Ready to get started? Here's an overview of the program timeline and how to start your journey with the 2024 Solution Challenge.

Get started

If there is no club at your college or university, you can join the closest one through the community event platform.
Form a 1 to 4 person team, with at least one student who is a member of a Google Developer Student Club at the associated university, and ideally with a varied set of technical and soft skills. Have a conversation early about causes you care about most to identify a problem to potentially solve. Then, register for the Solution Challenge by completing this registration form. Please note registration is to indicate your interest and not a formal project submission to the contest.
Select a goal that aligns with personal interests and/or needs in your community that you would like to solve with technology. Watch this video to learn more.

Learn and build

One way to identify a solution is by using a Design Sprint, a flexible framework for solving problems through designing, prototyping, and testing ideas with users over a 5-day sprint.
This is where your solution's user interface and user experience comes in. Start thinking about how a user will interact with the solution. Watch this video to learn more about designing an interface.
Follow the learning pathways on the Resources page to help you plan and design the backend.

Finalize and submit your solution

Collect feedback by showcasing your project to other students, family, and friends.
Using the feedback you received, start iterating on your design and technology until it's polished and ready for a final demo.
Put your solution into action. Record a video of a successful demo (maximum 2 minutes long) and submit it by February 22, 2024. Watch examples of demos from last year's contest. The submission form will open on January 22, 2024.

Evaluation criteria

  • Does the entry establish a clear challenge using their problem statement? (5 points)
  • Do they explain clearly which UN Sustainable Development goals and targets they chose for their solution and why? (5 points)
  • Feedback from users, testing & iteration (5 points)
    • Does the team clearly describe three feedback points they received from real users and the steps they took to test them?
    • Is there evidence of what the team learned and how the solution was iterated upon based on user feedback?
  • Does the solution address the challenge (and problem statement) identified by the team? Does the team adequately describe the success of their solution using metrics, goals, and outcomes? (5 points)
  • Is there evidence of next steps? Does the team display a clear plan for future extension to a larger audience if they were to continue? (5 points)
  • Does the team clearly describe the following: architecture, high-level components, responsibility of each component, specific products and platform they implemented? Has the team clearly explained what Google technology they used and why? (5 points)
  • Does the solution implement all the technical components needed to solve the challenge? (5 points)
  • Code testing and iteration (5 points)
    • Does the team highlight one challenge they faced while building their code, how they addressed the issue, and the technical decisions and implementations they had to make? Did the team include guidance on running their code?
  • Does the video demonstration show an actual working application (not a mockup) and how a user will interact with the solution? Does the demo show how the solution makes effective and appropriate use of the features of the chosen Google technology or platform? (5 points)
  • Can the solution, in its current form or minor structural changes, support more users and increased scale? (5 points)

Decision timeline

Top 100 teams selected

After judges review all submissions against the evaluation criteria, the top 100 Solution Challenge teams will be announced.

Mentoring for top 100 teams

The top 100 teams receive mentorship from Google and Google Developer Experts to improve their solution and resubmit it for the top prize.

Final 10 announced

Finalist teams will be announced and begin to prepare for the 2024 Solution Challenge Demo Day.

Winning 3 teams announced live on YouTube

Final 10 will showcase their solutions during the 2024 Solution Challenge Demo Day, and the winning 3 teams will be announced!