MERIThON is an ideathon. Therefore the prototype in the end of the event is not mandatory, however accepted as additional benefit.
Pitch evaluation
Each team should concentrate on several phases of the pitch presentation:
- The problem identification and clarification. It is advised to analyze what are the target groups and what specific challenges those are facing, what might be the reasons of it.
- An analysis of alternatives (process, technologies, architecture, etc.). List possible ideas what could change the situation and then analyze how feasible it is to apply, implement it, will it really solves the issue, or maybe adds additional challenges too. If possible – test the alternatives, to get more accurate view on the most suitable solution.
- Generation of final idea. Refine the idea, clearly defining the process, technology or architecture, how it will work and how will solve the selected challenge. Artificial intelligence (AI) related technologies should be part of the final idea. It can include utilization of already existing AI tools or models, as well it can include creation of new AI model. In any case, the analyzed data should be presented (structure, source, pre-processing, etc.). This criteria will be divided into several smaller ones:
- Reasoning of the idea. How realistic it is that the proposed idea could achieve some change in the selected situation, challenge.
- Complexity and novelty of the idea. Are there new ideas, solutions, which could be assumed as innovation in the area. The novelty could be expressed in different ways: utilization or combination of some existing solutions in a new way; application of new or differently pre-processed, gathered, combined data; novel methods application in a new area, etc.
- Maturity of the idea. What is the readiness of the idea. Is the idea just in conceptual level, separate elements were tested, a high level prototype was developed, fully functioning prototype is ready for testing, etc.
- Justification and sustainability of the idea. Define who would buy or invest into this idea implementation and application, how it could be further maintained and efficient in terms of resource usage and given benefit.
- Presentation. Each pitch will have to be submitted in a video format – up to 5 minute video, including all the above mentioned requirement aspects. The presentation will be evaluated based on its ability to present the key elements and attract the attention for its viewers, jury members. Another part of the presentation will be answers to jury questions. Teams will have a chance to answer the questions jury will have and clarify the unclear parts of their ideas or plans for the idea improvement.
Winner selection
Each pitch will be evaluated based on the same criteria, mentioned above. While for different prizes, different weights will apply. The weights for certain nomination are presented below:
| Evaluation criteria | The most innovative idea | The most mature idea | |
| Problem identification and clarification | 10% | 10% | |
| An analysis of alternatives | 20% | 10% | |
| Generation of the idea | Reasoning | 20% | 20% |
| Complexity and novelty | 20% | 10% | |
| Maturity | 10% | 20% | |
| Justification and sustainability | 10% | 20% | |
| Presentation | 10% | 10% | |
Some dedicated prizes might have some more specific winner selection criteria.