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Samsung Electronics Ltd. has announced today the 25 semi-finalists in its Gen-Z tech competition ‘Solve for Tomorrow’. The youth competition, which is running for the first time in the UK, has seen teams from across the country respond to the brief and submit ideas to help tackle one of four key challenges faced by society: education, environment, diversity & inclusion, and social isolation.
Entrants who have applied to the competition have taken inspiration for their innovations from all areas of society, including events from the past year, with one idea looking to tackle the way to support those students who haven’t been able to access education. Others have looked to wider societal issues such as homelessness and have explored the use of apps to tackle the waste problem facing communities across the UK.
The chosen semi-finalists, aged between 16-25, are now through to the next stage of ‘Solve for Tomorrow’, where they will be further developing their ideas. With the support and expertise of a dedicated Samsung mentor and Digital Catapult, the UK’s leading digital innovation centre, participants will evolve their initial thinking, with the hopes of getting through to the next round of judging to transform their concepts into reality.
The winning team for ‘Solve for Tomorrow’, will be announced in July, following two rounds of judging by a panel of tech experts and entrepreneurs, including Head of Tech Innovation at Samsung Electronics R&D Institute UK Kit Lam, Deputy Head of Office at Samsung Design Europe Hong Yeo, Digital Catapult Non-Executive Director and Venture Partner at Merian Ventures Priya Guha, and Edward Evans, CEO of Social Tech Trust.
The lucky finalists are in the running to receive six months of support from Samsung and Digital Catapult to help them realise the scope of their ideas, in addition to a £10,000 cash prize. Runners up in the competition will receive additional prizes and Samsung products.
Commenting on the announcement, Jessie Soohyun Park, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Samsung Electronics UK explained, “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. 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 added: “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.”
To find out more about the ‘Solve for Tomorrow’ competition, visit: samsung.com/uk/solvefortomorrow