Better Working World Data Challenge

Our purpose at EY of building a better working world has never been clearer

As a global organization, we have the power to be stewards of change. That’s why we created the Better Working World Data Challenge. To work with students, young professionals and EY people with an interest in data science everywhere to solve the world's toughest sustainability problems. To ask questions that have never been asked before. To innovate, to grow, to learn, to lead.

EY is on a multi-year journey to transform the positive impact we have on society and build a better working world. We’ve set a bold ambition to positively affect the lives of one billion people in our communities by 2030, and the Better Working World Data Challenge is just one of the ways we can achieve this. Not only will the models from the challenge have a positive impact on society and the planet, but we will be introducing thousands of students, young professionals and EY people to the possibilities of how they can help build a better working world – now, next and beyond.

Could you solve the unsolvable? Do you have the transformative mindset and skillset needed to innovate and solve society′s toughest challenges? To go beyond predicting the future and build a better one? 

Build a more biodiverse world

This year our focus is fundamental.

Planet Earth.

Your challenge for 2022: How do you preserve biodiversity with the click of a button? 

Forests are teeming with life. There is the life you see: green moss, plants, ferns, trees. There is the life you hear: birds chirping, insects buzzing, frogs croaking. And there is the microscopic life that is so small it cannot be seen or heard. 

Life in its various forms – plants, trees, fungi, bugs, birds, animals and frogs – is biodiversity. Put simply, biodiversity refers to all the varied life on Earth.

Biodiversity is under threat. It is estimated that every 20 minutes, an animal or plant species becomes extinct. 

Your task 

Participants will use their technical skills, curiosity, and creativity to build models to locate biodiversity at scale. 

Specifically, they will look for frogs. Frogs are a go-to for scientists wanting to find out more about the environmental health of a particular ecosystem.

The winning outputs will help scientists, governments and NGOs to protect and predict the richness of biodiversity in a specific area.

The challenge has multiple levels of difficulty and the option to participate as an individual or in teams of up to four people. To prepare participants can access curated learning from EY, Microsoft and DataCamp.

A look back on last year 

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2021 Better Working World Data Challenge.

More than 8,500 students and young professionals from more than 115 countries took part in the challenge to develop an automated fire-edge detection and prediction model. These models will help firefighters make more timely and informed decisions, ultimately helping to save lives, property and wildlife from the effects of wildfires.

Learn more about the 2021 Better Working World Data Challenge awards.