Throughout 2022 Mozilla Common Voice released several African language datasets, including Luganda, Kinyarwanda and Kiswahili - which are now some of the largest datasets on the platform. Incredible community mobilization goes into every hour of speech.

To celebrate this, we will be running an MCV African Languages Model Sprint to mark the end of 2022.

Your entry must be a Speech-To-Text model that uses Common Voice data.

You need to submit;

  • Your email
  • A link to any GitHub repo with the code for your STT model (must be visible to the judges)
  • The results you are getting (WER, CER or similar)
  • The license for your model (it does not need to be open sourced)
  • Any information on the social need, ethics and value of your work

We will give out 10 prizes of $1000 USD, based on the judges’ collective evaluation of model quality and social need.

The call will open 30th November 2022 and close on 15th December 2022.

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY HERE.

Judging criteria

  • Quality of STT Model
    • Word Error Rate
    • Character Error Rate
    • Performance when moderated for dataset size (Judge’s assessment)
  • Social need, ethics and value considerations (Judges’ expert assessment)
    • Originality / uniqueness in the ecosystem
    • Depth of community engagement
    • Suggested applications and use cases
    • Consideration of demographic bias

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY HERE.

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COMMON VOICE AFRICAN LANGUAGE MODEL CHALLENGE

OFFICIAL RULES

  1. Sponsor. Sponsor of the Common Voice African Language Model Challenge (the “Challenge”) is Mozilla Corporation, 2 Harrison St. #175, San Francisco, CA 94105.
  2. No Purchase Necessary; Entry Instructions. NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY MONEY IS NECESSARY TO ENTER. A PURCHASE WILL NOT IMPROVE THE CHANCES OF WINNING. This is a contest of skill. Odds of winning the Challenge depend on the number and quality of eligible entries received during the Challenge Period. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED AND WHERE ANY REGISTRATION, BONDING OR LOCALIZATION REQUIRED.

To enter and participate in the Challenge, you must fully complete the Challenge submission form on the Challenge page available at https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/common-voice-african-languages-stt-model-sprint/and submit the required entry submissions as provided on the Challenge page and in these Official Rules. You may enter as an individual or as part of a Team (as defined below). Teams may have no more than 5 members. By submitting your entry, you are agreeing to these Official Rules on behalf of yourself and all Team members, and by participating all Team members agree to the Official Rules as a participating entrant. A Team will collectively also be deemed an entrant. Your entry submission information must include (i) your name and email address, (ii) your idea name, (iii) all other information listed as required in the contest description below, and, if applicable, the names of all Team members. Your initial entry must also contain a short written presentation of your idea. All requested entry information must be provided. One entry per individual or Team. An individual may only participate on one team. Any attempt by any participant to obtain more than the stated number of entries by using multiple/different email or addresses, accounts, identities, or any other methods will void that participant's entries and that participant may be disqualified.

In the event of a dispute as to any entrant, the authorized account holder of the email address associated with the entry will be deemed to be the entrant. The “authorized account holder” is the natural person assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted address. A potential winner may be required to show proof of being the authorized account holder. In the event of an ongoing dispute as to any entrant, Sponsor has the right to make determination as to entrant(s) in its sole discretion.

For a group of individuals to enter the contest (a “Team”), the Team must agree to and designate one person as the agent of the Team to submit the entry and to accept the prize on behalf of the Team. Each individual on a Team must agree to these Official Rules. You may not make changes to your Team once registered to participate. By submitting an entry, the submitter represents that all Team members have read and agreed to these Official Rules.

All entries must meet the following criteria:

Each entry must include:

  • your email
  • a link to a GitHub repo with the code for your STT model for Luganda, Kinyarwanda, or Kiswahili using Common Voice data for those languages.
  • the results you are getting (WER, CER or similar)
  • the license for your model (it does not need to be open sourced)
  • A short statement explaining any additional information on the social need, ethics and value of your work

Entries may not contain likenesses of any individuals who are under 18 years of age, and may not contain the likeness of any individuals who have not provided their authorization. By submitting likeness of any individual, you represent that you have received permission from such person to include their likeness.

