Web Summit Qatar 2026

Introduction

1. These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern your participation in the Al Jazeera Media Network “Next-Gen Newsroom” Discovery 2026 Challenge (the “Competition”) occurring during the following two (2) Web Summit events in 2026: Web Summit Qatar 2026 and Web Summit Lisbon 2026 (each an “Event” and together the “Events”). The Events are organised by Web Summit LLC and/or its local affiliates (“Web Summit” or “Event Organiser”). Each Event is a ticketed industry conference; attendees must hold a valid Event Ticket (defined below) to attend. The Competition is a single competition run across multiple Events, with one Winner (further defined in paragraph 28) selected from all eligible entries received across all Events.
2. The Competition is organized and operated by Al Jazeera Media Network (“Al Jazeera” “AJMN,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). The Competition is independent of, and not organised, endorsed or administered by, Web Summit. The Events serve solely as venues at which the Competition is communicated and entries solicited. Web Summit has no role in the administration, judging or awarding of the Competition.
3. By registering for, participating in, or submitting any materials to the Competition, you (“Participant,” “Entrant”, “you,” or “your”) acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms in their entirety. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not participate in the Competition.

Eligibility Requirements

4. The Competition is open exclusively to Entrants that represent a start-up, development team or technology organisation (each a “Start-up”), provided that the Entrant (being either the Start-up itself, where it is a duly incorporated legal entity, or an individual participant associated with that Start-up) is the holder of a valid Event Ticket (defined below) for at least one of the Events in the category of start-ups and developers. Every entry must be made by an Entrant acting on behalf of a single identified Start-up, and the relevant Start-up must be clearly identified in the entry. The entry limit in clause 8A applies per Start-up (and not per Entrant), and any prize shall be awarded to the Start-up identified in the entry (with the Entrant warranting that it has authority to submit the entry on behalf of, and to receive any prize for, that Start-up).

4A.  In these Terms, “Event Ticket” means any valid ticket, pass, badge or credential in the category of start-ups or developers (whether purchased, complimentary, exhibitor, media, speaker, sponsor or otherwise) that entitles the holder to attend an Event. The fact that an Event Ticket may have been purchased does not constitute consideration for entry to the Competition; the Event Ticket is for admission to the Event only, and entry to the Competition is free and independent of the price (if any) paid for the Event Ticket. For the avoidance of doubt, holding multiple Event Tickets (whether by the Start-up, one or more Entrants associated with it, or any combination of them) does not entitle a Start-up to be the subject of more than one entry.

5. All individual entrants (and, where the entrant is a corporate entity, the individual submitting the entry on its behalf) must be at least of the age of majority in their respective jurisdiction as at their time of entry.
6. The Competition is not open to employees, contractors, or agencies of AJMN, its affiliates, their immediate family members, or anyone else directly connected with the administration of the Competition.
7. Each Entrant (and the Start-up it represents) must have the technical capacity to deliver cloud-based AI solutions, must have full legal capacity to enter into binding contracts under applicable law, and must complete the Competition registration process with accurate, complete, and current information, including identifying the Start-up on whose behalf the entry is submitted.
8. You must comply with all applicable laws and regulations. If participating as part of a team of individuals, all team members must individually meet these eligibility requirements, and the team must designate a single Start-up under which the entry is submitted.

8A.  Only one (1) entry per Start-up may be submitted across all Events, irrespective of (i) the number of Entrants, founders, employees, contractors or team members associated with that Start-up, (ii) the number of Event Tickets held by the Start-up or any such persons, and (iii) the number of Events for which such Event Tickets are valid. Where two or more entries are received from, or on behalf of, the same Start-up (including entries submitted by different individuals associated with the same Start-up, or entries covering what AJMN considers to be substantially the same Solution (defined below)), AJMN may in its sole discretion (a) treat all such entries as a single entry, (b) require the Start-up to nominate which entry will stand and disregard the others, or (c) disqualify all such entries. Whether two or more Entrants are associated with the same Start-up, and whether multiple entries constitute one and the same Solution, will be determined in the sole discretion of AJMN and/or its judging panel.

9. AJMN may request evidence of eligibility (including evidence of the relationship between any Entrant and the Start-up on whose behalf the entry is submitted) and reserves the right to disqualify any Entrant (and the associated Start-up) who does not meet, or whom AJMN reasonably suspects does not meet, these eligibility requirements, or whom AJMN reasonably considers has submitted, or attempted to submit, more than one entry per Start-up in breach of clause 8A.

