follow the Central European Summer Time (CEST).

Participants must be at least 18 years old to take part.

To join HackHERHealth, participants must form teams consisting of a minimum of two (2) and a maximum of five (5) members. Individual participation is not permitted.

We encourage teams to ensure a good diversity in backgrounds and skills with team members.

Prizes must be accepted as presented and cannot be refunded or exchanged for cash.

Please be aware that individuals who are residents or domiciled in any country where participation is prohibited by applicable law, or the laws of the European Union, are not permitted to participate.

By taking part in HackHERHealth, you acknowledge your agreement to these Terms and Conditions, as well as to the AstraZeneca/Health Innovation West Privacy Notice accessible here and the Pristine Agency Privacy Policy located here, which collectively constitute the HackHERHealth Terms and Conditions.

SUBMISSIONS GUIDELINES

The guidelines for submitting your work during the hackathon are outlined in the Hack Guide, which is exclusively accessible to registered participants of HackHERHealth.

NUMBER OF ELIGIBLE TEAMS

In case of a high number of correctly registered teams, the Hackathon Organisers reserve the right to perform a pre-selection of eligible teams. The details on this pre-selection process will be disclosed to the teams directly on Eventornado in due time.

HACKHERHEALTH CHALLENGES

The following HackHERHealth challenges are envisaged:

Challenge 1: Empowering Women’s Health: Tackling Obesity Across Life Stages

Explore cutting-edge solutions aimed at enhancing the management of obesity in women, considering the unique health challenges they face, including those associated with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) and the post-menopausal period. Our goal is to develop comprehensive strategies that empower women with GDM to lower their risk of Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), as well as to devise flexible weight management plans that cater to the needs of women during the post-menopausal years, where hormonal changes and lifestyle factors play a significant role. By focusing on these pivotal life stages, we aim to foster better health outcomes for women by providing support that is tailored to their individual health journeys and the specific challenges posed by obesity.

Challenge 2: Advancing Accessibility & Precision of Diagnosis for Neurodivergent Girls

Develop strategies and tools to improve the identification, diagnosis, and support of autistic and ADHDer girls. This includes increasing awareness of clinical presentations of ASD and ADHD in young women and girls and addressing the gender biases preventing diagnosis. Further, it is important to find new tools to identify masking behaviours and to aid healthcare professionals to find the root cause of co-occurring conditions such as anxiety and depression. Alternatively, you may instead choose to creatively design a solution to support autistic and ADHDer women to better manage their conditions.

Challenge 3: Enhancing Support and Continuity of Care for Pregnant Patients in Sweden

Develop strategies and tools to ensure consistent and accessible support for pregnant patients throughout their pregnancy and postpartum period. This involves addressing the fragmentation of care within the Swedish healthcare system, improving access to reliable information, and mitigating language barriers for non-Swedish speaking patients. Additionally, explore innovative solutions to provide the level of support offered by doulas to every pregnant patient, aiming to enhance their overall care experience and improve labour outcomes.

Challenge 4: Transforming Healthcare’s Role in Preventing Intimate Partner Violence

In a recent report by the World Health Organization, Intimate Partner Violence is described as a major public health problem warranting a health sector response. Aid women subjected to violence by using innovative solutions to remove barriers to health sector response. Think creatively to enhance training for healthcare professionals, implementing routine screening protocols, expanding access to specialised resources and services, and fostering collaboration between healthcare institutions and external support services.

Challenge 5: Wildcard – Your Pioneering Idea for Closing the Gender Health Gap

Embark on a journey to address gender health disparities with your unique ideas. Whether it’s a novel approach to healthcare, a technological innovation, or a transformative research endeavour, your vision could be crucial in closing the gender health gap. Your creativity and insight are essential in tackling the distinctive health challenges faced by different genders. Together, let’s forge a more equitable and healthier future for all.

PROOF OF CONCEPT

Throughout HackHERHealth, participants will be tasked with presenting a “Proof of Concept” (POC) for inventive solutions aimed at tackling one of the 5 hackathon categories.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

FIRST ROUND OF EVALUATION (TOTAL OF 50 POINTS):

The initial round of evaluation will occur “offline” from 15 April to 17 April (CEST).

