Rules of the 2015 EDF Pulse Awards


Rules of the 2015 EDF Pulse Awards
ARTICLE 1 - The Organiser ............................................................................................................. 2
ARTICLE 2 - Purpose of the EDF Pulse Awards ................................................................................ 2
ARTICLE 3 - Conditions of Entry ..................................................................................................... 3
3.1
Corporate entities eligible to enter ......................................................................................... 3
3.2
Support from an expert or innovative organization ............................................................... 3
3.3
State of progress of the project .............................................................................................. 4
3.4
The applications must be submitted on time and in the form of a full application................ 4
ARTICLE 4 - Selection Criteria ........................................................................................................ 5
ARTICLE 5 - Selection Process ........................................................................................................ 5
5.1
Approval of 100 applications by a selection committee ......................................................... 5
5.2
Selection of 30 applications .................................................................................................... 6
5.3
Selection of 12 Nominees........................................................................................................ 6
5.4
Preselection of 6 Finalists by an international jury ................................................................. 6
5.5
Choosing three Winners in a public vote ................................................................................ 6
ARTICLE 6 - The Awards Ceremony ................................................................................................ 7
ARTICLE 7 - Timeline ..................................................................................................................... 8
ARTICLE 8 - Prize Money and Visibility........................................................................................... 8
ARTICLE 9 - Confidentiality and Intellectual Property ..................................................................... 9
9.1
Intellectual Property................................................................................................................ 9
9.2
Confidentiality ......................................................................................................................... 9
9.3
Processing personal data....................................................................................................... 10
9.4
Permission to use the images of Candidate team members, and to describe their projects 10
ARTICLE 10 - Obligations of the Candidates ................................................................................. 11
ARTICLE 11 - Applicable Law and Disputes ................................................................................... 12
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
ARTICLE 1 - THE ORGANISER
ELECTRICITE DE FRANCE, limited company with a capital of 930 004 234 Euro, having its
headquarters at 22-30 avenue de Wagram, 75382 Paris cedex 08, France, entered in the
Paris Trade Register under number B 552 081 317 referred to in this document as 'EDF' or
'the Organiser', and represented by its Chief Executive Officer, is holding the 'EDF Pulse
Awards' (hereafter referred to as the 'Awards' from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015 inclusive.
ARTICLE 2 - PURPOSE OF THE EDF PULSE AWARDS
EDF, one of the world's leading energy companies, develops innovative solutions for a lowcarbon energy mix and strives for frugal and efficient electricity consumption.
In furtherance of these objectives, EDF launched the 'EDF Pulse' programme to support
innovation in society and incentivize progress.
In 2015, three EDF Pulse Awards will be given out to innovative projects using electricity.

the EDF Pulse Award in the Smart Living and Electricity category
This Award will be given to an in-development project for an innovative product or
service, which must help improve the everyday life of individuals or communities,
particularly in the fields of smart home, smart buildings, mobility and sustainable
cities.

the EDF Pulse Award in the Health and Electricity category
This Award will be given to an in-development innovation aimed at improving health
and well-being for people at any age – new smart technologies for medicine,
connected health services, etc.