Entries may not contain material that is obscene, defamatory, libelous, threatening, pornographic, racially or ethnically offensive, or encourages conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or violate any law. Entries must be appropriate for viewing by the general public; appropriateness will be determined by Sponsor.

Entries must be original, exclusively created and owned by entrant, and the entrant must have all rights necessary to submit the entry.

Entries must be in English.

Sponsor reserves the right to reject any entry for any reason.

  1. Challenge Period. This Challenge begins at 12:01 am PT on 30th November 2022 and ends at 11:59 pm PT 15th December 2022 (the “Challenge Period”). Sponsor’s computer is the official time-keeping device for the Challenge. All entries must be received during the dates and times specified in the Challenge Period.
  2. Eligibility. In order to be eligible, participants must be at least the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence. Employees of Sponsor and its parent and affiliate companies as well as the immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings and children) and household members of each such employee are not eligible. Before participating in the Challenge, you should also consider whether you or your team members have any conflicting obligations that prevent participation. If an entrant is an employee of a corporation, government or an academic institution, or enrolled as a student, it is his or her sole responsibility to review, understand and abide by his or her employer’s, or academic institution’s policies regarding eligibility to participate in the Challenge. If an entrant is found to be in violation of his or her employer’s or academic institution’s policies, then he or she will be, and the Team may be, disqualified from participating in the Challenge and from being awarded or retaining any prize. Sponsor disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for disputes arising between an employee or student and his or her employer or academic institution related to the Challenge.

Contestants are not eligible to receive prizes if they are on the US Specifically Designated Nationals (SDN) list or if there are sanctions against the contestant’s country such that Mozilla is prohibited from paying them.

  1. Finalists and Winners. There will be 10 winners selected. Winners and runners up will be announced on or about January 12th 2023. The overall “best” entries will be selected as winners. Judging will be done by Sponsor or its designees, who shall have sole discretion in determining winners based on the following equally weighted criteria:
  2. Quality of the Speech-to-Text Model based on
    1. Word Error Rate
    2. Character Error Rate
    3. Performance when moderation for dataset size
  3. Social need, ethics, and value considerations, including:
    1. Originality / uniqueness in the ecosystem
    2. Depth of community engagement
    3. Suggested applications and use cases
    4. Consideration of demographic bias
  4. Prizes.
    10 winners will each receive: USD$1,000 by bank transfer or VISA gift card as preferred by the participant.
    Prizes will be delivered shortly after winners are announced on or about January 12th, 2023.

The aggregate retail value of all the prize(s) is approximately USD10,000. Team members may determine how to divide prizes among themselves. Team Prizes will be awarded to the agent of the Team. No substitution, assignment or transfer of the prize is permitted, except by Sponsor, who has the right to substitute a prize with another of comparable or greater value. Winners are responsible for all taxes and fees associated with the receipt and/or use of the prize, and winners may be required to provide tax information prior to receiving the prize.

Each winner agrees to self-report to applicable taxing authorities, as may be required by applicable laws.

Prize monies should be retained by individuals only in conformity with any applicable policies of his or her employers, academic institutions, or government regarding participation in and receipt of promotional consideration relating to the Challenge and receipt and retention of prize. If a government, employer’s or school’s policies are applicable, it is the entrant’s sole and ultimate responsibility, in consultation with his or her government, employer or school, to determine how and if prize will be retained and/or distributed and accounted for and we assume no responsibility for the decisions made by such government, employers or schools regarding this issue.

  1. Conditions of Participation. By submitting an entry for or participating in this Challenge, you agree to abide by these rules and any decision Sponsor makes regarding this Challenge, which Sponsor shall make in its sole discretion. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify and prosecute to the fullest extent permitted by law any participant or winner who, in Sponsor’s reasonable suspicion, tampers with Sponsor site, the entry process, intentionally submits more than a single entry, violates these rules, engages in fraud, attempted fraud, or acts in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner.