After the HackHERHealth hackathon weekend, a rigorous evaluation process will commence to select the top 3 ideas for a re-pitch at the Award Ceremony on April 19th. This post-hackathon review, conducted by offline judges, will meticulously assess each team’s deliverables, which include a 3-minute recorded pitch, a preliminary business plan, and a proof-of-concept for their proposed tool or app.

To streamline the evaluation criteria into more overarching categories, each worth up to 10 points, the following simplified framework will be adopted:

• Relevance and Impact (10 points): Assessing how well the solution addresses the HackHERHealth challenges, its potential to create value in reducing the gender health gap, and its real impact in terms of behavioural change.
• Innovation and Creativity (10 points): Evaluating the uniqueness of the idea, the creativity in its approach, and the novelty in using data to deliver innovative solutions.
• Technical Feasibility and Maturity (10 points): Considering the technical viability of the idea, alongside the developmental stage of the solution, from concept to a minimum viable product or further.
• Presentation Creativity and User Engagement (10 points): This criterion focuses on the originality and creativity in idea presentation, utilizing effective visualization for clear, engaging communication that appeals to a wide audience.
• Implementation and Growth Plan (10 points): Reviewing the roadmap for user uptake, including the efficiency and actionability of the idea, and adherence to project deadlines.
• Prototype Development [OPTIONAL] (Up to 10 points): Evaluating the functionality and practical demonstration of an early-stage prototype, showcasing the core features and potential of the solution.

In the “Participant Evaluation” stage, each team will view and rank the pitches of their fellow participants. Teams will choose their top three ideas, and these selections will contribute additional points to the overall evaluation. The highest-ranked idea receives 10 points, with the points decreasing to 1 for the tenth-ranked idea. This process ensures that peer opinions are considered in the overall assessment, adding an extra dimension to the evaluation criteria.

SECOND ROUND OF EVALUATION (TOTAL OF 50 POINTS):

In the revised format of the “Second Round of Evaluation,” participation in the Awards Ceremony is mandatory for all teams. This live event, scheduled for 15:00 CEST on 19 April, will spotlight the six highest-scoring teams from the first evaluation round. These elite teams will have the unique opportunity to present their ideas once again, this time to a larger audience and the panel of judges. During this session, both the audience and judges can engage with the teams through questions, providing a dynamic and interactive evaluation process. The responses and presentations in this round are crucial, as they contribute additional points, ultimately determining the teams that will secure the coveted top three positions. After all points are assigned, the jury will establish the rankings for the top 3 teams, which will qualify for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards, respectively.

PRIZE POOL

The top three teams of HackHERHealth, each consisting of up to three members, will be awarded an exciting array of prizes. These rewards are designed to not only acknowledge their achievements but also to provide substantial support for the further development of their projects. The prizes include:

• Monetary Prize: Each winning team will receive a significant financial reward, offering a substantial boost to advance their innovative health solutions. Total prize value is equal to 10,000$.
• Mentorship Opportunity: Winners will have the chance to engage in a personalized mentorship program. This unique opportunity will be provided by industry professionals from AZ/BVH, CoAx, and DAYA accelerator programs, tailored to the specific needs and interests of each winning team.
• Conference Attendance: The winners will receive tickets to GAIA 2025, a prominent machine learning conference.
• Trophy: In recognition of their exceptional contribution to HackHERHealth, each winning team will be honoured with a commemorative statue, symbolizing their achievement and excellence in the field.

Prizes must be accepted as awarded and cannot be refunded or exchanged for cash.

LANGUAGE OF THE SUBMISSIONS

Entries must be submitted in English. Submissions in other languages will not be accepted.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Participants retain ownership of their background knowledge used during the Hackathon. The foreground knowledge developed is subject to a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license, with the right to use granted to HackHERHealth organizers.

Intellectual property (IP) generated by participants during HackHERHealth remains their sole property. This includes any concepts, designs, processes, or prototypes developed during the event. HackHERHealth does not claim ownership over any participant-developed projects. Participants are responsible for safeguarding their own IP rights, including seeking patents or copyrights as necessary. By participating, individuals and teams accept these terms regarding IP ownership and protection.

PRIVACY POLICY (PP)

By participating in HackHERHealth, you acknowledge and consent to the AstraZeneca privacy policy located here and to the Pristine Agency privacy policy located here.

