Originality of Work: All submitted material must be created by registered team members during the competition period. Pre-existing projects are not eligible.

Tools: Participants may use any software or platform, including design tools, no-code builders, and programming environments. No particular tool is required, and the core evaluation criteria do not favour any level of technical fidelity. The Technical Execution bonus described above is additional to those criteria and is not required to place.

Outside Assistance: Participants may seek general guidance from mentors, teachers, and the competition community. Substantive work performed by non-participants will result in disqualification.

Relevance: Proposed solutions must address the specific business presented in the case packet. Generic solutions capable of applying to any company will be scored accordingly.

Artificial Intelligence Tools:  Artificial intelligence tools are permitted. Teams must disclose the nature of their use on the submission form. Disclosure will not reduce a team's score.

Intellectual Property: Participants retain ownership of their submissions. By entering, teams grant the Partner Business a non-exclusive right to consider and potentially implement submitted ideas, and grant the Organizers the right to publish submissions for promotional purposes.

Conduct: Participants are expected to treat all other participants, mentors, judges, and Organizers with respect. Harassment, discrimination, and abusive conduct will result in immediate disqualification.

Contact with Judges: Participants may not contact members of the judging panel regarding their submission at any point during the competition.

Deadline: The Day 7 submission deadline is final. Late submissions will not be accepted under any circumstances, including technical difficulty on the part of a participant. Teams are advised to submit well in advance of the deadline.

Grounds for Disqualification: Plagiarism; substantive work performed by non-participants; omission of a required submission component; breach of the conduct rules; distribution of the case packet outside the competition.