LONDON, UK – Month DD, 2023 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd – Samsung UK today revealed the semi-finalists in its annual Solve for Tomorrow Competition. Now entering its third year in the UK, the competition is open to young people aged 16-25, with the aim of unlocking innovative ideas that are powered by technology to solve some of society’s most pressing issues.
Open for applications since 25th October 2022, the Solve for Tomorrow Competition received applications from over 680 young people across the UK and Ireland. With both team and individual applications submitting their entrepreneurial ideas which utilise technology to make a meaningful difference in one of four areas: education, sustainability, diversity, equity & inclusion and social isolation.
The selected 24 ideas spanned across a breath of real-life and lived challenges. From an app, which encourages social connection through digital disconnection (Team 15), to a digital glove, which mimics the warmth, feel and motion of a loved one to facilitate long distance connection (Team 17), the judges were hugely inspired by the creativity and innovative thinking applied. The 24 semi-finalists will take part in a comprehensive programme of workshops, coaching and 121 mentoring with Samsung colleagues and external industry experts. The programme will grant the semi-finalists with access to learning opportunities to explore progressive areas including Design Thinking and emerging digital technologies. This next stage will empower the teams to develop their initial ideas ready for submission for the next round of judging where 10 teams will be selected as finalists to present to a panel of industry experts on 25 May 2023.
Commenting on the announcement, Sophie Edgerley Harris, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Samsung Electronics UK said:
“This stage of the Solve for Tomorrow Competition is hugely exciting as we see the amazing ideas submitted by all entrants and the start of the semi-finalist’s journey. It is evident that more than ever young people are full of creativity and ambition to make a difference in the communities they live in and the networks around them. As they take their next step in the competition, we’re committed to supporting their progress and further boosting their confidence to think boldly and freely as they build on their world-class tech-for-good ideas.”
Speaking about his personal experience as a Solve for Tomorrow judge, Colin Gwynn, Head of Operations at Samsung Electronics UK remarked:
“As a judge, I love being able to see the breadth of ideas that our semi-finalists come up with, but with the incredible talent coming through this programme, decision-making is never easy. I applaud the 2023 cohort for making it through to this competitive stage and encourage all of our young people to maximise the learning and development opportunities that Solve for Tomorrow provides in abundance. The role of technology in being able to solve real world problems has never been more vital, and we have a chance to turbocharge innovation with the great minds we have engaged in this competition.”
This year the competition has expanded its prize offering, crowning two winners within each age category (16-18yrs and 18-25yrs). The winning teams for Solve for Tomorrow, will be announced at the final pitch event on 25th May 2023, and will be awarded £10,000, plus 3 months of dedicated mentoring support from Start-up Discovery School. Two runners up for each age category in the competition will receive £1,000 and benefit from continued support from Start-Up Discovery School.
To find out more about the Solve for Tomorrow 2023 Competition, visit: https://www.samsung.com/uk/solvefortomorrow/
| Team | Category | The Idea |
| 1 | Diversity and Inclusion | A durable wristband that leverages a contactless payment system to support those experiencing homelessness to purchase goods and services. |
| 2 | Education | Supporting healthcare professionals to practive performing venepuncture on darker pigmentation skin, providing instant feedback to the user. |
| 3 | Social Isolation | A companion robot smart speaker in the homes of the elderly to enable remote healthcare and family support. |
| 4 | Sustainability | A compost bin that harvests a natural and clean source of energy to provide small levels of power for small households and local farms. |
| 5 | Sustainability | Publically available machines/stations which allow and encourage people to recycle by offering a rewards system for the quantity recycled. |
| 6 | Education | An educational tablet, which provides accessible, up-to-date globally accepted resources along with videos from professionals explaining topics. |
| 7 | Sustainability | An app with built in rewards function, that educates and guides users to how to reduce food waste and resuce overconsumption. |
| 8 | Sustainability | A device that utilises flowing water and oil filtration system to autonomously collect, isolate and extract microplastics. |
| 9 | Social Isolation | An accessible platform for isolated dementia patients. The app enables virtual monitoring of patients and provide carers with the feedback need to provide the most suitable care. |
| 10 | Sustainability | An app that enables users keep track of their food purchases and use prior to expiration date, reducing food waste. |
| 11 | Diversity and Inclusion | An obstacle detection device that is attached to glasses, utilising an ultrasound sensor system to send signals to the user to support navigation of complex environments. |
| 12 | Sustainability | A smartphone-based application which allows consumers to scan the barcodes of products using their phone camera in order to ascertain a condensed, concise and easily comprehend-able set of information regarding the sustainability of the individual products and brands over a range of product types such as clothing and food. |
| 13 | Social Isolation | The next step in preventing elderly social isolation through meta-technology, this app uses VR to connect the elderly with friends and family from afar. |
| 14 | Sustainability | Made from waste electronics this system will provide up to six houses in Agbogbloshie,Ghana with one shared outdoor light for at least 4 hours of electrified lighting per day. |
| 15 | Social Isolation | TapOut, an app that helps you disconnect from the distractions of your screens rewarding your daily digital detox with a virtual currency that you can spend on products. |
| 16 | Diversity and Inclusion | A human interface device (HID) which empowers hand amputees to interact with computers as easily as non-amputees using the remnant muscles in their forearm. |
| 17 | Social Isolation | A glove mimics the heat, movement, pressure and feel of handholding using motion capture and various technologies, to support patient care and facilitate long distance connection. |
| 18 | Diversity and Inclusion | Ai technology which uses live object and facial recognition to help visually impaired individuals to navigate the world- supporting to identify people, objects, read text, distinguish colors. |
| 19 | Diversity and Inclusion | A social media app for black heritage students, providing access to wellbing, business and career support plus access of a supportive community. |
| 20 | Diversity and Inclusion | A social enterprise which raises the aspirations and ambitions of students from deprived and disadvantaged backgrounds by offering Discovery Talks, Access Workshops and Mindful Mentoring. |
| 21 | Sustainability | A software that helps people monitor the CO2 footprint of their grocery purchases, suggest greener alternatives, and get rewarded for it. |
| 22 | Education | An application to bridge the gap between education and mental health – with the help of a virtual pet. |
| 23 | Social Isolation | A digital bracelet, that support to stabilise mood by notficying users of heightened stress levels, providing actionable step to aleviate symptoms and improve wellbeing. |
| 24 | Diversity and Inclusion | A digital solution to support independent living. Scan barcodes to gain cooking instructions and support dependant on your learning and accessibiliy needs. |
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