When registering on Eventornado (Controller):

• Your personal data will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons regarding the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices, and agencies, as well as on the free movement of such data.
• Your personal data will be processed to provide you with information about HackHERHealth (before, during, and after), and to process your application for participation in HackHERHealth.
• Processors are AstraZeneca and Pristine Agency OÜ, who will be responsible for producing, managing, and coordinating the platform and the event, facilitating communication with and interaction between participants/ mentor/judges. Both processors follow the PP of the Controller”
• Both processors follow the PP of the Controller.
• The data will be retained if the participant maintains an account on the hackathon platform. In the event of participant inactivity, the information will be either deleted or anonymized within 24 months after their last user session, and access will be restricted on a “need-to-see” basis.
• The personal data processed during HackHERHealth will not be shared outside the European Union. In the rare event that data transfer to third-party servers becomes necessary, standard data protection clauses issued by the European Commission will be applied for the transfer of personal data to processors established in third countries.

MEDIA RECORDING AND USAGE

During the HackHERHealth event, photographs, video recordings, and audio recordings will be taken. By participating in this event, you consent to the use of these recordings by HackHERHealth and its affiliates for follow-up activities and future promotional materials. These materials may be used in various media formats, including but not limited to websites, social media, print, and presentations. If you do not wish to be recorded or have specific preferences regarding the usage of these materials, please notify the event organizers in advance.

LIABILITY

The Hackathon Organisers have the full authority to modify, extend, shorten, or cancel HackHERHealth as they see fit without incurring any liability to the participants. The Hackathon Organisers also reserve the right to disqualify any participant or team that fails to comply with these Terms and Conditions or engages in behaviour deemed inappropriate by the Hackathon Organisers.

The Hackathon Organisers are not liable for:

• lost, delayed, or misdirected submissions;
• electronic transmission errors;
• heft, alteration, or unauthorized access to submissions;
• technical issues or errors in hardware or software necessary for submission transmission or HackHERHealth procedures, including computer viruses, bugs, unauthorized access, frauds, Internet or website overload, or any combination thereof, or other causes beyond the Hackathon Organisers’ control.

In the event of any of the above occurrences, the Hackathon Organisers reserve the right, at their sole discretion, to adjust, postpone, cancel HackHERHealth, or take any other appropriate action, including disqualifying any participant responsible for the issues. The Hackathon Organisers reserve the right to seek damages and take any available measures against such participants.

Participants who are employees of corporations, government agencies, or academic institutions are responsible for ensuring their participation complies with their respective organization’s policies. If the Hackathon Organisers suspect a participant has violated internal policies, they reserve the right to prohibit that participant from participating further. The Hackathon Organisers are not liable for disputes between a participant and their employer regarding participation in HackHERHealth.

These Terms and Conditions will be governed by, performed, and interpreted in accordance with the laws of Sweden, without consideration of conflict or choice of law principles. The parties agree that any future disputes regarding the interpretation, execution, or resolution of agreements related to HackHERHealth will be under the exclusive authority of the Court of Stockholm.

All matters regarding the construction, validity, interpretation, and enforceability of these Terms and Conditions, as well as the rights and obligations of the participants and the Hackathon Organisers concerning HackHERHealth, will be governed by, and construed in accordance with the laws of the Court of Stockholm, Sweden.

OTHER GENERAL CLAUSES

The Hackathon Organisers retain the right to verify the validity of submissions and their compliance with these Terms and Conditions. They also reserve the right to disqualify any participant who interferes with the entry process or submits an entry that does not adhere to these Terms and Conditions. Late or misdirected submissions will not be accepted.

In the event of war, terrorism, economic sanctions, riots, fires, natural disasters, or any other state of emergency or act of God, the Hackathon Organisers reserve the right to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend HackHERHealth, or take any other action they deem appropriate, without any liability.

CONTACT EMAIL

hackherhealth@healthinnovationwest.se

MODIFICATION OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The Hackathon Organisers retain the right to modify these Terms and Conditions, including adding and/or removing any provisions, at any time (including before and during HackHERHealth), for any reason and in any manner they deem appropriate.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNERS

The winners of HackHERHealth will be announced during the Awards Ceremony on 19 April 2024.