2022 (THE “CONTEST”) SPONSORED BY SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC (“SCHNEIDER” OR “SPONSOR”) IS SUBJECT TO THE RULES AND CONDITIONS SET FORTH HEREIN (“OFFICIAL RACE”).  BY ENTERING THE CONTEST, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND, MEET, AND COMPLY WITH ALL SUCH OFFICIAL RULES AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THEM. YOU FURTHER WARRANT THAT YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE COMPETITION AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE DECISIONS OF SCHNEIDER. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE AND ACCEPT ALL OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES, DO NOT SUBMIT AN ENTRY IN THE CONTEST. WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU PRINT A COPY OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES FOR YOUR FUTURE REFERENCE.

 

I. Overview

A.  Who we are

Schneider’s purpose is to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability for all. We call this Life Is On. Our mission is to be your digital partner for Sustainability and Efficiency. We drive digital transformation by integrating world-leading process and energy technologies, end-point to cloud connecting products, controls, software, and services, across the entire lifecycle, enabling integrated company management for homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure, and industries. We are the most local of global companies. We are advocates of open standards and partnership ecosystems that are passionate about our shared Meaningful Purpose, Inclusive, and Empowered values.  

 

B. The Contest

1. Objective:

The Schneider Go Green International Business Case Challenge (the “Contest”) aims at supporting the emergence of innovative solutions to meet future challenges in intelligent energy. Through the Contest, Schneider seeks to identify ideas, solutions, and/or technologies that contribute to the furtherance of intelligent energy, including, for example, in the areas of energy efficiency and environmental performance.

2.  Timeline:

The Contest is organized in three rounds, with each round followed by a period of review, assessment, and selection in deciding who will move onto the next round of the competition.  The phases are addressed in further detail below.

• Phase I – Local Online Submission of Initial Application.
• Phase II – Regional/National finals.
• Phase III – Global Final Round where the Contest winner will be chosen and announced.

C.    ADMINISTRATOR:

The Contest is administered by Agorize (“Administrator on behalf of Schneider Electric on Agorize’s online platform.  

By agreeing to comply with these Official RAC, you also agree to Agorize’s  Terms & Conditions in relation to your use of Agorize’s website. All personal information submitted through the Agorize platform shall be subject to  Agorize’s Terms & Conditions.

 

II.  Eligibility

A.            Individual eligibility

1.             The Contest is open to university students worldwide who:

a)            Are eighteen (18) years of age or older at the time of submission of the Initial Application; AND

b)            Are Currently registered and enrolled as full-time students in a or master’s program in business, engineering, marketing, science, or innovation       

B. Team Submission

1.  With reference to section III.B.1 below, while registration is on an individual basis, Contest entry is open exclusively to teams consisting of a minimum of two individual registered students, and a maximum of four individual registered students; and

2. all team members must be studying in the same country.

a)            Both team members are not required to attend the same university, nor are they required to study the same subject or be in the same academic year of study.

b)             students are not required to be permanent residents or nationals of the country in which they are studying in order to compete.

3.  Each team must be gender diverse

4.  Each individual entrant is allowed to enter the Contest as a part of only one team and to submit only one Initial Application.

 

III.  How to Enter

 

A.   Schedule

The Contest will begin on September 20^th, 2021, with the opening of the registration process, and will end on June 30^th, 2022, after the Global Finals ceremony. 

PHASES	START DATE	END DATE
Registrations and Submission	September 20th, 2020	No registration or submission will be accepted after the Regional deadlines: South America: March 21, 2022
Regional Selection	May 2, 2022	May 2, 2022
Global Finals	June 2022	June 2022

 

Based on the local determination, countries/ regions might add additional stages between the Registration and Global Final periods. Further details regarding the schedule in each one of the participating countries/regions will be given between September 20^th, 2020, and June 30^th, 2022, through the Contest Platform (gogreen.se.com) or via e-mail.

Dates may change during the Contest as decided at the sole discretion of Schneider; Participants will be notified of any change.

 

B.   Phase I: Initial Application

1. Registration

a) Applicant students must register for the competition as an individual. However, to submit a full application, the applicant must also register as a team of two to four students.

