The Data Lab

The Data Lab Community announces a new data visualisation competition

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Ready to submit your entry? Complete the Data Visualisation Competition Project Submission Form

Submit my Data Visualisation

The Data Lab Community’s Data Visualisation Competition has landed! We’re looking for everyone from seasoned data visualisers who know D3 and Tableau like the back of their hands to those looking to dip their toes into this exciting craft for the first time. Entering the challenge will allow you to take your skills to the next level, demonstrate your abilities and raise your profile in front of a global data and AI community.   

The winner will be announced live at Data Summit 2023 and receive a prize package worth over £1,000.

All shortlisted entries will have their work exhibited to over 500 data and AI professionals at Data Summit.  

If you think you are up for the challenge, you’ll have five weeks to craft your project to be in with a chance of winning. 

What is the data visualisation competition? 

We are looking for entrants to create a data visualisation on the topic of “Community”. Community in this sense could refer to any group with commonality around things like (but not limited) to: 

  • Place (e.g. street, neighbourhood, village, town, country) 
  • Interests 
  • Culture 
  • Religion 
  • Values 
  • Customs 
  • Identity 

We’ve deliberately made the theme broad, to allow you to interpret it how you want, and to think about what ‘Community’ means to you.

You’ll need to find an appropriate dataset (or datasets) to explore the topic and develop the most interesting visualisation. Show us the trends, tell us how they relate to one another and craft a compelling narrative from the data. 

Some excellent repositories of Open Data include FiveThirtyEight, Open Data Scotland, UK Data Service, The World Bank, Data.Gov. Have a browse and find the data that helps you tell your community-inspired story! 

How will the competition be judged?  

Our expert team of judges will evaluate the data visualisations based on three main criteria:  

Communication: Entries should be clear, concise, engaging and impactful, with creative and innovative visualisation concepts to communicate the competition’s theme. 

Design: The design of the visualisation should be visually appealing, easy to read and interpret, and should incorporate appropriate colours, fonts, and visual elements. 

Accessibility: Visualisations should be as inclusive as possible with accessibility in mind. Submissions relating to people or groups should consider equitable representation. 

Entrants must appropriately credit their data sources and should use reliable sources. If you are creating your own data source, please briefly describe how you have sourced the data.    

All entries will be judged on the above criteria by our panel of industry experts with years of experience in data analysis, visualisation, and accessibility. More info on judges is coming soon! 

What is the prize? 

The winner will receive: 

The winner will also receive the (optional) opportunity to speak at Data Summit 2023 or a Data Lab Community event. 

2nd and 3rd place will receive: 

  • 1x ticket to attend Data Summit 2023 in Edinburgh 
  • 1x annual premium membership to The Data Lab Community 

All shortlisted entries will have their work exhibited at Data Summit 2023. 

How can I enter? 

Once you have completed your Data Visualisation project, please complete the Project Submission Form. Your work should be submitted as an HTML file, however if you prefer, you can upload your visualisation as a PDF file, however any interactivity in your visualisation will be lost.  

In addition, we would ask that you also upload a (max 3 minutes long) video presenting your data visualisation. We recommend using Loom or Zoom to record your video. In the video please clearly take the judges through the visualisation. This is your opportunity to communicate the narrative you hope to convey. 

Video presentations will be used to assist in judging only and will not be shared publicly. 

Please submit your entry by completing this Data Visualisation Competition Project Submission Form

Terms and Conditions of Entry

  • Entries are open to members of The Data Lab Community. If you are not a member, it’s easy and free to join. Sign up to The Data Lab Community here. 
  • The competition will close at 23:59 on Wednesday 11th October 2023, any entries received after this time will not be accepted. 
  • The competition winners will be contacted on Wednesday 25th October 2023.
  • Groups are permitted to enter; however, any prizes will be awarded to the lead submitter. It is then up to your group how any prize is shared. Groups must be made up of individuals and cannot be an organisation.  
  • You must find your own datasets. Any datasets used must be cited.  
  • All work submitted to The Data Lab must be your own and must not breach the rights of any third party, including intellectual property rights and data protection. 
  • By entering you give The Data Lab the non-exclusive right to publish your work and/or excerpts of it (e.g., social media, website, emails etc.). You agree that The Data Lab may, but is not required to, make your entry available on its social media, websites or other media in connection with the competition. 
  • The decision of The Data Lab as to who has won the competition is final. 
  • The Data Lab reserves the right to hold void, suspend, cancel or amend the competition where it becomes necessary to do so. 

Competition Privacy Statement

  • The Data Lab will process your name and contact details for the purpose of enabling you to enter the competition and communicate about it with you.  
  • The Data Lab may make public your name in connection with your work and / or in relation to announcing you as the winner. This is on the basis of our legitimate interests, those interests being that we wish to publicise this competition and give credit to entrants / the winner. Please contact The Data Lab Community by email to community@thedatalab.com if you would not like your name to be announced / published. 
  • For further information as to how personal data is processed in connection with The Data Lab Community, please see the privacy notice.