By submitting an entry for or participating in this Challenge, you agree to abide by Mozilla’s Community Participation Guidelines. Violation of the Community Participation Guidelines (“CPG”) by any Entrant will result in disqualification for that Entrant. The CPG is available at: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/governance/policies/participation/

Each Team is solely responsible for its own cooperation and teamwork. In no event will Sponsor officiate in any dispute between or among any Team(s) or its/their members regarding their conduct, participation, cooperation or contribution. In the event that any dispute cannot be resolved, Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to make a determination as to the identity of Team members or the team agent, and it may disqualify Teams and/or Team members in its sole discretion.

  1. Intellectual Property. Ownership of the pre-existing underlying intellectual property of the entrant remains the property of the entrant subject to Sponsor’s rights to reprint, display, reproduce, perform, use, and exhibit the entry and materials and information submitted, for the purpose of administering and promoting the Challenge and for any business, marketing and advertising purposes for the benefit of Sponsor. By participating in the Challenge, each entrant grants to Sponsor a non-exclusive, worldwide, fully paid, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, sub-licensable, license to reprint, display, reproduce, exploit, perform, use, and exhibit (including the right to make derivative works of) the entry and materials and information submitted on and in connection with the Challenge or use or receipt of the prize for any and all purposes in any medium.

Each participating entrant hereby warrants that any entry and other materials and information provided by entrant are original with entrant and do not violate or infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity, moral rights or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity, and do not violate any rules, regulations, or laws. If the entry or information or materials provided by entrant contain any material or elements that are not owned by entrant and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, entrant represents he or she has obtained, prior to submission of the entry and information or materials, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit use and exploitation of the entry and information and materials by Sponsor in the manner set forth in the Official Rules without additional compensation.

Each entrant warrants that the entry and materials and information provided do not contain information considered by entrant, its employees, employer, or personnel, or any other third party to be confidential, and that submission of the materials and information will not violate any agreements with third parties or policies that entrant is subject to. Entrant agrees that Sponsor has the right to verify the ownership and originality of all entries and that, upon Sponsor’s request, entrant must submit a written copy of any release or permission entrant has received from a third party granting entrant the right to use such property. Entrant understands and acknowledges that in the event a submission is selected as a winning entry, and entrant’s ownership, rights and the originality of the entry cannot be verified to the satisfaction of Sponsor or is in any other way ineligible, Sponsor may select an alternate winner based on the same judging criteria. Entrant acknowledges that other entrants may submit entries that are similar to yours and that they, or Sponsor, may already be considering or developing, or may subsequently consider or develop independent of the Challenge, content or ideas that are related or similar to yours. You acknowledge that this does not create in Sponsor or others any obligation or liability to you.

