Yes. Anyone can join Zindi and enter competitions! Some competitions, however, may have separate prizes specifically for data scientists domiciled in Africa. This will be stated in the specific competition rules.
How does it work to compete?
You will build a machine learning model based on the training data provided. You will submit your results based on the test data. All solutions will be automatically ranked based on accuracy on a public leaderboard. The public leaderboard will be based on a designated subset of the test dataset. The final ranking which will be announced on the designated close date of the competition will be based on the entire test dataset.
Join the competition (you must enter to download the data)
Familiarize yourself with the competition information and rules
Download the data
Build your model in any language, using any open-source packages, using the given training set (The specifics requirements will be in the Competition Rules)
Submit the results of your model on the test set. (The specific requirements will be in the Competition Rules)
See yourself on the Leaderboard!
The final winners will be announced at the close of the competition
Will I give up rights to my solution if I enter a competition?
If you enter a competition, you will submit only the results of your model, not the code and model itself. If you win a competition and are eligible for prize money, you will be asked to submit your code. For most competitions, upon submission of your solution (code), rights to the solution are transferred to Zindi and/or the competition host. Please see the rules for each competition.
How do I win?
The most accurate results against the test set wins. Accuracy will be measured with a set algorithm stated in the competition rules. These algorithms include: Mean Absolute Error, Weighted Mean Absolute Error. Root Mean Squared Error, Log Loss, Area Under Curve (AUC), Mean Average Precision
How will I get my prize money? Are there any conditions?
The prize money will be paid directly to you in full. You are responsible for any fees or taxes liable in your home country upon receiving the funds. Any relevant conditions will be stated in the Competition Rules and Terms of Use.
Are teams allowed?
At the moment, competitions are only on an individual basis. There is no restriction on individual users getting help from others or even working as teams, but submissions must be made by one individual user and that individual user must have full rights to submit the results that she or he submits. We hope to add the functionality of allowing for teams to the Zindi platform in the near future.
What is the Public and Private Leaderboard?
The leaderboard that you see while a competition is still open is the Public Leaderboard. For most competitions, unless stated otherwise, this leaderboard is based on 80% of the test data. When you make a submission, your submission is judged on accuracy on 80% of the test data and you are ranked on the Public Leaderboard. The solution(s) you submit are also simultaneously ranked on a Private Leaderboard that uses 100% of the data. At the close of the competition, the Private Leaderboard will be made public. Prizes are awarded based on the Private Leaderboard. This ensures that models are not overfitted to the test set.