 

b)  By registering for the Contest, you acknowledge that:

(1)   you are solely responsible for the accuracy and use of your registration information;

(2)   your registration may be denied or cancelled if any of the information in your registration is (or Contest administrator or Schneider have a reasonable basis to believe it is) intentionally incomplete, incorrect, or inaccurate, and all submissions by you and your team may be disqualified;

c)  Account information is being collected by the Contest Administrator and may be transferred elsewhere globally as needed for the purposes of conducting the Contest and Contest related activities.

2.   Entry requirements

a)   Submissions are deemed to be confidential as set forth in section IX. Intellectual Property B. Ownership and Confidentiality and XI. Confidentiality and must present Participant’s original solution and expertise.

(1)   Make sure to clearly state your objectives and original ideas for a solution to any of the world’s energy problems, or one of the Schneider Electric’s four business case challenges. Be creative!

b)  Initial Applications must be submitted online ONLY in English. In submitting the application, the applicant accepts these Official RAC and the rules governing the submission of the application form available online at gogreen.se.com by each team.

c)   Accepted formats for the initial application:

(1) Infographic: .ppt or .pdf format, max. 10 slides/pages including 1 cover slide, file size max. 15 MB 

(2) Video: mp4 format, up to 2 minutes in length, file size max 50 MB

d)  Only one submission per individual and per team 

3.   Important Notices

• Do not submit ideas that are not your own. Any Applications which are not original to the applicant individual or team will be subject to disqualification.
• Do not use content in your submission that is not yours,, or you do not have the authorization to use it.
• Your idea must not include any confidential information belonging to a third-party.
• If identical or substantially similar submissions are entered by more than one team, all such submitting teams and submissions may be disqualified from the Contest. 
• If participants developed the submission as part of a group that included others who are not members of the submitting team, participants should identify any non-submitting team members.

 

IV. Selection for Phase II

At the end of Phase I, a jury, composed of Schneider Electric employees, will select regional semi-finalists. All participants will be informed about their selection status via the contact details provided when entering the Contest.

While particular local/country conditions may apply in the selection process, all Initial Applications are evaluated on the same basis.

 The selection criteria will include consideration of:

• Innovation: does the proposal introduce a new, creative, innovative, unique, and/or compelling solution to the case?
• Feasibility: is the proposed idea both technically and economically feasible for implementation? How does it fit in with Schneider Electric’s current mission?
• Sustainable Impact: are the expected outcomes clearly described with relevant measures: energy savings, efficiency, etc. How are people and communities impacted? How does it reduce environmental impact?
• Competitors will also be asked to provide information regarding any attempts by the Competitors to commercialize their ideas/inventions. For example, a Team indicating that they have attempted to commercialize their idea may be asked to provide information about any third parties that have provided investment in the attempt to commercialize the idea or if the Team has provided any third-party with equity in their business or idea.

 

V. Phase II: SEMI-FINALS

A.   Phase II: Top regional teams selected as semi-finalists

 If your team is one of the regional top teams selected by Schneider Electric to proceed to Phase II, the presented idea needs to be developed to a clear evolution of the idea you submitted in Phase I and must be sent in PPT format (no longer than 15 slides) to be uploaded with your CV.  

B.  Mentoring

Selected teams may be assigned a mentor from the Schneider Electric team. The mentor will coach the team and help them evolve their idea, and review their CV.

The mentor’s task is mainly to support and challenge the realization of the team’s solution. Interactions between the mentor and their assigned team will be initiated via the Agorize platform; they can be by alternative methods such as phone, email, Skype or Microsoft Teams. The frequency and mode of communication between the mentor and their assigned team will be agreed upon with the mentor, taking into consideration the preferences of both parties. 

C. Selection to Phase III

A new jury, composed of Schneider Electric senior leaders, will select up to 10 of the most promising business cases from the previously selected Regional Finalists from Round II to advance to the Round III Global Finals. All participants will be informed about their qualification status via the contact details provided when entering the Contest.

While particular regional conditions may apply in the selection process, all Phase 2 Semi-finalist ideas are evaluated on the same basis. 