  1. Disclaimer, Release and Limit of Liability. SPONSOR MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING ANY PRIZE OR YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE PROMOTION. BY ENTERING THE PROMOTION OR RECEIPT OF ANY PRIZE, EACH ENTRANT AGREES TO RELEASE AND HOLD HARMLESS SPONSOR AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, SUPPLIERS, DISTRIBUTORS, ADVERTISING/PROMOTION AGENCIES, PARTNERS, AND PRIZE SUPPLIERS, AND EACH OF THEIR RESPECTIVE PARENT COMPANIES AND EACH SUCH COMPANY’S OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES AND AGENTS (COLLECTIVELY, THE “RELEASED PARTIES”) FROM AND AGAINST ANY CLAIM OR CAUSE OF ACTION, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PERSONAL INJURY, DEATH, OR DAMAGE TO OR LOSS OF PROPERTY, ARISING OUT OF PARTICIPATION IN THE PROMOTION OR RECEIPT OR USE OR MISUSE OF ANY PRIZE. THE RELEASED PARTIES ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR: (1) ANY INCORRECT OR INACCURATE INFORMATION, WHETHER CAUSED BY ENTRANTS, PRINTING ERRORS OR BY ANY OF THE EQUIPMENT OR PROGRAMMING ASSOCIATED WITH OR UTILIZED IN THE PROMOTION; (2) TECHNICAL FAILURES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO MALFUNCTIONS, INTERRUPTIONS, OR DISCONNECTIONS IN PHONE LINES OR NETWORK HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE; (3) UNAUTHORIZED HUMAN INTERVENTION IN ANY PART OF THE ENTRY PROCESS OR THE PROMOTION; (4) TECHNICAL OR HUMAN ERROR WHICH MAY OCCUR IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROMOTION OR THE PROCESSING OF ENTRIES; OR (5) ANY INJURY OR DAMAGE TO PERSONS OR PROPERTY WHICH MAY BE CAUSED, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, FROM ENTRANT’S PARTICIPATION IN THE PROMOTION OR RECEIPT OR USE OR MISUSE OF ANY PRIZE. No more than the stated number of prizes will be awarded. If someone cheats, or a virus, bug, bot, catastrophic event, or any other unforeseen or unexpected action or event affects the fairness and/or integrity of this Challenge, Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, change, or suspend this Challenge. This right is reserved whether the event is due to human or technical error. If a solution cannot be found to restore the integrity of the Challenge, we reserve the right, but are not required, to select winner(s) from among all eligible entries received before we had to cancel, change or suspend the Challenge.
  2. Privacy and Use of Personal Information. Sponsor collects personal information from you when you enter this Challenge. Sponsor reserves the right to use any information collected in accordance with its privacy policy, which may be found at https://www.mozilla.org/privacy/.
  3. GOVERNING LAW AND DISPUTES. THESE OFFICIAL RULES AND THE PROMOTION ARE GOVERNED BY, AND WILL BE CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH, THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, AND THE FORUM AND VENUE FOR ANY DISPUTE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE OFFICIAL RULES SHALL BE IN SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. IF THE CONTROVERSY OR CLAIM IS NOT OTHERWISE RESOLVED THROUGH DIRECT DISCUSSIONS OR MEDIATION, IT SHALL THEN BE RESOLVED BY FINAL AND BINDING ARBITRATION ADMINISTERED BY JUDICIAL ARBITRATION AND MEDIATION SERVICES, INC., IN ACCORDANCE WITH ITS STREAMLINED ARBITRATION RULES AND PROCEDURES OR SUBSEQUENT VERSIONS THEREOF (“JAMS RULES”). THE JAMS RULES FOR SELECTION OF AN ARBITRATOR SHALL BE FOLLOWED, EXCEPT THAT THE ARBITRATOR SHALL BE EXPERIENCED AND LICENSED TO PRACTICE LAW IN CALIFORNIA. ANY SUCH CONTROVERSY OR CLAIM WILL BE ARBITRATED ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS, AND WILL NOT BE CONSOLIDATED IN ANY ARBITRATION WITH ANY CLAIM OR CONTROVERSY OF ANY OTHER PARTY. ALL PROCEEDINGS BROUGHT PURSUANT TO THIS PARAGRAPH WILL BE CONDUCTED IN SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. THE REMEDY FOR ANY CLAIM SHALL BE LIMITED TO ACTUAL DAMAGES, AND IN NO EVENT SHALL ANY PARTY BE ENTITLED TO RECOVER PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING ATTORNEY’S FEES OR OTHER SUCH RELATED COSTS OF BRINGING A CLAIM, OR TO RESCIND THIS AGREEMENT OR SEEK INJUNCTIVE OR ANY OTHER EQUITABLE RELIEF. SPONSOR’S TOTAL LIABILITY UNDER, ARISING OUT OF, OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT SHALL NOT EXCEED THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF THE PRIZE OFFERED TO THE WINNER OF THE CHALLENGE.
  4. Publicity Grant. Except where prohibited, participation in the Challenge constitutes entrant’s consent to Sponsor’s and Sponsor’s designees’ publication, broadcast, display, sharing and use of entrant’s and Team’s name, likeness, voice, image, persona, biographical information, entry and audio and visual content shared by entrant for any purposes in any media, worldwide, without further payment or consideration.
  5. No Confidentiality. Submissions will be shared with others and portions of entries may be reproduced elsewhere, including in connection with Challenge-related publicity materials. You should not disclose any information in your entry that is proprietary or confidential. No confidential relationship is established between you and Sponsor in connection with your entry.
  6. Winners List. Individuals may request the name of winners by submitting a self-addressed stamped envelope prior to January 1, 2023 to Mozilla Challenge Winners List Request, 2 Harrison St. #175, San Francisco, CA 94105. Vermont residents may omit postage.