What big idea do you have that leverages exponential technology and has the potential to positively impact millions of people?
2017 Winner
Alvin Kabwama
Areas of expertise: Technology/Science, Robotics, Digital Biology
Winning idea: UriSAF
UriSAF is a hardware and mobile application based solution for effective diagnosis and monitoring of maternal and sexual reproductive health in low-resource settings.
2017 Winner
Elisha Bwatuti
Areas of expertise: Technology/Science, Entrepreneur/Intrapreneur, AI & Machine Learning, Data Science
2017 Winner
Jamila Abass
Areas of expertise: Entrepreneur/Intrapreneur
Overview
The purpose of the SingularityU East Africa Global Impact Challenge is to foster moonshot innovations and startups that positively impact the lives of people living in East Africa, with an ability to scale and impact a billion people worldwide in 10 years.
This year, we are ideally looking for applicants who have the skills and passion to develop and launch a startup company around a moonshot idea that addresses climate change, although we will also accept outstanding applicants who have other areas of expertise or choose to innovate in other fields.
We selected the climate change theme because it has consequences for every industry, geographic region, and way of life. Even if you don’t consider yourself a climate change authority or innovator, your skill set can probably help mitigate the effects of climate change. If you’re already passionate about impact or working in the impact space, you can create a moonshot innovation to address this urgent global problem.
We will not require participants to innovate in the climate change space, and welcome people from all disciplines to apply, but this theme will inform the program curriculum. We are looking for applicants from ANY technology or science discipline because we know a challenge as huge as climate change can only be solved within the convergence of multiple disciplines and exponential technologies.
What moonshot innovation would you develop to solve a global grand challenge (environment, energy, water, food, health, disaster resilience, governance, learning, space, security, prosperity, and shelter) using exponential technology that would impact the lives of a billion people in the next 10 years?
The prize
The winner of this challenge will secure a full sponsorship to attend the transformational Global Solutions Program at Singularity University. The program runs from June 17 to August 17, 2017, on the SU campus at NASA Research Park.
Rules & Criteria
Applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:
- The challenge is open to residents and citizens from East Africa.
- You must be age 21 or older on the first day of the GSP
- Must be fluent in written and spoken English
- You must be able to participate in the entire GSP17 program from June 17 – August 17, 2017
- Applicants selected as finalists will be interviewed by a panel of judges.
We look for people from all professional backgrounds, but will be really thrilled to find you if:
- You’re an accomplished entrepreneur, technologist, scientist, or change agent with expertise in your chosen field(s)
- You have a background in or a passion for addressing climate change or are working to address any of the direct or indirect effects of climate change, such as governance, security, sustainable water supplies, and alternative food or energy sources
- You’re already considering how to leverage exponential technologies to create positive impact in the world
- You’re committed to the long-term journey of launching an impact-focused startup
We will evaluate submissions using the following criteria:
- Degree of the solution’s relevance to the theme of the challenge
- The regional relevance in solving the challenge in East Africa
- Feasibility, viability, and coherence of implementing the idea
- Entrepreneurial and innovative potential, with a focus on technological novelty
- Applicant’s leadership experience and quality, profile, achievements, and potential
- CV or resume
- Summary of accomplishments
- An abstract of the project idea
- Video (provide url) of the project idea
Frequently Asked Questions
Global Impact Challenges (GICs) are annual incentive competitions held in partnership with sponsor organizations worldwide and organized by geography and theme. These challenges act as a platform to identify outstanding entrepreneurs, leaders, scientists, and engineers with the most innovative ideas for moonshot innovations and startups that can positively impact a billion people in 10 years. The winner of each challenge receives a full sponsorship to attend our transformational Global Solutions Program.
No, ideas do not have to be at a certain stage to be submitted. Your idea can range from a concept with immense potential, to an invention you have patented or a startup that you have founded.
Intellectual property resulting from a GIC belongs to the applicant(s).
The selection process is two to three phases depending on the competition. The first phase involves a review of all applications to determine 5-10 finalists, and the second phase involves final judging to select the winner at a pitch event.
No, there’s no such obligation from either SU or the GIC Sponsor. The GIC winner can elect to recruit fellow GSP classmates to work on his or her winning project or create an entirely new project during the summer.
The winner and finalists are responsible for their own travel expenses.
In all cases where a GIC winner cannot attend GSP, the winner forfeits his or her GSP seat to the first runner-up and would then need to reapply for admission in a future year.
For more information, see the Global Solutions Program.