Competition Entry, Submission Requirements and Judging Criteria

10. To enter the Competition, entrants must first select one of the seven (7) targeted innovation areas listed in Paragraph 11 (the “Targeted Innovation Areas”) and submit their full solution concept for the selected area (the “Solution”) in accordance with these Terms. The Solution must (i) comply with the Technical Requirements in Paragraph 12; and (ii) include the Submission Materials required in Paragraph 13.
11. The Targeted Innovation Areas are:

• AI in News Gathering & Publishing, including story discovery, research assistance, briefing generation, metadata tagging, headline and summary support, and multi-platform publishing workflows.
• Verification, Knowledge & Editorial Support, including transcript analysis, source clustering, meeting and pitch triage, archive search, internal knowledge retrieval, and context-aware newsroom assistants.
• Sentiment, Audience & Performance Analysis, including audience segmentation, engagement forecasting, topic resonance, and editorial feedback loops.
• Brand Awareness & Media Intelligence, including competitor monitoring, entity tracking, narrative mapping, and reputational insight.
• Trending News & Signal Detection, including early detection of emerging stories, anomalies, cross-platform trend tracking, and alerting for editorial teams.
• Multilingual and Cross-Format Content Adaptation, including translation support, platform-specific rewrites, social copy generation, subtitles, clip summaries, and text-to-audio or video derivative workflows.
• Newsroom Workflow Automation & Orchestration, including AI agents that help coordinate tasks, surface bottlenecks, centralize notes, and connect disconnected systems in governed, auditable ways.

12. All Solutions must comply with the following technical requirements (the “Technical Requirements”):

• Cloud-Native Architecture: Solutions must be cloud-native and designed for enterprise-scale deployment. Google Cloud Platform (“GCP”) is the preferred cloud provider, though Solutions may be designed for multi-cloud or cloud-agnostic deployment with appropriate justification.
• Scalability and Performance: Solutions must demonstrate the ability to scale to handle Al Jazeera’s global news operations, including high-volume data processing, real-time analytics, and concurrent user access.
• Security and Compliance: Solutions must implement appropriate security controls, data protection measures, and comply with industry best practices for media and journalism applications. Compliance with EU AI Act, General Data Protection Regulation, Qatar’s Personal Data Privacy Protection Law (“PDPPL”) and international data protection standards is required.
• Integration and Deployment Capabilities: Integration and deployment requirements depend on the Solution’s delivery model. For Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions, Solutions must expose well-documented RESTful APIs (and, where applicable, webhooks) to enable seamless integration with Al Jazeera’s existing technical infrastructure and editorial workflows. For self-hosted or deployable Solutions, Solutions must be containerized using Docker and packaged as a Helm chart, accompanied by a deployment and user guide, so that Al Jazeera can deploy and evaluate the Solution within its own internal environment.
• Documentation Standards: All technical documentation must follow professional standards, including comprehensive API documentation, deployment guides, system architecture documentation, and operational runbooks.

13. The Solutions must include a Minimum Viable Product (“MVP”), functional prototype, or existing product together with as many of the following materials as possible and any other documentation referenced on the Competition Landing Page and/or the Entry Portal (defined below) (the “Submission Materials”):

• Complete source code and technical documentation, including a list of all open source or third party materials used in conjunction with the Submission Materials, including the appropriate licenses therefor;
• Architecture diagrams illustrating system design and component relationships;
• Data flow maps showing information processing and integration points;
• A video demonstration showcasing the Solution’s functionality and user experience;
• Written description of the use case, including problem statement, proposed Solution, technical approach, and anticipated impact on journalism workflows.
• Access credentials (including usernames and passwords) to the proposed Solution to enable AJMN or its judging panel to review and test its functionality and capabilities.

13A.  Submission Material Requirements:

• Submission Materials must be provided in the English language and clearly identify whether the Solution is an MVP, functional prototype or existing product;
• Submission Materials must not contain material that violates or infringes another’s rights, including but not limited to privacy, publicity, or intellectual property rights, or that constitutes infringement;
• Submission Materials must not contain any confidential, proprietary, or trade secret information;
• Submission Materials must be original work created by the Entrant and must not contain content created by a third party unless Entrant has a license that allows use of the materials and can provide evidence of said license to AJMN;
• Submission Materials may not be auto-generated or created solely using artificial intelligence or machine learning programs;
• Submission Materials previously submitted in other contests are not eligible for entry in this Competition;
• Submission Materials may not feature identifiable images of any person other than the Entrant;
• Submission Materials must not disparage Al Jazeera or any other person or party affiliated with the Competition, must not contain material that is inappropriate, indecent, obscene, hateful, tortuous, defamatory, slanderous, derogatory, or libelous or that promotes bigotry, racism, hatred, or harm against any group or individual, or promotes discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age;
• Submission Materials must not contain material that is unlawful, in violation of, or contrary to the laws or regulations in any country, state, province or locality where the Submission Materials are created.
• Documentation, architecture diagrams, and PDFs, up to 5 files (64 MB max each) are permitted
• External links for code repos (Github/Gitlab) and video demonstration (YouTube, Vimeo or google drive) are permitted

 

AJMN reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any Solution where the Submission Materials violate the Submission Material Requirements or otherwise do not comply with the requirements of these Terms and Conditions.

