Before you register, carefully read the official competition terms and conditions below. You must agree to these official rules by clicking the checkbox where indicated when entering the contest.
1. Principle of Confidentiality
The organizer, the Young Americas Business Trust (YABT), sponsors, judges, and any other person involved in the CIC, hereafter referred to as the “Competition” will maintain faithful enforcement of the Principle of Confidentiality of the projects presented by the teams for the in accordance with the Rules, Terms and Conditions.
All information submitted by the Teams during the Semi-Finals is considered confidential. Teams will be asked to provide a summary of the project that will be made available to the public though the YABT, the CIC, and sponsors websites, informational bulletins, and magazines. Websites listed by the Teams under the Team Profile will be considered public information. During the Semi-Finals and Finals Project Plans will be reviewed by the judges, who have previously agreed to maintain confidentiality of the Project Plans. Project Plans during the Finals presentation will be considered to be confidential information.
It is the Teams’ responsibility to decide which and how much information should be disclosed at any time during their participation in the CIC. YABT and co-organizers are not responsible for any type of complaints or demands from a third party who alleges that any project or work submitted and presented to the CIC contains proprietary work that they consider to be their own.
2. Usage of Team Profiles and Pictures of Team Members
By submitting a project the Team acknowledges that the Team Profile and pictures of Team Members that are submitted during the Team’s participation in any phase of the CIC will be collected and saved in the CIC database. YABT is authorized the rights of free use, reproduction, and dissemination of the Team Profile and Pictures for the purposes of the CIC program promotion.
Personal information, such as email, phone, gender, address, age, and education level collected at the time of registration will be added to YABT database, and Teams will receive communications regarding new programs, competitions, events, promotions, new products, etc. unless the Team opts out at registration. If at any point, the Team wants to cancel the subscription to any of the two databases, the Team might request the cancelation in writing by email to the CIC.
It is understood and agreed that this condition of use of the Profile, personal information, and pictures of the Teams does not violate the Principle of Confidentiality described in the previous clause nor does it at any time generate an obligation of payment or other remuneration as a lucrative activity in favor of the Team for such usage.
3. Selection of the Judges
The Young Americas Business Trust will appoint judges for the Semi-finals and Finals phases of the Competition. The judges will be professionals from the academic and business world and able to analyze different areas of the project plan such as innovation, marketing, technology, human resources, and finance.
4. Decisions of the Evaluation Committee
The decisions of the Evaluation Committee will be final and not subject to appeal. The Evaluation Committee reserves the right to resolve any point not mentioned in the terms and conditions of the CIC at its sole discretion. The Evaluation Committee will only make Awards if the projects presented reach an adequate level of quality at its sole discretion.
5. Announcement of the Finalists
Up to three (3) Finalists Teams may be selected to compete for the Caribbean Innovation Awards. Those Teams who qualify for the Finals phase of the CIC will be notified at the e-mail address used for the Team at the time of registration. The list of qualifying Finalists will be published on the YABT and CIC websites.
6. Disqualification
YABT may disqualify any Team if:
• There is actual, alleged or publicized illegal conduct of any registered Team member,
• Any registered Team member’s behavior is considered offensive or violates generally accepted community standards of behavior including, but not limited to, illicit drug use or public intoxication, or and action that leads YABT to believe or conclude that the public association with the Team subjects YABT and organizers to ridicule, contempt, controversy, embarrassment or scandal.
Disqualified Teams and each registered member or of the Team will no longer be eligible to participate for any Award in the CIC, TIC Americas, Eco-Challenge or any other YABT Competitions or Programs.
7. Tax and Legal Considerations
The cash prize in the Awards may have legal or tax implications for Team’s domestic tax status in their home country and any taxes this will be entirely the responsibility of the winning Team(s). YABT will hold no responsibility with these or any related tax or related legal obligations of the Teams or winners, nor does any Team represent or hold themselves to represent YABT.
8. Considerations about travel
YABT and partners agree to sponsor the travel of one representative of the Winning Team from the Caribbean to the Finals under the following conditions:
• Actual value of the trip may vary depending on the traveler’s point of travel origin, air transportation and hotel price fluctuations.
• Airport, airline, tickets and/or hotel accommodations for the Finals Event are to be selected by YABT at their sole discretion.
• The traveler must have all necessary identification and/or travel documents required for international travel. It is the traveler’s responsibility to secure any visa needed for travel, either for final destination or connections points.
• All travel must be completed on the dates specified by YABT or Award will be forfeited; alternate travel dates are not available. Unused travel will be forfeited.
• All other expenses not mentioned herein (including but not limited to airport taxes, local taxis, personal charges, medical expenses, meals, tips, gratuities, room service charges, or any additional incidental costs to the room, baggage fees and other incidental expenses) are the sole responsibility of the traveler.
• A hotel deposit for these additional, non-reimbursable, expenses may be required at the time of check-in at the hotel, and such deposits are entirely the responsibility of the traveler.
• The traveler ‘s participation in any or all activities of the Finals is voluntary. In the event that the traveler elects not to participate in any or all designated activities for the Finals, the traveler will be afforded no additional compensation in exchange.
9. Author’s Rights
The Author’s Rights of the Business/Project Plans presented during the development of the Caribbean Innovation Competition will be retained by the Teams who submitted them.
YABT and parties must be given first option on any aspect of the project, including but not restricted to: implementation, funding, communication, etc. YABT and parties will have up to 180 days, starting a day after the CIC finals, to show and/or express their interest or not in investing in the Team’s business proposal. If a Team receives an investment opportunity, they will have to communicate it to YABT, and parties for their acknowledgment and approval.
If YABT and parties are interested in sponsoring the project, they will not own the Author’s Rights to the project and these will be retained by the Team during the implementation of the project, if so elected.
