[Infovis] IEEE VGTC VPG International Data-Visualization Contest 2016

[Wong, Pak C]

Call for Participation (CFP)
The IEEE VGTC VPG International Data-Visualization Contest 2016
http://vacommunity.org/ieeevpg/viscontest/2016/
Contest Theme: Spatio-temporal Visual Analytics
Collaborator and Support: ACT, Inc.

DEADLINE: Wednesday, August 31, 2016

The IEEE Visualization and Graphics Technical Committee (VGTC) is sponsoring its third International Data Visualization Contest to recognize outstanding design in visualization and visual analytics from around the world. The 2016 contest theme is "Spatio-temporal Visual Analytics." The contest will be administered by the IEEE Visualization Pioneers Group (VPG) under the auspices of IEEE VGTC and in collaboration with ACT, Inc. (ACT is a non-profit organization in the education readiness assessment sector.) The awards will be announced at the IEEE VPG Reception to be held at the IEEE VIS 2016 conference. You are not required to attend either the VIS 2016 conference or the VPG reception to participate in the contest.

Contest Challenge: Spatio-temporal Visual Analytics
ACT operates nearly 9,000 testing centers annually to deliver The ACT Assessment to over two million high school students on six different Saturdays each year as part of its open, "National" program.
Use of the test data by schools and government agencies has grown significantly in recent years. This growth is increasing the demands on the ACT network and test seat availability. Thus, ACT seeks to use data to carefully mange its system and its operating costs.
The 2016 challenge is to develop a visual representation of how changes in availability of an ACT product (i.e., an assessment test) in a geographic area or as part of a distribution network can affect nearby or adjacent distribution sites by moving students or assessments, changing dates, or some other strategy.
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
*       How does the introduction of a new delivery location affect existing delivery?
*       How does the addition or subtraction of a distribution site affect demand in neighboring sites?
*       How do proximity and availability affect participation in the assessment by geographic region?
*       What is the optimal Test Center Network for each season by geographic region?
*       What geographic areas are at risk of under or over utilization?
*       How can derived measures like Market Saturation, Percent Utilization, and Cost per Unit be aggregated and visualized at local, regional and national levels?

Eligibility
All visualization and visual analytics designers, developers, researchers, and practitioners from business, academia, and government sectors around the world are eligible to participate. Submissions cannot promote a commercial product.

Submission Limitation
Contestants may be lead author on no more than three submissions to the 2016 contest. They may be a co-author of any number of submissions.

Submission Deadline
Contest packets must be received by 5 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, August 31, 2016 to qualify for the 2016 contest.

Selection Procedure
Five distinguished IEEE VPG members chosen jointly by the VGTC and VPC chairs will review the contest submissions thoroughly and assess the top contest winners. The chair of the selection committee will submit the committee's recommendation to the IEEE VGTC chair by Friday, Oct 14, 2016.

Contest Award
IEEE VGTC will award a certificate to the best submission in each of the following five categories:
1.      Overall Excellence
2.      Originality
3.      Appropriateness
4.      Understandability
5.      Communication Impact
Submissions will be considered in all categories and may win more than one award. Winners in all categories may have a chance to see their visualization work:
1.      Being applied to ACT's data analysis, product development, and/or marketing/promotional efforts
2.      Appear on a cover of IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (CG&A) in 2017. IEEE CG&A will make the final determination about publishing.

Submission Details
The 2016 contest accepts only static visualizations in the form of an image. Contest participants should email the submission package to ieeevpg at googlegroups.com<mailto:ieeevpg at googlegroups.com>. The package must include:
1.      A pdf file that contains:
a.      Title of the data-visualization contest submission
b.      Name, affiliation, email address, and postal address of the participant
c.      A maximum of 300 word description of the visualization written in English
2.      A static visualization figure in jpg or png format.
The size of the total submission package must be less than 10MB. For questions, contact vpg_awards at vgtc.org<mailto:vpg_awards at vgtc.org>.