A lighting talk is a short presentation that emphasizes the outcome of work completed. In general, lightning talks spend little time discussing background motivation and instead emphasize the objective and outcome of work completed.
Conference Themes
A submission should emphasize at least one of the conference themes. Authors will be asked to indicate the main theme of their submission.
Stage of Development
A submission must clearly indicate the stage of work completed, and emphasize the outcomes and impacts of that stage in the development process. Authors will be asked to indicate the stage of development when submitting work. This information will help reviewers understand the goals and expected outcomes of submissions; it will not be published with the submission.
The below stages of development provide a concise guide to help authors understand the scope of their work. Authors should emphasize the strengths and outcomes of their completed work without speculating into other stages of the development process.
- Concept—needs identification, market evaluation, concept development
- Prototype—prototyping, technology, early implementation, testing, evaluation, results
- Deployment—scaling, management, supply chain, monitoring
- Other—all development phases, education, sustainability planning, financing, etc.
This guide has been created for technical solutions to humanitarian challenges. The stage “Other” will be available as an option at the time of submission should authors wish to write-in an alternative stage or scope of work.
Submission Content
Deadlines for submitting content for a lightning talk can be found here. Required content includes
- Abstract submission – 200 word abstract for review
- Draft submission – Draft presentation for review
- Final submission – Revised presentation that incorporates reviewer comments
An additional submission may be required if the presentation requires major revisions. You may make minor adjustments to the presentation after final submission and bring an updated copy to the conference.
Submission Requirements
Submissions that do not meet the below requirements may be rejected without review.
- Language—All submissions must be in English.
- Formatting—You may use your own slideshow template or the conference slideshow template. The conference template can be found here.
- Slideshow—Your presentation of the slideshow must be 10-20 minutes in length, including Q&A. Presenters that speak over 20 minutes will be stopped as a courtesy to the remaining speakers in the session.
- Abstract—The maximum size of the abstract is 200 words.
- Non-commercial—Presentations and abstracts must not be commercial in nature.
- Submission format—Submissions are only accepted in PDF.
Presentation Guidelines
Guidelines for the slideshow presentation can be found here (PDF).