For those projects not selected as the winner and not recipient of the Award, the Team will retain proprietary rights to the project. YABT and partners will retain no interest in the proprietary rights for those projects not selected beyond the use of the Profile and photographs for promotion of the competition.
By submitting a project the Team acknowledges that the project description that is submitted during the Team’s participation in any phase of the CIC, will be collected and saved in the CIC and TIC Americas database. YABT is authorized the rights of free use, reproduction, and dissemination of the project description for the purposes of the CIC and TIC Americas.
It is understood and agreed that this condition of use of the project description does not violate the Principle of Confidentiality nor does it at any time generate an obligation of payment or other remuneration as a lucrative activity in favor of the Team for such usage.
The Teams grant to YABT the unconditional and irrevocable right to copyright, use, and publish such photograph(s) or information either alone or accompanied by other materials, in any manner and in any media (including but not limited to print, TV (broadcast or cable), the internet and on various social media platforms in YABT’s sole discretion) in whole or in part, in edited, modified or altered format, at any time hereafter for any purpose whatsoever, including without limitation, for advertising, trade and marketing purposes all without prior examination or approval by the Team, including any written copy that may be created in connection therewith.
The Teams also understand that they do not have any right to compensation in connection with the above granted rights and release and discharge YABTfrom any and all claims and liability related to said photographs or information, including, without limitation, any claims based on libel, the right of publicity, the right of privacy or the commercial appropriation or use of name or likeness.
10 Acceptance of the Terms and Conditions of the CIC
By registration for the YABT and constitutes acceptance, on behalf of all the persons registering as the Team of all the Terms and Conditions included in this document. Modifications will be posted on the www.ticamericas/net/cic website. It is the responsibility of the competitors to keep themselves up to date with publications and notices made by YABT during the on-line and Finals phases
Furthermore, by registering a Team, all competitors agree that:
a) Any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with their Project will be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action;
b) Any and all claims, judgments and awards will be limited to actual third-party, out-of-pocket costs incurred, but in no event will attorneys’ fees be awarded or recoverable;
c) The Team knowingly and expressly waives all rights to seek, punitive, incidental, consequential or special damages, lost profits and/or any other damages;
d) They irrevocably waive any right to seek injunctive or equitable relief; and
e) They release and indemnify and hold harmless YABT, the Contest Parties and the Judges from any and all claims that any commercial, advertising, presentation, web content or any other material subsequently produced, presented, and/or prepared by or on behalf of YABT infringes on any of the rights of Team’s work as contained in the Project.
11. About the Organizer
• The CIC Organizer: Young Americas Business Trust, 1889 F Street NW, Washington, DC, 20006
12. Limitations of Liability and Release
No liability or responsibility is assumed by YABT and / or judges or other sponsors resulting from any user’s participation in or attempt to participate in the CIC or their ability or inability to upload or download any information in connection with participating in the CIC. No responsibility or liability is assumed by YABT and / or judges or other sponsors for technical problems or technical malfunction arising in connection with any of the following occurrences or any other circumstance which may affect the operation of the CIC: hardware or software errors; faulty computer, telephone, cable, satellite, network, electronic, wireless or Internet connectivity or other online communication problems; errors or limitations of any Internet service providers, servers, hosts or providers; garbled, jumbled or faulty data transmissions; failure of any e-mail transmissions to be sent or received; lost, late, delayed or intercepted e-mail transmissions; inaccessibility of the Website in whole or in part for any reason; traffic congestion on the Internet or the Website; unauthorized human or non-human intervention of the operation of the CIC, including without limitation, unauthorized tampering, hacking, theft, virus, bugs, worms; or destruction of any aspect of the CIC, or loss, miscount, misdirection, inaccessibility or unavailability of an email account used in connection with the Contest.
YABT, partners, sponsors, judges and other collaborators are not responsible for any typographical errors in the announcement of prizes or these official CIC Rules, or any inaccurate or incorrect data contained on the Website. Use of Website is at user’s own risk. YABT, partners, sponsors , judges and other collaborators are not responsible for any personal injury or property damage or losses of any kind which may be sustained to user’s or any other person’s computer equipment resulting from participation in the CIC, use of the Website or the download of any information from the Website. By participating in the CIC, the Team releases YABT, judges and other sponsors from any and all claims, damages or liabilities arising from or relating to such Teams’ participation in the CIC. By accepting a prize in the CIC, each Team agrees that YABT, judges and other sponsors shall not be liable for any loss or injury resulting from participation in the Contest, acceptance or use of any prize, or any travel related there too. YABT, judges and other sponsors are not liable in the event that any portion of the CIC, event or the event broadcast is cancelled due to weather, fire, strike, acts of war or terrorism, or any other condition beyond their control (a “Force Majeure Event”).
Registered Teams agree that YABT have the sole right to decide all matters and disputes arising in the CIC and that all decisions of YABT are final and binding. By acceptance of the award the Teams agree to release, indemnify and hold harmless YABT, judges and other sponsors, as well as each of their respective parent and affiliated companies or organization(s), and each of their employees, representatives, contractors, advertisers, YABT from any and all liability, loss, damage, cost or claim relate to any allegation regarding the acceptance or use of their prize, including but not limited to the airing of the commercial Project.
13. Modifications of the Terms and Conditions of the Competition
YABT can modify the Terms and Conditions of the Competition and Awards, including increasing or decreasing prizes according to sponsor contributions. YABT may also modify the dates of the Competition or suspend temporarily or definitively the execution of the Competition as considered appropriate. All the modifications to the actual Terms and Conditions will be published on the website www.youthin-cic.net with a prior notification to the competitors. The current version that is posted on the www.ticamericas.net/cicwebsite is considered the applicable and final version.