The Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced today the Australian Government will invest $1.4 million into the MIT-led Solve global challenge, Youth & the Workforce of the Future.
InnovationXchange was established to support innovation, identify opportunities, trial and scale up successful approaches. The latest partners include the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and one of Australia’s biggest technology success stories, software company, Atlassian.
While Australia is tipping in $1.4 million, Atlassian is also providing up to $1.4 million for winning ideas for disadvantaged youth in any country.
The Solve global challenge will crowd-source expertise and innovative ideas from around the globe to help prepare communities and governments for the future of work.
Technology is transforming jobs across the world and some research suggests almost half the jobs available today may disappear in the coming decades. Many of the children born today will likely work in industries and sectors yet to be developed.
This partnership will help apply the science, engineering, technology and innovation capabilities of MIT and Atlassian to the challenges faced by young people in the Indo-Pacific region as a result of technological change.
People with expertise or innovative ideas should know that applications are open until 1 August 2017 and further details on the Challenge including how to apply can be found here.
Judging Criteria
The Judging Criteria for ideas are as follows:
Solutions will be evaluated based on the following criteria.
Alignment
Does the solution address the challenge that has been set forth?
Scalable
Can the solution be grown and scaled to affect the lives of more people?
Potential for Impact
Does the planned implementation of the solution have the potential to impact lives, and does the theory behind how it will work make logical sense? Does the team have a robust plan for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the solution?
Novelty
Is this a new technology, new application of a technology, or new process for solving the challenge?
Feasible
Is it feasible to implement the solution, and does the team have a plan for the solution to sustain itself financially?
More information at Foreignminister.gov.au