 The selection criteria will include consideration of :

• Adherence to the Official RAC of the contest.
• Innovation: How does the idea introduce a new, creative, innovative, unique, and/or compelling solution related to the case?
• Technical feasibility: how feasible is it to implement your proposal from a technical perspective?
• Economic feasibility: how does it fit in with Schneider Electric’s current business scope?
• Students educational backgrounds and curriculum 

 

VI.  Phase III: FINAL ROUND

A.  Phase III: Case Presentation

Once Schneider Electric has reviewed the participant synopses, the top 8-10 teams will be announced. All top teams will be invited to present a final version of the project to a Global Finals jury, composed of Schneider Electric’s executive leaders who will judge the final presentations.

Format: The selected teams for Phase III will have to provide support material for a live oral presentation of 15 minutes, which will be followed by a 5 minutes Q&A session with the jury. After the oral presentations of all finalist teams, the jury will choose one team as a winner, which will be announced at the end of the final day of the event.

While global considerations may apply in the selection process, all Phase 3 Global- finalist ideas are evaluated on the same basis. The judging criteria at this stage may include:

• Adherence to the Rules of the contest.
• Feasibility: how feasible is it to implement this proposal from a business perspective?
• Profitability: what is the return on investment? How much are customers ready to pay for the solution? How is the solution differentiated and how can this be valued?
• Solution Innovation: How creative is it compared to currently available solutions?

 

VII.  Contest Winning Team

 

At the end of the final round, one winning team will be selected from the top teams.

The winning team will be given a prize to the value of 10,000 Euro to be split equally among winning team members, pending their adherence to all requirements and obligations for the Competition.

In addition, Schneider Electric and/or its Affiliates will evaluate further the industrialization and commercialization of the winning concept , applying typical business considerations the potential to commercialize the solution.

In any event, none of the above shall be construed as an obligation for Schneider Electric and/or any of its Affiliates to make industrialize/ commercialize the winning concepts and/or recruit any of the Entrants. 

Participants and Global Winner acknowledges and accepts the terms regarding Intellectual Property as set forth in Section IX. 

Participant individuals and teams acknowledge that the intent of this Contest is to inspire submission of ideas and innovations to Schneider. Neither participation in this Contest nor selection of advancement to though the Contest Phases nor selection as the Contest Winner or acceptance of selection as Contest winner shall create any obligation on either party (participants or Schneider’s) to enter into either negotiation,  a business relationship (including employment) or any commercial agreement.

 

VIII.  JUDGING:

• All submissions will be evaluated by a jury of at least (5) five judges comprised of the various members of the Schneider Electric leadership community as described in more detail for each phase in the preceding sections.
• Submissions will be evaluated based on the criteria set forth for each phase.

 

JUDGES’ DECISIONS SHALL BE FINAL AND BINDING ON ALL MATTERS RELATING TO THIS CONTEST.

 

IX.  Intellectual Property

 

A.   Individual and Team Consent:

By entering this Contest, you consent to the use by Schneider and the Contest Administrator of all images, text, videos and other materials that you submit for any purpose, in any media, for an unlimited period, without remuneration, in accordance with the Official Rules and Agorize’s Terms & Conditions.

By registering and submitting a Contest entry and participating in this Contest, you grant Schneider certain limited rights, as set forth in these Official RAC. By your submission, you consent to the use by Schneider (including their affiliates, subsidiaries, parents, and licensees), of your name, likeness, image, biographical information, award information (i.e., selection for advancement and Contest Winner) winner), your individual and  team name and any other personal data submitted with your registration and submission, and the contents in your submission (including any created works), in connection with the Contest, in any media or format worldwide, without any compensation to or further approval from you, including, without limitation, listing you as a Contest participant on the Contest Website and in materials related to Schneider’s promotion of the Contest. You acknowledge and agree that your consent is perpetual and cannot be revoked.

 

Each participating individual and team also agrees that nothing in the Official RAC or otherwise in relation to the Contest grants you a right or license to use Schneider’s name, trademarks or service marks without the advance written authorization of Schneider.

B.  Ownership and Confidentiality

Initial Applications for Phase I shall be treated by Schneider Electric, AVEVA and Agorize as confidential and will not be publicly disclosed for the duration of Phase I and Phase II. Schneider reserves the right to publicly disclose at Phase III and beyond.

By submitting an Initial Application, each team’s members acknowledge that they understand the potential impact of the non-confidential nature of submission and agree to allow Schneider Electric the right to publicly disclose their Initial Application or any document based on or derived from their Initial Application. Each Entrant agrees that by submitting their Initial Application they waive any claim relating to confidentiality against Schneider Electric for any disclosure or use of confidential information provided to Schneider Electric by any Entrant.

