Data Innovation Challenge

Theme: Remote Connectivity

Challenge Day: Wednesday 7th October 2026

Overview

Many remote communities across Australia don’t have reliable internet or mobile coverage. This makes it harder for people to access essential digital services like education, healthcare, and government support, and contributes to the ongoing digital divide. Connectivity gaps are not always clearly understood or consistently represented, making it difficult for communities, governments, and industry to prioritise action and investment effectively.

Tasks

To develop innovative, data-driven approaches that show and address connectivity gaps in remote environments and aim to (but not limited to):

Find the gaps: identify and analyse areas of limited or unreliable connectivity using available data;

Make it understandable: communicate connectivity gaps clearly to support communities, governments, and service providers in making informed decisions;

Consider multiple data sources: consider how data can be integrated from multiple sources to provide clearer insights into connectivity challenges and opportunities;

Impacts: show that you have considered the ethical, cultural, and community effects of how you use, explain, and present data;

Solutions: design solutions that remain usable in low-connectivity or offline contexts, such as through offline-first functionality.

Resources

Participants may utilise publicly available datasets (please search for the specific datasets from Google by the specified names) including (but not limited to):

Datasets

NT Remote Areas Mobile Coverage
ADII Dashboard
National Broadband Network
ACCC Mobile Infrastructure Report – data release
Tropical cyclone reports
First Nations Connectivity Mapping Tool
ACMA Site Location Map
ABS TableBuilder
etc

Participants may use tools including (but not limited to):

Python
AI / Machine Learning / Visualisation libraries
Public data APIs
etc

Eligibility

Teams of 2–4 enrolled CDU IT coursework students (undergraduate, postgraduate, TAFE & short courses). Higher Degree by Research students are not eligible.

Evaluation

Judging Criteria

Submissions will be judged according to the following criteria: datasets, overall creativity and originality, technical sophistication, contextual relevance and practicality, ethical considerations and presentation.

First winner and runner up will be selected.

Panel of Judges

Sandeep Rasali

Performance Analyst, Department of Corporate and Digital Development (NTG)

David Winslade

Telecommunications Officer, Department of Corporate and Digital Development (NTG)

Mohammad Aurangzeb Khan

Data Warehouse Developer, Department of Corporate and Digital Development (NTG)

Dr. Cat Kutay

Senior Lecturer in Information Technology,
Charles Darwin University, Australia

1. Team Up

Teams of 2–4 enrolled CDU IT coursework students (undergraduate, postgraduate, TAFE & short courses). Higher Degree by Research students are not eligible.

2. Submission

Submission items:
1. Project report (Requirement Link)
2. Source code (Python with remarks for the key steps) with a README file containing reproducing instructions.

Submission Deadline: 30th September 2026

Please compress your completed report and source code files into a ZIP file and send it to itcodefair@cdu.edu.au.

Email instructions:
i. Use a proper subject line. E.g. Data Innovation Challenge Submission – [Group] – IT Code Fair 2026
ii. Please mention your group details properly and include all necessary files in the zip folder.