the EDF Pulse Award in the Science and Electricity category
This Award will be given to research conducted in the field of energy storage by a
public research laboratory or a start-up working with a laboratory.
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
ARTICLE 3 - CONDITIONS OF ENTRY
To be eligible for entry, a project must match one of the three Awards categories (see article
2) and use electricity.
It must also:
1. be from a corporate entity (see 3.1),
2. be supported by an expert or an innovative organization (see 3.2),
3. present an innovation in a stage prior to market launch, or in the seed phase for the
Science and Electricity category (see 3.3),
4. be submitted on time and in the form of a full application (see 3.4).
3.1
Corporate entities eligible to enter
To be eligible to enter, a 'Project promoter' must be a representative of a company or public
research laboratory that meets the characteristics described below.
Entry into the EDF Pulse Awards is open to:
 Small businesses:
o that have filed for incorporation or committed to do so before 31/12/2014, with
domicile in the European Union,
o and that are independent of a corporate group of over 500 people.
 Public research laboratories domiciled in the European Union (Science and
Electricity category).
3.2
Support from an expert or innovative organization
The Project promoters must be sponsored by an expert in the relevant field of innovation
(smart living, health, or science) or by an innovative organization, or meet one of the
following criteria:
 Have a legal or tax status indicating the innovative nature of the planned business
(e.g. JEI in France)
 Have been recognized or awarded by a regional, national, or international
organization (e.g.: recognition from a business cluster, winning a contest, etc.)
 Have been selected by a nationally or internationally known incubator or accelerator
 Have received a grant or funding from an organization that confirms the project's
innovative nature (e.g. a European grant, a public investment bank, etc.)
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
3.3
State of progress of the project
Furthermore, this innovation must:
 for the Smart Living and Electricity and Health and Electricity categories,
o have already been prototyped, or at least mocked up
o and be near the market launch phase.
 for the Science and Electricity category,
o be in the seed phase
o and have already been described in instructional materials.
3.4
The applications must be submitted on time and in the form of a full
application
To be eligible for the Awards, the Project promoters must complete an application, by visiting
the website http://www.pulse.edf.com, in the 'EDF Pulse Awards section'. They must choose
which category to submit their projects in.
The list of documents to provide will be specified in the application.
Registration will be closed after the 100th project has been accepted (see 5.1), or at
midnight (GMT+1) on 30/11/2014, whichever comes first.
At the time they send in their application, Project promoters will receive an electronic notice
confirming receipt. They will be informed of whether their application has been approved
within eight weeks following that date (see 5.1). Project promoters whose applications have
been accepted will hereinafter be called 'Candidates'.
Applications submitted with missing information, or after the date defined above, will be
ineligible. Any inaccurate or false statements, or fraud, may lead to the Candidate being
disqualified.
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
ARTICLE 4 - SELECTION CRITERIA
The received projects will be evaluated based on the following selection criteria:
 Ease of understanding the innovation
 Progress at individual and/or community levels
 Originality and distinctiveness of the innovation
 Economic viability of the project (potential market, business model, etc.)
 Quality of the team
 Clarity, accuracy, and concision of the application
 Expected impact of the EDF Pulse Awards on the project
 Interest from Internet users
These criteria will be examined at the different stages of the selection process, set out in
article 5.
ARTICLE 5 - SELECTION PROCESS
Teams that have submitted their application by the deadline are called 'Project promoters'.
The 100 teams whose projects have been accepted by the Organiser are called
'Candidates'.
The 12 teams whose projects have been selected to be presented to the Jury are called
'Nominees'.
The 6 teams whose projects have been selected by the Jury are called 'Finalists'.
The 3 teams whose projects have been selected by the public vote are called 'Winners'.
5.1
Approval of 100 applications by a selection committee
The projects presented through the application site will be analyzed by order received as the
applications come in, by a selection committee tasked with approving 100 of them.
For each application, that committee will verify that it meets the eligibility conditions, and then
assess it based on the selection criteria mentioned in article 4. It will then decide whether or
not to include the project among the list of 100 Candidates, and inform the Project promoter
of the decision.
Once 100 projects have been approved, no more projects may be submitted or examined.
