The UK government has announced a £1m investment for Nesta’s Longitude Explorer Prize, which challenges young entrepreneurs to create tech for a better world.
Students aged 11 to 16 across the UK can enter the competition by developing apps and technology to address the four grand challenges as identified in the government’s modern industrial strategy:
- Becoming greener
- Healthy ageing
- Cleaning up transport
- The AI and data revolution
First-round winners will be given the chance to work with expert mentors from industry to develop their products, and to test their ideas in a Dragon’s Den-style pitch, which will give them the opportunity to win up to £10,000 in cash prizes for their school.
Becoming greener, ageing healthily, cleaning up our transport and how we use AI and big data are today’s grand challenges and opportunities.
– Chris Skidmore, science and innovation minister
Science and innovation minister Chris Skidmore said: “Becoming greener, ageing healthily, cleaning up our transport and how we use AI and big data are today’s grand challenges and opportunities that can put the UK at the forefront of industries of the future.
“This new competition will not only help thousands of young people seize these opportunities, but also become the next generation of digital entrepreneurs to stay at the global cutting edge of innovation – a key part of our modern industrial strategy.”
Innovations need to be readily accessible for people around the country to help new technology and innovation benefit all sections of society.
The Longitute Explorer Prize will be open from September 2019. More information can be found here: https://longitudeexplorer.challenges.org/