14. AJMN’s technical committee will evaluate eligible submissions based on the evaluation criteria, which shall be weighted equally, listed below (the “Evaluation Criteria”):

• Operational Relevance: How well the Solution aligns with real business priorities and core operational functions (beyond just editorial needs).
• Technical Solidity: The strength of the underlying architecture, the sophistication of AI capabilities used, the richness of functions, and the quality of the cloud-based design.
• Problem-Solution Fit: The ability to clearly pitch and demonstrate a business need and prove exactly how the Solution bridges that gap.
• Maturity of Solution: The readiness of the MVP or Product for deployment (functionality vs. concept).

In case of a tie, the Solution with the highest score in the Technical Solidity category will be selected. AJMN may request additional information, demonstrations, or clarifications from any Participant.

15. Entrants should submit their entries using the online entry form and complete all required fields of the entry form which can be found at: Next-Gen Newsroom Discovery Challenge – Al Jazeera Commercial (the “Entry Portal”). Entries submitted via any other means will not be accepted.
16. Submissions must be made strictly in accordance with these Terms and with any additional instructions, criteria, or requirements set out on the Competition landing page, the Entry Portal, and/or any supplementary rules, FAQs or guidelines issued by AJMN from time to time. In the event of any inconsistency, AJMN will determine which provisions prevail.
17. All entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. (Qatar time), 8:59 p.m. (Portugal time) on 12 November 2026 (the “Closing Date”). The Closing Date is a single deadline applicable to all Events. AJMN reserves the right to extend, bring forward, or otherwise vary the Closing Date and any other Competition deadline at any time without liability.
18. AJMN is not responsible for entries that are lost, delayed, misdirected, incomplete, corrupted, not properly submitted, or cannot be delivered or entered for any reason (including technical failures of any kind). Proof of sending or submission shall not be deemed proof of receipt. AJMN is under no obligation to acknowledge or return entries. In the event of a dispute regarding the identity of the person submitting an Entry, the Entry will be deemed to be submitted by the person in whose name the e-mail account is registered.
19. Entries and where applicable presentations must be the sole original work of the entrant or entrant’s team and must not have been previously published or submitted in substantially the same form in any other competition or to any other organization. Any evidence of plagiarism or misappropriation may result in immediate disqualification from the Competition.
20. Incomplete entries, entries on behalf of another person (unless properly authorized corporate representatives or group submissions), and joint entries by unrelated entities will not be accepted. Only one entry per Start-up (across all Events) may be submitted, as set out in clause 8A.
21. By submitting any Solution or Submission Materials in connection with the Competition, you grant AJMN and its affiliates a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence (with the right to sublicense to AJMN’s service providers acting on its behalf) to host, store, access, reproduce, display, perform, and otherwise use the Submission Materials for the purposes of: (a) administering, operating and promoting the Competition; (b) reviewing, testing and evaluating the Submission Materials; and (c) verifying compliance with these Terms. For Participants who are not selected as the Winner, this evaluation licence will automatically terminate once AJMN has completed the evaluation process and deleted the relevant Submission Materials from its systems in accordance with its data retention and destruction policies, save to the extent retention is required by applicable law, regulation, or legitimate record-keeping or backup practices.

Competition Structure and Stages

22. The Competition comprises the following stages:

Stage 1 – Solution Submission and Initial Screening: Entrants must submit their solutions and required documentation via the Entry Portal by the Closing Date.

Stage 2 – Technical Evaluation: AJMN’s technical committee will evaluate eligible submissions based on the Evaluation Criteria in paragraph 14, above.

Stage 3 – Online Presentation Stage: AJMN’s technical committee will select a shortlist of up to five (5) Entrants from across all Events whose submissions best fit the Evaluation Criteria (the “Finalists”). Finalists will be invited to present their Solutions via online video conference in December 2026 (the “Presentation Stage”). No presentations or pitches will take place at any of the Events. The Events are used solely for communication purposes.

22A.  The Competition is a single competition with one (1) Winner. All eligible entries received across both Events will be assessed together against the same Evaluation Criteria by the same judging panel. There is no separate prize, shortlist or winner for any individual Event.

22B.  Any activities, demonstrations, workshops, talks or presentations conducted by or on behalf of AJMN at any Event are solely for information and awareness purposes. They do not form part of the Competition judging process and participation in them is not a condition of entry, nor does participation or non-participation affect the assessment of any entry.

22C.  The Presentation Stage will be conducted online via video conference. AJMN will provide Finalists with reasonable advance notice of the date, time (accounting for Finalists’ time zones where practicable), video conference platform and link, and any technical requirements. Each Finalist is responsible for ensuring adequate internet connectivity, a suitable environment, and any equipment necessary to participate. AJMN will use reasonable efforts to accommodate technical difficulties but is not obliged to reschedule a Presentation due to a Finalist’s connectivity or equipment failure. AJMN may record presentations for internal and/or judging purposes in accordance with applicable law.