By submitting an Initial Application and participating in this Contest, you are not granting Schneider any rights to any existing patents related to the technology described in your submission or to any patents which may appear in the future issue. You do however grant Schneider the unrestricted, royalty and payment-free right to use, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works based upon, implement and disclose any submitted ideas and materials to the extent they are not covered by an issued and enforceable patent, and to allow others to do the same.

If an Entrant has sold or otherwise committed their idea to a third party, has made an attempt to commercialize the idea, or has obtained or is in the process of obtaining any granted Patent or pending Patent application relating to their Initial Application, Entrant shall notify Schneider Electric of such event upon submitting the Initial Application and irrevocably agrees to not assert such Patent against Schneider Electric, its affiliates, distributors, customers and/or clients for any manufacture or use of the patented object or method as part of the consideration of their submission for the contest by Schneider Electric. Each Entrant agrees not to initiate any action to commercialize the idea, file for a patent application on their idea, or committing or licensing any IP rights in their idea after submission of the Initial Application without first notifying Schneider Electric. If an Entrant has any contractual or employment relationship with any other entity, such shall relationship be disclosed upon application, including any startup or third party funded relationships. 

Initial Applications shall be valid only if the Participation Form is submitted by all the entrants of the team before the end of the submission phase on the Go Green website.

By agreeing to continue to Phase III: FINAL ROUND of the contest, participants assign all of their intellectual property rights in their idea to Schneider Electric.

For those teams agreeing to proceed to Phase III: FINAL ROUND, Schneider Electric may, at its sole discretion, file one or more patent applications based on an Initial Application, Semi-Final or Final submission and/or any derivatives thereof. Each Entrant agrees to cooperate with Schneider Electric in the preparation, filing, and prosecution of any such patent application, including completing any requested documentation related to the patent application, such as an assignment of patent rights to Schneider Electric. If Schneider Electric elects to file a patent application based on an Initial Application, Semi-Final or Final submission and Entrant cooperates with Schneider Electric as described above, Entrant shall receive a patent award in a monetary amount equal to the patent award that would be received by an employee of Schneider Electric upon filing from the same country as Entrant.

Schneider Electric may, at its sole discretion, file one or more trademark applications based on an Initial Application, Semi-Final or Final submission and/or any derivatives thereof. Each Entrant agrees to cooperate with Schneider Electric in the preparation, filing, and prosecution of any such trademark application, including completing any requested documentation related to the trademark application, such as an assignment of trademark rights to Schneider Electric. Schneider Electric may, at its sole discretion, publish a document based on an Initial Application, Semi-Final or Final submission and/or any derivatives thereof, such as a paper, report, presentation, or summary.

Each Entrant agrees to cooperate with Schneider Electric in the preparation of any such document, including completing any requested documentation related to the document, such as an assignment of copyrights to Schneider Electric.

 

X. PRIVACY:

By entering this Contest, you acknowledge and agree that Schneider will be able to access and use any personal data provided in connection with your registration and submission for purposes set forth in the Official Rules and subject to the Privacy Policy available on the Schneider/Contest Website [LINK] You further agree that Schneider may share this personal data with third parties for purposes of the Contest as set forth in the Official Rules. You acknowledge and accept the policies set forth in these Official Rules and in the Privacy Policy for the Contest Website and consent to having your data transferred to and processed in the United States and EU pursuant to applicable rules and regulations. 

 

XI.  CONFIDENTIALITY:

Such Initial Applications for Round I, and all subsequent communications related to this contest, shall be considered as a confidential, non-public disclosure according to all various national patent laws.    However, each Entrant agrees to allow Schneider Electric the right to publicly disclose their Initial Application or any document based on, or derived from, their Initial Application.  In addition, each Entrant agrees not to assert any claim of breach of confidentiality against Schneider Electric for any disclosure or use of confidential information provided to Schneider Electric by any Entrant.

 

XII. MEDIA AND PR

Any participants’ direct or indirect contact with the media, in regards to Schneider Go Green competition, their proposed solution or innovations must be authorized by the local Go Green Manager and the Schneider local or global Marketing Department.

