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Annex 10 — Challenge Fund Governance Pack

10.1 Purpose​

This annex provides the governance structures, scoring rules, and transparency requirements for administering Challenge Funds within the VILF ecosystem.
Challenge Funds enable competitive innovation cycles rooted in evidence and structured experimentation.

10.2 Scope of Use​

Applicable for:

  • government innovation challenge rounds
  • university–government collaboration funds
  • public–private innovation deployments
  • sector-specific challenge cycles (health, education, mobility)

10.3 Governance Principles​

  • Transparency in rules and scoring
  • Fairness in evaluation
  • Evidence-first selection
  • Maturity-aware evaluation (IMM)
  • Documentation at all stages
  • IGF compliance

10.4 Challenge Fund Lifecycle​

Stage 1 — Announcement​

  • Publish eligibility criteria
  • Publish scoring rubric
  • Publish deadlines

Stage 2 — Submission​

Applicants submit:

  • Intake + Prioritization Form (Annex 09)
  • Evidence package
  • Team readiness statement

Stage 3 — Evaluation​

Tier-1 Hubs evaluate proposals using the standardized rubric.
Tier-2 (NCU) validates consistency.

Stage 4 — Selection​

NCU approves awardees.
Scorecards are documented and archived.

Stage 5 — Execution​

Awarded labs execute IMM-P® cycles.
Hubs monitor evidence, progress, and risk.

Stage 6 — Reporting​

Final evidence package submitted.
NCU publishes summary report.

10.5 Scoring Rubric (Standard)​

CriterionWeightScore (1–5)Weighted Score
Strategic alignment20%
Problem clarity20%
Evidence strength20%
Feasibility15%
Expected outcomes15%
Innovation potential10%

Final Score = Σ Weighted Scores

10.6 Transparency Requirements​

  • Publish rubric
  • Publish awardees
  • Publish summary of evaluation (non-sensitive)
  • Archive all evidence

10.7 Licensing​

Released under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.