23. To the maximum extent permitted by law, AJMN reserves the right to acting reasonably, in good faith, and where necessary: (a) vary the number of stages or their format; (b) introduce additional evaluation steps or mentoring sessions; (c) change any dates, locations, or modalities (including moving any stage to an online or hybrid format); and (d) determine whether and how many entries advance between stages.

23A.  AJMN ensures that material changes are communicated through the official Competition channels.

Notification of Finalists and Attendance at Online Presentation Stage

24. Finalists will be notified on or before 3 December 2026 using the contact details provided during registration. AJMN may choose any reasonable method of communication including email, telephone or messaging. Prior to this stage, Finalists will be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (“NDA”) and may be granted access to internal data samples for preparation of their Presentation Stage submission. Execution of the NDA in the form provided by AJMN is a condition of progressing to the final.
25. Finalists will be required to confirm their availability for the online Presentation Stage by no later than 11:59 (Doha time) on Monday 7 December 2026. If a Finalist cannot be contacted, fails to respond, declines to participate, or does not confirm availability by the deadline, AJMN may, in its sole discretion, disqualify that Finalist and select a replacement from the remaining eligible entrants based on the Evaluation Criteria or elect to proceed with fewer Finalists.
26. AJMN will use reasonable efforts to keep the Presentation Stage date, time and video conference details but reserves the right to change any of these details at any time. AJMN will provide the video conference link and technical requirements in advance. AJMN shall not be obliged to reschedule or adjust the Presentation Stage to accommodate any individual Finalist’s availability.
27. No travel is required for the Presentation Stage. Finalists participate remotely via video conference.

Winner Selection and Implementation Commitment

28. The winner of the Competition (the “Winner”) will be selected from among the Finalists by a judging panel constituted by AJMN using the Evaluation Criteria set out in paragraph 14. The Winner will be announced at Web Summit Qatar 2027 and on the Competition website (or at such other time and in such manner as AJMN may determine).
29. As a condition of receiving the entire Award Package (defined below), the Winner must be able to commit to a three to six (3–6) month implementation engagement with AJMN commencing on a date to be agreed (the “Implementation Engagement”).
30. The Implementation Engagement will require the Winner to provide appropriate developer and technical resources to work collaboratively with AJMN’s technical team to bring the winning Solution from its current state to production deployment within the agreed timescale. The specific allocation of resources and time commitment will be agreed between the parties, but must be sufficient, in AJMN’s reasonable opinion, to achieve production-ready status within the agreed timeframe.
31. The Implementation Engagement will include, without limitation: refinement of features based on AJMN’s requirements, integration with existing systems, security hardening, performance optimization, user training, completion of documentation and transfer of intellectual property rights to AJMN.
32. The Implementation Contract will set out the specific deliverables, milestones, the value of each milestone payment and a milestone payment schedule (each a “Milestone”), timelines, acceptance criteria, and other agreed commercial terms governing the Winner’s performance of the Implementation Engagement during a period currently expected to be approximately three to six (3–6) months from the date of the Implementation Contract (the “Implementation Period”). The Milestones, the value of each Milestone payment and the order in which they fall due shall be determined by AJMN (acting reasonably and, where practicable, in consultation with the Winner) and recorded in the Implementation Contract and any associated statement of work (“SOW“). AJMN reserves the right to define, reorder, add to or amend Milestones (and the value attributable to each) at any time prior to execution of the Implementation Contract, and thereafter only in accordance with the change‑control mechanism set out in the Implementation Contract.
33. If the Winner fails, refuses, or is unable to (i) sign the Implementation Contract within the required timeframe; or (ii) deliver the Implementation Engagement (including without limitation where the Winner fails to achieve any Milestone in accordance with the Implementation Contract, persistent non-performance or material breach of the Implementation Contract), AJMN reserves the right to withhold, suspend, reduce, or reclaim all or any portion of the Second Stage Payment (defined below) and/or to select an alternate winner from among the Finalists or otherwise dispose of the Award Package in its discretion. AJMN further reserves the right to reclaim the First Stage Payment only in cases of fraud, willful misconduct, or material breach of these Terms or the Implementation Contract. Any amount of the First Stage Payment or any instalment of the Second Stage Payment that AJMN is entitled to reclaim under this paragraph 33 shall be recoverable from the Winner as a debt due on demand. 