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
5.2
Selection of 30 applications
The selection committee will then select the top 30 applications, based on the
aforementioned selection criteria. EDF cannot be held liable for any inaccuracy in the
information that is used (sales figures, EBIT, staff, patents and/or diplomas held, etc.) in the
Candidates' applications for this selection.
These 30 Candidates will then be asked to fill out an additional questionnaire, followed by a
phone interview lasting about 30 minutes, so that they can be evaluated in greater detail.
An article will be placed online about each of the 30 projects at the website
http://www.pulse.edf.com.
The public response will be tracked for the projects (number of 'Likes' on the articles).
5.3
Selection of 12 Nominees
Based on additional information collected, the selection committee will identify 12 Nominees
projects (four in each category) which will be presented to the jury.
5.4
Preselection of 6 Finalists by an international jury
A jury chaired by the CEO of EDF Group, and made up of international figures, will meet for
a full day in March 2014, to hear oral presentations from the 12 Nominees candidates.
Those Candidates are committed to making themselves available for this event. The travel
and accommodation costs of one representative for each Nominees project will be covered
by the Organiser.
Each member of the jury will judge the 'pitch' (oral presentation) of each Candidate, keeping
the selection criteria in mind.
The pitches from the Nominees projects may be filmed for use in later communications.
The jury will have the final say in naming six Finalists, two in each category.
5.5
Choosing three Winners in a public vote
Voting will be opened to all Internet users in April 2015 in order to select three winners from
among the two Finalists in each category.
Each voter will select his or her favourite project from the two Finalists in each of the
categories Smart Living, Health, and Science.
The voter may choose to vote in one, two or three categories. If he or she votes in just one or
two of those categories, he or she will be able to vote in the other remaining categories at
any later time in the voting period.
Each voter must confirm his or her vote by email or using the dedicated Facebook
application. The rule is one email address = one vote.
Once the vote has been confirmed, the voter will not be able to change it. It will only be
possible to vote once in each category.
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
Any incomplete or erroneous votes will be met with an error message and considered invalid.
Votes from all possible channels will be added together for each project.
At the end of the voting period, the project that received the most votes in each category will
be declared the winner. Therefore, there will be one winning project in each of the three
categories, Smart Living and Electricity, Health and Electricity, and Science and Electricity.
The vote count will be certified as accurate by a bailiff, who will issue an official report at the
end of the voting.
Non-winning projects will not be able to appeal the results.
In the event of a tie, a random draw between the two tied projects will determine the winner.
ARTICLE 6 - THE AWARDS CEREMONY
The EDF Pulse Awards will be given out during a symposium chaired by the CEO of EDF,
which will take place in May or June 2015 in Paris (date and location to be confirmed).
The winning candidates are committed to being available for the event.
Each Finalist must be represented by at least one of its members at this ceremony.
The Organiser shall organize and pay for travel and accommodation for one member of each
Winning Team.
The person representing each Finalist Team must prepare a short presentation about the
team and its project for the EDF Pulse awards ceremony.
The awards ceremony will be filmed and may be broadcast or rebroadcast online, in
particular on social media.
Each Winning Team will receive an EDF PULSE AWARD trophy specific to its category.
The awards are non-transferrable. They may not be challenged in any way, nor exchanged
or returned for any reason whatsoever. Consequently, no disputes of any sort will receive a
reply. If a Winning Team does not want to claim its prize money or cannot, it will not be
entitled to any compensation.
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
ARTICLE 7 - TIMELINE
Key Stages
Schedule
Submission of applications
Ends on the date when the 100th
project is approved, no later than 30
November 2014
Selection of 12 Nominees projects
1 December 2014 – 13 February
2015
Selection of 6 Finalist projects by a jury
February - March 2015
Public vote: Electing 3 Winning projects
April 2015
EDF Pulse Awards Ceremony
May – June 2015
ARTICLE 8 - PRIZE MONEY AND VISIBILITY
 All Candidate projects may be mentioned on the website www.pulse.edf.com.
 'Top 30' Candidate projects will each have their own article online at the website
www.pulse.edf.com. EDF cannot be held liable for the inaccuracy of published
information taken from the Candidates' statements.
All of these projects will also receive visibility through public communication campaigns
centred on the Pulse EDF Awards (advertising, website, social media).

