What was the CareerTech Challenge Prize?
The CareerTech Challenge Prize was a £1.2 million programme to develop data-driven solutions which help people understand the labour market and plan their future careers. It was part of the CareerTech Challenge, a £5.75 million partnership between Nesta, Challenge Works and the Department for Education to improve people’s working lives and unlock employment opportunities for the future.
The Prize sought digital solutions to improve access to the information and guidance people need to pursue fulfilling careers.
What did we do?
We provided £1.2 million and tailored packages of expert support for the development of digital solutions which improve career information, advice and guidance. Solutions combined innovative uses and sources of labour market information (LMI) to make high-quality, localised advice and guidance more accessible.
20 innovators each received a grant of £50,000, a tailored package of support and nine months to develop and test their solutions.
In March 2021, a winner and runner-up were selected from 20 finalists to receive prizes of £120,000 and £80,000 respectively.
Sign up to our newsletter to be the first to know about future challenges. Contact Us The grant enabled us to take a seed of an idea and to make this a reality. As a result, we have now formed a viable SME company registered in Companies House. We have now developed and are about to roll-out a BETA version. We have sustained our partnerships (Underpinned by MoUs) and are in the process of extending the work further.
Impact of the Prize
To understand the impact of the grants and the support we provided to the finalists, we set out three impact categories. 1. Breakthrough innovations: The Prize incentivized, attracted, and enabled the development of innovative solutions to provide LMI based careers’ information advice and guidance to the programme beneficiaries.
The Prize was successful in attracting new innovators - over half (61%)the Prize finalists had not provided careers information, advice and guidance (CIAG) to the programme beneficiaries prior to participating in the Prize, and 39% had not provided any CIAG before entering the Prize. 2. Helping innovators thrive: The Prize mobilised innovators, prompted collaborations and partnerships and built skills and capabilities.
67% of finalists felt that the Prize helped them to secure valuable commercial partnerships
77% of finalists formed new partnerships and collaborations directly because of the Prize (both during the Prize and in order to enter it) 3. Systemic change: The Prize is generating key insights into the opportunities and challenges of existing LMI. We hope that these and other insights gained will be useful to future policies and interventions.
At least three finalists have been able to secure external investment with the help of the Prize, and several more are preparing for future funding rounds.
I really enjoyed the 'community' that has built up across fellow finalists through our shared experience...I think I spoke with most fellow finalists and I'm genuinely excited to see how they progress beyond the prize. I've welcomed the opportunity to share our expertise and knowledge on the LMI side of things.
What did we learn?
Experience from the CareerTech Challenge
The CareerTech Challenge included both a prize and a fund to:
- Reward digital solutions that improve access to accurate, data-driven career information, advice and guidance.
- Provide grant funding for innovative tech solutions which motivate people and support them to learn new skills and retrain.
- Promote innovative uses of Labour Market Information.>
Why did we do this?
More than six million people in the UK are employed in occupations likely to change radically or disappear entirely by 2030. This trend is exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, with changes felt more acutely by those already in low-paid, insecure work and disproportionately affecting women and Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups.
Without urgent action we risk widening existing inequalities and people being trapped in insecure, low paid employment or forced out of work altogether.
By backing digital innovations that support workers to learn new skills or provide careers’ guidance, we wanted to learn more about what’s effective in online adult learning and how labour market information can be used in innovative ways.