Tech to Connect Challenge
What was the Tech to Connect Challenge?
The Tech to Connect Challenge was a £1 million prize looking to help civil society develop their early stage ideas for tech that enables more or better interactions between people. Tech can be alienating or divisive for those that are isolated, so we wanted to help civil society translate their knowledge into good ideas for new ways to connect people. The Challenge was funded by DCMS and delivered by Challenge Works with support from the Developer Society.
Why did we run the Challenge?
Social isolation is measured by the strength of a person’s social connections, and therefore the lack of these connections denotes social isolation. It’s distinct from loneliness, which is a “subjective, unwelcome feeling of lack or loss of companionship”. In an age of social media, there has never been more technology that connects us with one another. Though we think there’s space for technology to do more. That’s why we wanted to support civil society organisation – England’s charities, social enterprises and social ventures – who were working on new ideas of tech for good. The Tech To Connect Challenge gave these organisations the resources they needed to bring their innovative ideas to life.
What were we looking for?
We were interested in any and all solutions that could reasonably be expected to have a measurable impact on social isolation in England. These could have been digital technologies that augment the way people interact with organisations or ideas that could enhance the way isolated people interact with each other. We were also looking for innovative back end solutions that could help to improve the service delivery of an organisation, clearly supporting the reduction of isolation in communities in England. The solutions did not have to be digital, but it was expected that the finalists would develop a prototype by the end of the innovator support package provided by the challenge prize.
What happened?
Applicants were asked to detail a problem related to social isolation in England and their idea for how technology can help to address it. The solutions could have been direct (‘this is how we plan to change the interactions between people’) or indirect (this is how we plan to improve the service we offer people face-to-face).
Ten Finalists each received cash grants of £25,000 to use in the development of their prototype solutions; from these finalists, two runners up each received a £75,000 cash prize and one winner received a £100,000 cash prize.
An unexpected result of the prize was that the Pargiter Trust (an organisation that seeks to support disadvantaged older people to be independent, healthy and socially included) offered additional money of £25,000 for another prize award.
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Impact of the Challenge
- 90% of finalists stated that they were able to develop their solutions faster as a result of being part of the Challenge
- 90% of finalists found the experience of taking part in the Challenge either good or very good and enjoyed the experience
- 55% of finalists felt that had built, developed and/or improved their skills and capabilities due to taking part in the Challenge
- Over 70% of finalists were able to further develop their business model as a result of taking part in the Challenge
- The majority of finalists agreed that the Challenge helped to raise awareness about the potential of technology to solve social isolation
Winner – YANA: You Are Not Alone
YANA is an online web platform created by the community interest company Chayn, and provides a safe space for people to access details of local shelters, sexual violence units, lawyers and therapists, to build a more connected system of support for sexual assault survivors suffering from isolation.
The runners-up
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Mirthy
Mirthy is a web platform to enable older adults to stay active whilst remaining independent at home, by connecting under-utilised communal spaces in retirement housing schemes with those people looking for social clubs.
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The Chatty Cafe Scheme
The Chatty Cafe Scheme reduces loneliness and gets people talking by encouraging venues to designate a Chatter & Natter table, via their web application. Chatty Cafe already has partnerships with Costa and Sainsburys, and 73 other venues have joined through the website since January 2020.
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Music Memory Box
An additional grant of £25,000 from The Pargiter Trust was awarded to Music Memory Box, an innovative kit to support and connect people with dementia and their loved ones. It combines sensors, sentimental objects and photographs to link to songs, helping to unlock and recall memories in a simple and tactile way.
The judges
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Carrie Deacon
Carrie is Head of Social Action Innovation at Nesta, leading the work on social action and people powered public services.
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Cansu Deniz Bayrak
Cansu is Partner at Bethnal Green Ventures, Europe’s leading early stage tech for good VC, where she focuses on fundraising for their investment vehicles.
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Ed Evans
Ed leads the Social Tech Trust to deliver its vision of a world where social transformation drives tech.
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Kate Shurety
Kate is Acting Executive Director of the Campaign to End Loneliness – before taking on that role she was the Campaign’s Director of Development and Communications.
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Sebastien Krier
Sebastien joined the UK Government’s new Office for Artificial Intelligence as a Policy Adviser in 2018, overseeing the first comprehensive review of AI in the public sector and the publication of the AI Guide for Government.
Similar Challenges
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Ageing Well Challenge
The Ageing Well Challenge looked for ideas to improve the lives of older people by reducing social isolation or increasing mobility. It was one of two Giving Challenges funded by the Home Office.
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Rapid Recovery Challenge – Finance Stream
The financial recovery stream focused on helping low-paid workers or those in insecure work, who were struggling financially to access much needed finances through a variety of means.