BT Young Pioneer Award nominations now open

Nominations for the BT Young Pioneer Award, part of the annual Tech4Good awards, are now open, with prizes including £5,000 of tech on offer for the winning young person or team. BT has partnered with the Tech4Good Awards since their conception in 2011 and is encouraging young people aged nine-18 with a passion for tech and vision for good to apply for the BT Young Pioneer Award. Previous winners have gone on to deliver community coding camps and develop products for people suffering with dementia and asthma. Young people with a great idea, vision or concept can submit their entries online by 10 May. The award winners will receive £5,000 of tech to help scale their project, as well as focused sessions with BT experts, to help develop their ideas and inventions. All of the finalists will receive tickets to explore Bletchley Park. Last year’s BT Young Pioneer Award was won by Water Watcher (main image), a group of four young inventors aged between nine and 15 years old, for their device which tackles water wastage due to memory loss, dementia, dyslexia or brain injury. Small and inexpensive, the product can fit onto any tap and uses the vibrations of the water with a timer and alarm system to alert the user if the tap is left running. The device’s potential to save water and prevent flooding has been recognised by organisations such as Thames Water, WaterWise and Alzheimer’s Society. 2018’s Highly Commended Award in the BT Young Pioneer Category went to Code Camp, a registered charity set up by 16-year-old Mahek Vara to teach computer programming skills to children in developing countries. So far it has reached over 70,000 students in India alone. Andy Wales, Chief Digital Impact and Sustainability Officer, BT, said: “‘BT is keen to find and support disruptive new technologies that improve people’s everyday lives. A new world is being shaped and created by the rapid acceleration of technologies, and we need a culture in the UK that celebrates tech for good entrepreneurs, who are at the forefront of making sure no one is left behind. And it’s even more exciting when these new ideas come from young people.”

from UK Fundraising http://bit.ly/2UvCjUI