The Award Package – Payment Structure and Conditions; Taxes

34. The Winner will receive a monetary prize of up to Twenty Thousand United States Dollars (USD $20,000) in aggregate (the “Award Package”), payable in two tranches (the First Stage Payment of USD $2,000 and the Second Stage Payment of USD $18,000), together with the opportunity to participate in the Implementation Engagement with AJMN, as described in paragraphs 29 to 32 above. The monetary component of the Award Package will be paid in two stages as follows:

(a)  First Stage – Announcement Payment: an amount of Two Thousand United States Dollars (USD $2,000) will be payable to the Winner following formal announcement of the Winner by AJMN, subject to the Winner having satisfied all eligibility requirements and complied with these Terms up to that point (the “First Stage Payment”). The First Stage Payment is not conditional on execution of the Implementation Contract but AJMN may withhold or delay payment if it reasonably believes that the Winner is in breach of these Terms or has provided false or misleading information.

(b)  Second Stage – Implementation Payment: an amount of Eighteen Thousand United States Dollars (USD $18,000) in aggregate (the “Second Stage Payment”), payable to the Winner in instalments against the Milestones, deliverables and acceptance criteria set out in the Implementation Contract and any associated SOW. No instalment of the Second Stage Payment shall fall due unless and until:

• the Implementation Contract, the IP assignment contemplated by paragraph 44 and the Winner declaration contemplated by paragraph 55B have each been duly executed and delivered to AJMN;
• the relevant Milestone has been achieved in accordance with the Implementation Contract and the associated SOW and acceptance criteria, and has been signed off in writing by AJMN’s judging panel (or such other internal approval body as AJMN may designate);
• the Winner has submitted to AJMN a valid legal invoice which must include: invoice number; invoice date; billing address; description of services; invoice amount; currency; and the Winner’s bank account details for the relevant instalment, together with any KYC, sanctions‑screening, anti‑bribery, beneficial‑ownership, tax certification, withholding form and self‑certification information reasonably required by AJMN; and
• in the case of the final instalment only, AJMN has confirmed in writing, in AJMN’s reasonable opinion, that the Solution has been successfully delivered and integrated into AJMN’s framework and that all Milestones have been satisfactorily met.

Where any Milestone is not achieved, is only partially achieved, or is achieved late, AJMN may, in its sole and absolute discretion (acting reasonably): (A) withhold the relevant instalment of the Second Stage Payment in whole or in part; (B) defer payment of the relevant instalment pending re‑performance by the Winner to AJMN’s satisfaction; (C) pay a reduced amount reflecting the value (if any) actually delivered to AJMN; and/or (D) terminate the Implementation Contract in accordance with its terms and decline to pay any unpaid balance of the Second Stage Payment, in each case without prejudice to AJMN’s other rights and remedies (including under paragraph 33).  Subject to satisfaction of the conditions in this paragraph 34(b), AJMN shall pay each instalment of the Second Stage Payment that has fallen due within sixty (60) days after the later of (x) AJMN’s written sign‑off of the relevant Milestone and (y) AJMN’s receipt of a valid invoice and the supporting information referred to in (iii) above.  All payments under this paragraph 34 shall be subject to the withholding tax provisions set out at paragraph 36, and AJMN shall be entitled to deduct or withhold any tax it is required by law to deduct or withhold from any sum payable to the Winner.  For the avoidance of doubt, no part of the Second Stage Payment is guaranteed; the Winner’s entitlement to each instalment is conditional on, and limited to, the value attributed to the relevant Milestone in the Implementation Contract.

35. Without prejudice to paragraph 34(b), if the conditions in paragraph 34(b) are not satisfied within the timelines or to the standards set out in the Implementation Contract (including where the Implementation Contract is terminated prior to AJMN’s final sign‑off), AJMN shall have no obligation to pay any instalment of the Second Stage Payment that has not, as at the date of termination or expiry, already fallen due in accordance with paragraph 34(b), and AJMN may in its sole and absolute discretion (acting reasonably) revise the Milestone schedule, reduce the value of any unpaid instalment, or decline to pay any unpaid balance of the Second Stage Payment.
36. The Winner acknowledges that, save for the First Stage Payment described in paragraph 34(a), the monetary component of the Award Package is conditional consideration linked to the Winner’s satisfactory performance under the Implementation Contract and that, to the maximum extent permitted by Law, AJMN is under no obligation to pay the Second Stage Payment unless and until the conditions in paragraph 34(b) are fulfilled, including achievement of the Milestones in accordance with paragraph 34(b) .
37. All amounts payable under the Award Package are stated gross of any applicable withholding, deduction or tax. AJMN shall be entitled to withhold from any instalment such amounts as it is required by law to withhold and shall account for those amounts to the relevant authority; the net amount remitted to the Winner shall constitute full and final discharge of AJMN’s obligation in respect of the relevant instalment. Any bank, intermediary, foreign‑exchange or similar charges shall be borne by the Winner. Without limiting the foregoing, the Winner acknowledges that tax treatment of prize income varies by jurisdiction and that the Winner is solely responsible for obtaining independent tax advice and for filing all required tax returns and paying all taxes due in the Winner’s jurisdiction(s) of tax residence.