 

XIII. DISQUALIFICATION

Schneider Electric may, at its sole discretion, disqualify a Team and/or any of the Team members from participating if the Team or any of the Team members violate, fail to comply with, or otherwise show a disregard for these Official RAC, or acts in any unsporting or disruptive manner. In the event of any suspected fraud and/or unfair participation, Schneider Electric reserves the right to conduct any such verification, as it may deem necessary. Any established fraud or unfair action shall entail the Participant’s immediate and final disqualification, without prior notice. Schneider Electric may exclude any Team and/or any of the Team members if the Team or any of the Team members intends to or does damage any Schneider Go Green material or information or to Schneider Electric, it is brand or goodwill.  Schneider Electric reserves the right to prosecute any Team and/or any of the Team members if the Team and/or any of the Team members for any criminal activity carried out by an individual or team participant during the Contest.  

 

XIV.      Conditions of Participation

 Please read carefully the legal notices available on the gogreen.se.com website. By submitting the application form on the Contest website, each Entrant must check the checkbox to acknowledge their understanding of all Rules and Conditions of the Contest and further agree to those Rules and Conditions.

 

XV.        Contest Modification

By entering the Contest, Entrants agree to waive any right to claim any ambiguity or error in these Official RAC, or the contest itself and agree to be bound by the Official RAC and by all decisions of Schneider Electric, which are binding and final. Failure to comply with these Official RAC may result in disqualification from this Contest. Schneider Electric reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify, cancel, terminate or suspend the Contest and/or these Official RAC without advance notice for any reason. Any changes to the Official RAC will be posted on the Contest website and an email will be sent to the email address of each Entrant used to enter the Contest. Schneider Electric further reserves the right to postpone, amend or modify the Contest for any reason, at its sole discretion of Schneider Electric.

 

XVI. WARRANTIES:

A.  By registering and participating in the Contest, each individual represents and warrants that all information in their registration and all information in their submission provided via the Contest Website is true and complete to the best of your knowledge, that you have the right and are authorized to make the submission of your idea and disclose all information contained therein on your own behalf and on behalf of any other persons you identify pursuant to section xxx, and that your submission:

1.             is original work of you and your team,

2.             that you properly attribute in your submission anything included or described in your submission which is not your original work;

3.             does not contain your or third party confidential information;

4.             to the best of your knowledge,

 

a)            is not disclosed in, conflict with, or infringe the IPR of any person or entity;

b)             does not and will not violate any applicable law, statute, ordinance, rule, regulation, confidentiality agreement, or other agreement; and,

c)             does not trigger any reporting or royalty or other obligation to any third party.

d)            if the software is involved, it does not contain or use malicious code, such as by way of non-exhaustive illustration, malware, Trojan horses, or other potentially harmful programs.

 

B.  Breach of any warranty set out in this section will result in the corresponding submission and the team being disqualified.

 

XVII.  Governing Laws and Definitions

A.   GOVERNING LAWS

 The laws of France, without regard to conflicts of law, shall construe any issue concerning the construction, validity, and enforcement of these Official Rules and Conditions, or the rights and obligations of the Entrant and Schneider Electric. 

B.  DEFINITIONS

 “Intellectual Property” or “IPR” means any and all intellectual property rights including all of the following and all rights in, arising out of, or associated therewith: (i) procedures, designs, inventions, and discoveries; (ii) works of authorship, copyrights and other rights in works of authorship; (iii) mask work rights, (iv) know-how, show-how and trade secrets on a worldwide basis, and (v) all Patents issued or issuable thereon, and all trademarks, trade names, or other forms of corporate or product identification.

“Patents” means all classes or types of patents (including, without limitation, originals, divisions, continuations, continuations-in-part, extensions or reissues) and applications for these classes or types of patent rights in all countries of the world.

Appendix I – Participation Form

All persons involved in the preparation of the Initial Application shall be identified below. Any Initial Application submitted without such form being duly submitted by the date of closure March 2022, (see your regional timeline) shall be disqualified and discarded and will not be reviewed by Schneider Electric. The participation form is to only be submitted online for each team member on an individual basis.

First Name:
Last Name:

Date of Birth:
Nationality:
Email Address:

Telephone Number:
University:

Location of Study:
Major / Field of Study:
Expected date of graduation: