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2024 WMGIC x NATO Countering Disinformation Challenge

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Over several hours, hundreds of undergraduate students competed to propose the best way for NATO to counter disinformation from a policy perspective in one of the following topic areas: Artificial Intelligence, Public Health, Russia-Ukraine War, Gender-Based Violence, Terrorism, Climate Change, and Human Rights.

Each plan of action considered NATO’s existing capacity and what actions NATO should implement within the next 12 months.

Student teams received a detailed case study prior to the start of the challenge.

Mentors with backgrounds in government, industry, academia, and more guided students as they discussed and deliberated their proposed plan of action.

Panels of expert judges evaluated the proposals and selected one winner from each stream, with each winning team receiving a $500 prize from WMGIC. The winners were announced during Closing Ceremonies.

Any undergraduate student team from a university resident in a NATO Member or Partner Nation was invited to register. No prior skills or knowledge was required.

This competition was sponsored by NATO Headquarters and organized by William & Mary.

2024 Challenge Winners

Alpha Stream - Clean Energy
Team of Pro Bono - Ibn Haldun University (Türkiye)

Bravo Stream - Public Health
Cognitive Defenders - Georgia Institute of Technology (United States of America)

Charlie Stream - Sexism & Gender-Based Violence
ZSEM Model UN Club - Zagreb School of Economics and Management (Croatia)

Delta Stream - Sexism & Gender-Based Violence
IRC of Berkeley -  University of California Berkeley (United States of America)

Echo Stream - Terrorism
Youth Council of Rome - Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Italy) and Sapienza University of Rome (Italy)

Foxtrot Stream - Terrorism
The Atlantic Alliance Club - The American College of Greece (Greece)

Golf Stream - Terrorism
New Kids on the Block - Stockholm School of Economics (Sweden)

Hotel Stream - Human Rights
Veni, Vidi, Vici - Vistula University (Poland)

India Stream - Human Rights
Hampden-Sydney League - Hampden-Sydney College (United States of America)

Juliett Stream - Human Rights
METU FPIRS #2 - Middle East Technical University (Türkiye)

Kilo Stream - Russia-Ukraine War
Team 20 - Leiden University (Netherlands), University of Warsaw (Poland), University of Silesia in Katowice (Poland), and University of Bologna (Italy)

Lima Stream - Russia-Ukraine War
Hawkeyes - University of Iowa (United States of America)

Mike Stream - Russia-Ukraine War
INFO GUARDIAN - Mersin University (Türkiye)

November Stream - Russia-Ukraine War
Aleph - Univeristà Bocconi (Italy)

Oscar Stream - Russia-Ukraine War
GREECINFORMATION - Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences (Greece)

Papa Stream - Artificial Intelligence
Team 6 - Epoka University (Albania), Pamukkale University (Türkiye), State University of Moldova (Moldova), Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia) and University of Texas at Austin (United States of America)

Quebec Stream - Artificial Intelligence
Clear Signal - Hamilton College (United States of America) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States of America)

Keynote Address

Ambassador Douglas E. Lute (ret.)
Lieutenant General, U.S. Army, Retired,
Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO

Opening Remarks

Marie-Doha Besancenot
Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, NATO

Schedule

Click on the highlighted name to view a video recording from the Opening and Closing ceremonies.
All times listed in EDT (GMT - 4:00).


Opening Ceremony - 8:00A.M. - 8:30A.M

Marie-Doha Besancenot
Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, NATO

Dylan Gurl
Global Innovation Challenge (WMGIC)

Emily Tchorz
Global Innovation Challenge (WMGIC)

Ambassador Douglas E. Lute (ret.)
Lieutenant General, U.S. Army, Retired,
Former U.S. Ambassador to NATO

Sofia LoBue
Global Innovation Challenge (WMGIC)

Sarah Wozniak
DisinfoLab

Elizabeth Marcus
Global Innovation Challenge (WMGIC)

Mentoring Session Period - 8:30A.M. - 11:00A.M.

Teams will consult with mentors and develop their proposals. The livestream will be paused at this time and will resume for the Closing Ceremony. Participants, judges, and mentors should refer to the event packet for the appropriate links.

Proposal Submission Deadline - 11:05A.M.

Presentations - 11:20A.M. - 12:40P.M.

Teams will present their proposals to judges. The presentations are open to mentors and other teams within the stream.

Judging - 12:40P.M. - 1:00P.M.

The judges will deliberate and determine the winner of each stream.

Closing Ceremony - 1:15P.M. - 2:00P.M.

Elisabeth Nielsen
Global Innovation Challenge (WMGIC)

Dr. Teresa Longo
Associate Provost for International Affairs,
Executive Director of the Reves Center for International Studies, William & Mary

George Hage
Global Innovation Challenge (WMGIC)

 

WMGIC FAQs

WMGIC x NATO Countering Disinformation FAQs

Sponsors

This event is made possible by:

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