Travel and Attendance

38. Participants are responsible for their own travel, accommodation, visas, insurance and all related expenses in connection with attending any Event. AJMN is not responsible for cancellations, delays, or changes to flights or travel arrangements, or for a Participant’s inability to attend any Event due to factors outside AJMN’s control. AJMN is not responsible for the availability, pricing or terms of Event Tickets, which are matters between the attendee and Web Summit. No travel is required for the Presentation Stage or any judging stage. Finalists participate remotely.
39. This Competition and any related engagement do not constitute and shall not be interpreted as any form of employment by AJMN of any Participant, Finalist, or Winner.

Publicity and Marketing

40. Without prejudice to any other rights granted under these Terms, you acknowledge and agree that AJMN and Web Summit may use your name, team name, company name, country of residence, job title, image, likeness, photograph, voice, biographical information and non-confidential elements of your Solution and Submission Materials for editorial, reporting, promotional, marketing and other purposes connected with the Competition and AJMN’s “Next-Gen Newsroom” initiative, in any media now known or hereafter developed, worldwide and for no additional compensation, to the extent permitted by applicable law. AJMN may, on reasonable notice, request that you participate in publicity or marketing activities relating to the Competition (including interviews, panel discussions, case studies, photo or video shoots and testimonials), and you agree to use reasonable endeavors to make yourself available for such activities, provided that AJMN will take reasonable account of your professional commitments and does not unreasonably interfere with your business operations.

Right to Modify, Suspend or Cancel

41. AJMN reserves the right, at any time and from time to time, to modify, suspend, or discontinue the Competition (in whole or in part), or any aspect of it, with prior notice, for reasonable motives, including but not limited to: fraud, technical or operational issues, force majeure events, insufficient number or quality of entries, or changes in business, legal or security conditions, to the extent permitted by applicable law. AJMN reserves the right to withdraw the Competition from any individual Event or jurisdiction if regulatory or operational conditions make it impracticable.
42. To the maximum extent permitted by law, AJMN also reserves the right to modify these Terms and any supplementary rules or guidelines at any time by posting updated Terms on the Competition website and notifying registered Participants where reasonably practicable. Continued participation in the Competition following any such modification shall constitute deemed acceptance of the modified Terms.

Intellectual Property Rights

43. “Submission Materials” include, without limitation, all code, software, models, documentation, designs, presentations, and other materials submitted or presented in connection with the Competition.
44. Upon being selected as the Winner and as a condition of being eligible for and accepting the Award Package, you will be required to, as part of the documentation contemplated by paragraphs 32 and 55B below, enter into a written assignment agreement through which you will irrevocably transfer, assign and convey to AJMN all of your right, title and interest in and to the Submission Materials comprising the winning Solution, including all associated intellectual property rights worldwide, for the full term of protection of such rights under applicable law, for all forms of exploitation and in all media now known or hereafter developed. This includes, without limitation (subject to any third party and open source licenses, all of which you agree you will comply with at all times), and to the maximum extent permitted by law:

• all source code and software components;
• all technical documentation and architecture;
• all AI models, algorithms and training data; and
• all copyrights, patents, trade secrets, trademarks, moral rights and other proprietary rights (to the extent permitted by applicable law).

45. You acknowledge that AJMN will have the unrestricted right (subject to any applicable law) to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, sublicense, sell, lease, perform, display and otherwise exploit the Winning Participant’s Submission Materials in any form, medium or technology now known or hereafter developed, worldwide and in perpetuity, to the extent permitted by applicable law. The Winner shall, at AJMN’s request and at AJMN’s cost, promptly do all such acts and execute all such documents as AJMN may reasonably require to give full effect to the assignment of intellectual property rights in the Winning Solution and the Submission Materials, including (without limitation) the execution of any assignment instruments, declarations, powers of attorney, applications, waivers of moral rights (to the extent permitted by applicable law), or other documents necessary or desirable to perfect, record or enforce AJMN’s rights in any jurisdiction.
46. To the maximum extent permitted by law, you irrevocably waive, in favor of AJMN, all moral rights (including rights of attribution and integrity) in the winning Submission Materials.
47. AJMN does not claim ownership of Submission Materials from Participants who are not selected as the Winner. Such materials will remain the property of the submitting Participant. However, by entering the Competition, you grant AJMN a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to access, review and evaluate your Submission Materials solely for the purposes of administering and judging the Competition. AJMN will delete non-winning Submission Materials from its systems within a reasonable period after the Competition, subject to AJMN’s legal, security and backup obligations.
48. To the extent your Solution or Submission Materials incorporate third-party components or pre-existing intellectual property (including open source software), you must ensure that you comply at all times during this Competition with appropriate disclosure, licensing and other applicable terms, and you confirm that your use of such components does not prevent AJMN from exercising its rights under these Terms.