The six Finalists, in particular, will be featured in a large advertising campaign
inviting people to vote.

Each Winning Team will be invited to the Awards Ceremony.
It will receive prize money of 100,000 euros excluding tax towards the future
development of its project. That money will be paid by bank transfer or cheque to the
Winning Team's organization.
These teams will also be featured in an EDF promotional campaign for the Awards and
Winners after the ceremony, and invited by EDF to public relations events (seminars,
symposiums, etc.) that allow the winners to present their projects and grow their
networks, at least until the end of 2015.
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
ARTICLE 9 - CONFIDENTIALITY AND INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY
9.1
Intellectual Property

For the projects:
All intellectual and industrial property rights related to the delivery of projects submitted by
the Candidates remain the property of the Project promoters in question.
The Candidate hereby certifies that they hold intellectual and industrial property rights or that
they have the necessary permission relating to all intellectual and industrial property rights in
connection with the project in question. They hereby safeguard the Organiser against any
claim by any third party with regards to all intellectual and industrial property rights related to
this project as well as the financial consequences for which they hereby declare they shall
take full responsibility.
The Candidate hereby certifies that they are not bound by any obligation relating to the
project or the various related creations that could restrict their eligibility to take part.
Under no circumstances may the Organiser be held liable should a project or its constituent
parts include reproductions of protected works.
Entering the Awards may not be interpreted as bestowing on the Organiser and their
representatives any permission or rights in terms of industrial or commercial use of the
aforementioned confidential information. However, the Organiser will be entitled to
communicate about the projects as stipulated below. (see 9.4)

Use of the EDF and EDF Pulse brands:
The Candidates may include a link from their website to the website www.pulse.edf.com and
use the names EDF and EDF Pulse in written but not graphical form.
The Candidates not selected as Finalists may not use EDF's brands and logos in graphical
form, particularly the EDF and EDF Pulse brands.
The graphical use of the EDF and EDF Pulse brands shall be reserved to Finalists that have
signed a special written authorization setting the agreed terms of use.
9.2
Confidentiality
The Candidates may specify, in their application, which components are confidential and for
the sole use of the jury and its experts. This confidentiality shall be guaranteed by the
Organiser. However, the Candidate may not request for the application to remain confidential
in its entirety.
The Organiser, the people appointed by the Organiser, and in particular the members of the
selection committee and those of the jury, shall treat the information they receive through
examining the projects as confidential: This information cannot be disclosed without the prior
written agreement of the Candidates.
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
Nevertheless, the Organiser may:

communicate to the press and publish on the website the name of the project, a
picture of the project and the names of the Project promoters, whether for a
Candidate, Nominees project, Finalist or Winning Team;

make public the essential and non-confidential features of the projects submitted
without compensation of any kind.
Each Candidate is solely responsible for judging whether Confidential Information should be
protected and the arrangements for such protection.
9.3
Processing personal data
The Project promoters' personal information collected in the course of the EDF PULSE
AWARDS is necessary in order for them to participate. They are processed in accordance
with the French data privacy law of 6 January 1978 as amended (the 'Loi Informatique et
Libertés'). In accordance with articles 38 ff. of that law, every Project promoter has a right to
access and correct personal data concerning him or her, and may object to the transfer of
that data to third parties by writing to the Organiser at the following address:
EDF - EDF Pulse Awards - Direction de la Communication –
67 avenue de Wagram – 75017 Paris – FRANCE
9.4
Permission to use the images of Candidate team members, and to
describe their projects
Each member of the Candidate teams grants the Organiser, or any other person appointed
by them, permission to photograph, film or record them and use their image, voice,
comments and the presentation of their project, in a non-confidential way, as set out in article
9.2, recorded in any format during reporting, filming and/or interviews carried out when
preparing or promoting the awards, and at the EDF Pulse Awards Ceremony, at no cost.
Each member of the Candidate teams grants EDF or any other person appointed by them
permission to photograph and/or film the media used for the project presentation and to
record, circulate and use these images when preparing or promoting the Awards and at the
EDF Pulse Awards Ceremony, at no cost.
Camera shots and interviews produced in this way shall be used solely as part of the internal
and external communication of EDF or any company belonging to the EDF group, whether
national or international, for the purposes of training, promotion or notifying the public about
its activities.
This permission relates in particular to the right to represent or arrange for the representation
of, to reproduce or arrange for the reproduction of, all or some of the photographs and films
of the Candidate team, excluding confidential information (see article 9.2) whether directly by
the Organiser, through any third party authorized by the Organiser, anywhere in the world, by
any means and using any technical procedure known or unknown to date, particularly
through print, broadcast or online news, on any media and in any format, and circulate them
in both the commercial and non-commercial sectors, and the public and private sectors, for
the purpose of public or domestic viewings.
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
This permission also bestows on the Organiser, or any other person they may appoint, the
right to use, copy and circulate, in full or in part, on any media and according to the
aforementioned conditions, any comments that may have been made by the representative
of the Candidate team as part of EDF Group's internal and external communication about the
Awards.
This permission to use images is valid for 10 years from the acceptance date of these rules.
ARTICLE 10 - OBLIGATIONS OF THE CANDIDATES
Obligations of all Project promoters:

