Manchester Prize: a new annual million pound challenge to reward UK-led breakthroughs in AI
7 December 2023
- Catherine Thompson
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has today launched the Manchester Prize, an open innovation competition rewarding the boldest AI-based solutions which make a positive impact on society.
We are excited to be working with DSIT to deliver the first round of the competition, which is calling for innovations from UK-led teams that overcome challenges in the fields of energy, environment and infrastructure. Up to 10 of the most promising solutions will be supported with £100,000 grants and additional non-financial support to develop prototypes. The best will win the £1 million grand prize in early 2025.
Our decade-long funding commitment for the Manchester Prize will allow the UK to continue harnessing the transformative opportunities of AI for public good. AI is already helping us to slash carbon emissions, unlocking incredible advances in healthcare and even improving our productivity in the workplace. The focus of this prize in helping tackle some of society’s most pressing challenges serves as a real call to arms for people and organisations from all walks of life to bring forward ingenious solutions.
Leading the global tech sector
British innovators have been instrumental in driving forward computer and information technology for hundreds of years. As we enter a new era where artificial intelligence (AI) plays an increasing role in the way we live, learn and work, the UK is playing a leading role in pioneering new AI solutions to some of the most important and difficult challenges in society.
The Manchester Prize (which is named after the world’s first electronic stored-program computer, built at the University of Manchester by Sir Freddie Williams, Tom Kilburn and Geoff Tootill and nicknamed ‘Manchester Baby’), will help to maintain the UK’s place as a global leader in cutting edge innovation, by seeking out and rewarding innovations that will help to transform lives for the better. This will help to create a long-lasting legacy of AI technologies that make a positive impact across our society to benefit the nation, and the world.
The prize will run every year for the next decade. This first iteration is seeking solutions to challenges in the fields of energy, the environment and infrastructure – but it is up to entrants to pinpoint exactly what their solutions are and what they do. The delivery team is looking forward to receiving a wide array of proposals throughout the entry period.
Some possible solutions could be:
- AI to reduce energy costs for consumers by modelling energy use and identifying the targeted solutions right for each household.
- AI to support the emergency services in their response times using spatial data about the built environment.
- AI to improve the response to extreme weather conditions by using Earth observation data to predict areas vulnerable to flooding
- AI to support better real-time spatial data to help tackle wildfires and flash floods.
- AI to enhance our food security by using Earth observation and soil data to improve farming productivity and crop yields.
Manchester is the birthplace of the world’s first modern computer, and has inspired countless innovations in computer science. I hope this prize will in turn inspire the next generation to tackle some of society’s biggest challenges. The UK is the leading European tech ecosystem ahead of Germany and France, and with initiatives like this we can cement our position as a science and technology superpower, helping grow our economy.
Call to action
The Manchester Prize is encouraging innovators, academics, entrepreneurs, disruptors, creatives and free-thinkers to submit their ideas, from now until entries close at 12:00 GMT on 1 February 2024. To enter, teams simply need to complete a straightforward entry form, which is available on the Manchester Prize website.
The Challenge Works team is hosting a series of webinars this month and in January, for those interested in the Manchester Prize. During these, they will talk you through the information on how to enter the competition and answer any questions you may have.
Sign up to an innovator webinar
For more information on the Manchester Prize, please visit the prize website.