Non-Disclosure and Confidentiality

49. Finalists (and any other Participants selected by AJMN) will be required to sign an NDA before receiving access to any AJMN confidential or proprietary information (including internal data samples).
50. Participants must treat all AJMN confidential information in accordance with the NDA and these Terms, and must not disclose or misuse any such information.

Judging and Winner Selection

51. Stage 1 submissions will be assessed by AJMN’s technical committee comprising a panel of technical experts. Stage 3 online Presentations will be evaluated by a single judging panel constituted by AJMN. All entries from all Events will be assessed together by the same panel.
52. Submissions will be evaluated against the Evaluation Criteria in paragraph 14 (together with any other criteria set out on the Competition landing page and in the Competition documentation), which may include (without limitation): functional demonstration, innovation, technical viability and architecture, scalability, security, alignment with the Targeted Innovation Areas, potential impact and value, user experience and quality of documentation.

52A.  The Competition is a challenge of skill. No element of chance, random selection, lottery, draw, or similar mechanism shall be used at any stage, including (without limitation) shortlisting, judging, tiebreaking, or winner selection. All decisions shall be based solely on the published Evaluation Criteria applied by the judging panel in the exercise of their professional judgment. This clause is a material term and AJMN shall not introduce any element of chance without amending these Terms and providing notice to all registered Participants. If any tie-breaking mechanism is required, it will be based on additional skill-based criteria determined by the judging panel. Thus, your odds of winning depend on the skill demonstrated by your participation, the judging panel’s decision in the exercise of their professional judgment, and the number of entrants (and their skill).

53. To the maximum extent permitted by Law, AJMN may adjust weightings or criteria at any time for operational or quality reasons, provided such changes do not materially undermine the fairness of the Competition.
54. To the maximum extent permitted by Law, all decisions by the technical committee, judging panel, and AJMN regarding eligibility, shortlisting, winner selection, disqualification, interpretation of these Terms and award of the prize are final and binding. AJMN is under no obligation to provide feedback or engage in correspondence with any Participant regarding such decisions.
55. AJMN reserves the right not to award any prize if, in its sole discretion, no submission meets the required standards or delivers sufficient value.

55B.  The Winner will be required to sign a written declaration confirming compliance with these Terms and a full liability, ownership and publicity release in the form provided by AJMN before any prize is awarded.

Data Protection and Privacy

56. AJMN will collect and process personal data about Participants as necessary to administer, evaluate and publicize the Competition and to conduct any subsequent Implementation Engagement. Such processing will be carried out in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including: (a) Qatar’s PDPPL and (b) the EU/EEA General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (as applicable to the Lisbon Event), and AJMN’s privacy notices.

56A.  AJMN will not share Entrant personal data with Web Summit or any Event organiser without the Entrant’s separate, informed consent.

57A.  Further details on the types of data collected, purposes of processing, data retention, data subject rights, international transfers and security measures are provided in the data protection section of the Competition documentation and/or AJMN’s published privacy notices, which form part of these Terms.

57B.  For the purposes of the GDPR, AJMN has appointed Al Jazeera Brussels, 1000 Bruxelles, Rue Archimède, 5, Belgium, as its EU/EEA representative under Article 27 GDPR. The representative may be contacted by post at the correspondence address above, marked for the attention of the Data Protection Officer. Any queries or data subject requests should be submitted electronically via the contact form at https://privacy.aljazeera.net/contact-us/.

57C.  Entrants may exercise their rights under applicable data protection law (including, but not limited to, rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, and objection as available under the law applicable to their jurisdiction) by contacting AJMN at the contact details in paragraph 71.

57D.  Where AJMN transfers personal data outside the jurisdiction in which it was collected, it will implement appropriate safeguards in accordance with applicable law (including, where required, EU Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent mechanisms). Participants are advised that their personal information may be stored, accessed, processed or transmitted to jurisdictions outside of their home jurisdiction, in accordance with AJMN’s privacy notices, including Qatar, and onward to other Jurisdictions. While your information is outside of your home jurisdiction, it is subject to the laws of the country in which it is held. As a result, your personal information may be subject to disclosure to the governments, courts, or law enforcement or regulatory agencies of such other country, pursuant to the local laws of that jurisdiction. Entrants may contact AJMN at the contact details in paragraph 71 to obtain a copy of the implemented safeguards (if applicable).

Limitation of Liability and Indemnity

58. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, AJMN and its affiliates shall not be liable for any indirect or consequential loss, loss of profits, or damage to goodwill arising out of or in connection with the Competition, your participation, or these Terms.
59. AJMN’s total aggregate liability to any Participant in connection with the Competition shall not exceed the aggregate amount actually paid to that Participant under the Award Package or, in the case of non-winners, one thousand US Dollars (USD 1,000), whichever is applicable, except where liability cannot be excluded or limited by law.
60. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless AJMN and its affiliates from and against any third-party claims and losses arising from your breach of these Terms, your Submission Materials (including IP infringement claims), or your unlawful or negligent acts or omissions.
61. Nothing in these Terms obliges AJMN to pay the Second Stage component of the Award Package if the conditions in paragraph 34(b) are not met, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

61A.  AJMN shall not be liable for any Participant’s inability to obtain or retain an Event Ticket, or for any Event being cancelled, postponed, or relocated by the Event organiser.

