Happening in the UK for the first time, the Solve for Tomorrow contest welcomes entrepreneurs aged 16-25, and sees teams from across the country create and develop ideas to help tackle one of four key challenges faced by society: education, environment, diversity & inclusion, and social isolation.
The winners of the competition, to be announced in July, will receive a £10,000 cash prize and six months of support from Samsung and innovation centre Digital Catapult, while runners-up will receive additional prizes and Samsung products.
Competition entrants have taken inspiration for their innovations from all areas of society, including events from the past year, and looked to tackle a range of environmental and social issues using technology.
The chosen semi-finalists will look to further developing their ideas, and supported by a Samsung mentor and Digital Catapult, they aim to reach the final round of judging, where they can transform their concepts into reality.
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“Through our ‘Solve for Tomorrow’ programme, we hoped to find young people from across the UK who are driven by the desire to make positive change in their communities and a brilliant idea to use tech to help them achieve it,” said Jessie Soohyun Park, head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Samsung UK.
“The calibre of entrants we received has been incredible. We have been moved by the personal stories shared and humbled by their innovative approach to solving the issues they told us mattered to them.
“As a business, we’re dedicated to continue providing young people with a platform to develop their skills and confidence to grow into the next generation of innovators. I’m excited to see what’s next for our finalists, as they go through to the next stage of our programme.”
Geraldina Iraheta, chief commercial officer at Digital Catapult, commented: “At a moment in time when young people are facing many obstacles, we’ve been truly inspired by the wide range of ambitious, innovative ideas to create positive, meaningful and lasting change.
“We’re looking forward to guiding the semi-finalists through the next stage of Solve for Tomorrow, helping them to innovate and build upon their initial thinking about tackling society’s biggest challenges.
“What’s clear from this talented group is that the young people of today are well positioned to be the leaders of tomorrow.”
The semi-final teams
| Category | Idea | |
|---|---|---|
| Team 1 | Environment | A product to increase methane gas leakage detection from natural gas and coal plants. |
| Team 2 | Environment | An intuitive, tech-enabled system for viewing environmental impact of brands while shopping, raising awareness amongst customers. |
| Team 3 | Social isolation | A solution for rough sleepers in the UK, giving them the chance to have somewhere secure to store belongings, and apply for essential services. |
| Team 4 | Diversity and inclusion | A platform to help refugees make their steps into the UK job market. |
| Team 5 | Social isolation | A digital product that tackles social isolation among an aging population, whilst managing chronic disease in later life. |
| Team 6 | Education | A mind map generator to help sufferers of dyslexia to improve reading comprehension. |
| Team 7 | Environment | An online e-commerce platform, that allows shoppers to buy ethical and sustainable brands in one place without compromising on their style. |
| Team 8 | Social isolation | An AI-powered program that generates insights into individual well-being and finds research-supported and tailored solutions for improving wellbeing. |
| Team 9 | Environment | An app which helps people send their used or unwanted candles away to be recycled into new, eco-friendly candles available for purchase. |
| Team 10 | Social isolation | A digital safe space for young BAME settlers to overcome the barrier of making friends in a foreign place while giving them a sense of belonging. |
| Team 11 | Education | A platform combining voice recognition and other foreign language learning technologies to develop reading and vocabulary skills in children and potentially adults who are unable to read. |
| Team 12 | Education | An AI-driven learning platform that designs personalised study plans for students to address fundamental knowledge gaps. |
| Team 13 | Education | A product to help support students find quiet safe spaces to work, including access to services that will help support their education. |
| Team 14 | Diversity and inclusion | An app that makes participation in research trials easier for minorities by connecting them with relevant researchers. |
| Team 15 | Environment | A mobile app that identifies items of waste and tells the user how to recycle them efficiently. |
| Team 16 | Education | An e-learning platform for young women, aged 14 and above, that provides interactive content to support personal and professional development. |
| Team 17 | Environment | A no-soil growing solution, that combines clean aesthetics and machine learning to optimise growth and detect deficiencies automatically. |
| Team 18 | Education | Augmented smart glasses to provide an intuitive educational experience for students without the need for supervision, and allow experts to teach disadvantaged medical students worldwide. |
| Team 19 | Social isolation | An app and specialist software to teach the UK British Sign Language for free/low cost, to bridge the gap in communication with deaf people. |
| Team 20 | Social isolation | An easy-to-use modular smart radio to help older people who live alone stay in touch with family. |
| Team 21 | Social isolation | An augmented reality gaming app that encourages users to explore volunteering opportunities. |
| Team 22 | Environment | A social platform for sustainability that includes carbon tracking and offsetting tools to educational resources whilst facilitating socialising. |
| Team 23 | Environment | A digital clothing and AR marketplace that looks to reduce material costs and its impact on the environment. |
| Team 24 | Education | An app to connect users with businesses, giving consumers a greater understanding of production processes. |
| Team 25 | Environment | A platform to support students to stay connected whilst encouraging them to be more sustainable. |