Entering the EDF PULSE AWARDS requires the full and unreserved acceptance of
these rules in their entirety, which constitutes a contract between the Organiser and
the Project promoter, and a commitment to guarantee the accuracy of the information
provided.
The rules have been legally filed with: Jean-Louis Hauguel, Huissier de Justice, 14
rue du Faubourg St Honoré, 78008 Paris – France, [email protected] – 08 99 02
56 87.
They can be viewed and downloaded at the website http://pulse.edf.com.
Obligations of the 100 Candidates:

grant the Organiser permission to communicate to the general public the title of the
project and the non-confidential information from the application (see articles 9 and
10)

grant the Organiser permission to use the images attached to the project, particularly
the images of the Candidates

if the Candidate team is selected to be among the Top 30: commit to being available
in order to answer a written questionnaire integrated into the application website and
participate in a 30-minute interview in order to better evaluate the project, the team
and the competition
Obligations of the 12 Nominees projects:

commit to being available so that the Organiser or one of its appointed partners can
create communication tools (videos, photos, interviews) regarding the projects

commit to being available on the day of the jury session for one day in order to
promote their project to the jury

grant the Organiser permission to take a video of the presentation 'pitches' before the
jury for later use in communication.
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
Obligations of the 6 Finalists:

commit to being available so that the Organiser or one of its appointed partners can
create communication tools (videos, photos, interviews) for the public voting
campaign.
Obligations of the 3 Winners:

commit to sending at least one representative to the Awards Ceremony and to
preparing a short presentation on your team and the project

commit to providing the Organiser with information about how the project is
developing within 24 months of the Awards Ceremony, on request.
ARTICLE 11 - APPLICABLE LAW AND DISPUTES
These rules are governed solely by French law.
Any dispute that may occur regarding the interpretation of these rules shall be expressly
submitted for the discretion of EDF, who will make the final decision.
No claims relating to the Awards shall be acknowledged after fifteen (15) days have passed
following the close of the Awards.
EDF reserves the right to modify, postpone, extend, or simply cancel the Awards, without any
of the Candidates being entitled to any sort of compensation as a result. The Organiser may
in no way be held liable should the Rules be amended for any reason, even if no notice is
given. Project promoters shall be notified of any changes via the website.
EDF cannot be held liable if one or more Project promoters is unable to visit the application
website for reasons of technical failure or any problem related in particular but not limited to:
- network traffic
- human or electrical error
- malicious intrusion
- telephone connection
- hardware or software
- any hardware or software malfunctions
- an event of force majeure
- disruptions that could affect the normal operation of the contest.
The Organiser reserves the right to request from the Candidates all forms of proof in support
of the information collected regarding the application. Any false or inaccurate statement,
and any fraud, will lead to the disqualification of the Project promoter; the checking or
screening processes conducted by the various Awards officials are considered decisive.
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
If such statements or fraud are discovered after the Award Ceremony, and concern one of
the six Finalists, the Organiser shall have sole discretion to request the repayment of all or
some of the prize money. EDF also reserves the right to take legal action against
anyone alleged to have committed or attempted fraud.
EDF cannot be held liable in any way with respect to Project promoters for any fraud they
may have committed.
If a Candidate fails to adhere to the rules, EDF reserves the right to disqualify him, as a
matter of ordinary law, without that Project promoter being able to claim any restitution
whatsoever.
The Organiser cannot be held liable if the vote is cancelled, extended, shortened, altered or
postponed due to force majeure or circumstances beyond its will. Any changes will be
indicated in advance by appropriate means, and a new set of rules will be filed with a bailiff.
The Organiser cannot be held liable for any Internet malfunctions that prevent the vote from
proceeding, particularly due to outside malicious acts. Each person is solely responsible for
their own visit to the website and participation in the voting.
The Organiser also cannot be held liable if one or more voters cannot connect to the website
due to any technical failures or problems due to network traffic.
In all cases, if the proper administrative and/or technical operation of the voting is disrupted
by a virus, computer bug, unauthorized human intervention, or any other cause beyond the
Organiser's control, the Organiser reserves the right to suspend or interrupt the voting.
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