61B.  AJMN shall not be liable for any technical failure, interruption or degradation of the video conference platform used for the Presentation Stage, including (without limitation) failures of internet connectivity, audio, video, screen-sharing or recording functionality, whether arising from the platform provider, the Finalist’s equipment or network, or any other cause outside AJMN’s reasonable control.

Disqualification

62. To the maximum extent permitted by law, AJMN reserves the right, at any time and in its sole discretion, to disqualify any Participant who:

• breaches these Terms or any supplementary rules;
• provides false, misleading or incomplete information;
• engages in fraud, misconduct, or conduct which may bring AJMN or the Competition into disrepute;
• tampers with or attempts to tamper with the entry process or the operation of the Competition; or
• fails to execute required documentation (including the NDA or Implementation Contract) within the required timeframe.

Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

63. These Terms and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or the Competition (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Qatar.

63A.  Nothing in these Terms shall deprive any Entrant of the protection afforded by mandatory consumer-protection provisions of the jurisdiction in which the Entrant is habitually resident, to the extent that such provisions cannot be derogated from by agreement under applicable law (including, without limitation, mandatory consumer jurisdiction rights under EU Regulation 593/2008 (Rome I).

64. The parties shall first attempt to resolve any dispute through good-faith negotiations. If no resolution is reached within thirty (30) days, the dispute may be submitted to mediation in Doha, Qatar before a mutually agreed mediator. If mediation is unsuccessful, the courts of Qatar shall have exclusive jurisdiction, and you irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction and waive any objection based on forum non conveniens or similar grounds.

Jurisdiction-Specific Provisions

64A Portugal (Web Summit Lisbon). (a) The Competition is a skill-based contest and is not subject to Portuguese lottery or gaming regulation. (b) AJMN has appointed Al Jazeera Brussels, 1000 Bruxelles, Rue Archimède, 5, Belgium, as its EU/EEA representative under Article 27 GDPR. (c) A Portuguese-language version of these Terms and the FAQs will be made available to Entrants at the Lisbon Event. (d) Portuguese-resident Winners are responsible for declaring prize income for Portuguese personal income tax purposes (Imposto sobre o Rendimento das Pessoas Singulares) or for Portuguese corporate income tax purposes (Imposto sobre o Rendimento das Pessoas Coletivas), as the case may be.

64B Qatar (Web Summit Qatar). The Competition is a skill-based contest and is not subject to Qatar gaming or lottery regulation.

64C.  United States. For a list of the Finalist and Winner, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Al Jazeera Media Network, Executive Office, Communications Dept. C/o Sara Taha, P.O.Box 23123, Doha, Qatar be received by no later than 3 January, 2027.

Participant Warranties

65. By entering the Competition, you represent and warrant that: (a) you (and the Start-up you represent) meet all eligibility requirements set out in these Terms; (b) all information provided by you is true, accurate, complete and not misleading; (c) your Solution and Submission Materials are your original work (or you have all necessary rights and licences); (d) your participation does not breach any agreement, obligation or applicable law to which you are subject; (e) you hold a valid Event Ticket for at least one Event; (f) where you enter on behalf of a corporate entity, you are duly authorised to bind that entity; and (g) you agree that your personal data is processed by AJMN in accordance with these Terms and AJMN’s privacy notices, for purposes of performance of contract (these Terms), to comply with legal obligations and for purposes of AJMN’s legitimate interests of exercising its rights in the scope of a legal claim.

General

66. These Terms (together with the NDAs, the Implementation Contract for the Winner, and any supplementary rules or guidelines published by AJMN) constitute the entire agreement between you and AJMN in relation to the Competition and supersede all prior understandings, whether written or oral.
67. If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, it shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid and enforceable, and the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.
68. You may not assign or transfer any of your rights or obligations under these Terms without AJMN’s prior written consent. AJMN may assign or transfer its rights and obligations to any affiliate or successor without restriction.
69. Nothing in these Terms creates any partnership, joint venture, agency or employment relationship between you and AJMN.
70. These Terms have been drafted in English. In the event of any translation, the English version shall prevail. Portuguese-language translation is provided for the Portugal Event and is for convenience only and does not constitute a binding translation.
71. For any questions or communications regarding the Competition or these Terms, please contact NewsCompetition@aljazeera.net. For all Data Subject related requests, submit a Data Subject Request via https://privacy.aljazeera.net/contact-us/.