Call for Competitions – The Web Conference 2026

We are excited to announce, for the first time in the Web conference series, a Competitions Track. We invite academic institutions, industrial organizations, and non-profit groups to submit a proposal for organizing competitions that address topics relevant to the Web Conference community.

Organizers and winners of accepted competitions will be invited to publish their post-competition analysis in the Web Conference Companion Proceedings and to present them in spotlight talks at the conference.

We particularly encourage proposals that tackle significant scientific or technological challenges with a positive societal impact. Proposals focusing on how Web technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can contribute to pressing societal issues are highly welcomed.

In addition to societal impact, we seek competitions that push the boundaries of knowledge in application domains such as education, climate, agriculture and environmental sustainability, healthcare, information preservation, and worldwide digital inclusion.

Given the evolving nature of Web technologies, we also welcome proposals that address challenges such as misinformation, privacy concerns, and digital inequality. We strongly encourage submissions from researchers with diverse backgrounds and identities.

Important Dates

• Competition proposal submission: October 13, 2025
• Proposal notification: October 17, 2025
• Competition period: October 28, 2025 – January 30, 2026
• Notification to winners: February 2, 2026
• Camera-ready submission: February 9, 2026

All deadlines are end-of-day in Anywhere on Earth (AoE) time zone.

Key Considerations

Proposals should emphasize inclusivity, both in terms of the organizing team and participants. We encourage recognition tiers that promote broad participation, including awards for underrepresented groups or student participants.

Competition Presentation

Accepted competitions will feature in a dedicated Competition Track at The Web Conference 2026, where participants and organizers will present and discuss results.

Submission Guidelines

Competition proposals should be submitted through the WWW2026-tracks instance (select Special Track: Competitions) by October 1, 2025 (AoE).

Proposals must include:

• Title of the competition
• Challenge description and relevance
• Dataset details and accessibility
• Evaluation metrics and criteria
• Competition format and fairness mechanisms
• Organizing team and inclusiveness plan
• Outreach plan
• Timeline and awards
• Implementation details: infrastructure, teamwork, privacy concerns, Q&A, baseline solutions, impact and transparency.

Reviewing and Selection Process

Proposals will be evaluated by the competition program committee based on:

• Relevance & Impact: originality, societal/scientific value
• Evaluation Protocol: fairness, available data, baseline methods
• Logistics: feasibility, organizer experience, inclusivity

Proceedings

Accepted competitions require a 4–8 page paper in the Web Conference Proceedings. Post-competition analyses may be submitted to future tracks. Winners will be invited to submit detailed papers, published in the Companion Proceedings.

Competition Chairs

Evelyne Viegas (Microsoft Research, USA)
Lisheng Sun Hosoya (Université Paris-Saclay, France)
Mouadh Yagoubi (Technology Innovation Institute, UAE)

Contact: competitions-www2026@acm.org