Today Minister for Implementation, , will announce the first
round of competitions for tech specialists to tackle social
challenges at the government’s flagship digital conference,
Sprint 18.
The competitions will be delivered using the £20m GovTech fund
launched by the Prime Minister in November 2017.
Contributing to each of the government’s Grand
Challenges – the data economy; clean growth; healthy
ageing and the future of mobility – the competition is designed
to incentivise Britain’s tech firms to come up with innovative
solutions to improve public services.
The Government Digital Service is challenging tech experts to
find solutions for specific issues including tackling loneliness
and how to reduce plastic waste.
The first of these competitions opens on Monday 14 May and runs
for six weeks, with the remaining competitions being launched in
subsequent months.
Tech firms bidding to the fund will have free rein to create
truly innovative fixes. Winning companies will be awarded up to
£50,000 to develop their ideas.
The companies providing the best potential solutions will then be
awarded research and development contracts of up to £500,000 to
build prototypes. These solutions will then be available to the
public sector to purchase.
Minister for Implementation, , in the Cabinet Office
said:
Our modern Industrial Strategy will cement Britain’s position
as a world-leader in digital innovation and this Government is
committed to providing more opportunities for tech businesses -
including small firms - to access public procurement contracts.
The GovTech fund encourages firms to find innovative ways to
fix the big social problems we all face - loneliness, plastic
pollution and national security.
Through emerging technologies, this fund will elevate British
companies onto a global market while helping to deliver
outstanding public services and improving lives for people.
Note to editors
The first GovTech competition opens on Monday 14 May for six
weeks - see more here. It will be overseen by a dedicated GovTech
team which will operate at the heart of Government and oversee
the £20 million fund.
The GovTech assessment panel is made up of representatives from
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS),
The Government Digital Service (GDS), Department of Digital,
Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), HM Treasury, the Innovate UK
(the UK’s innovation agency), and the devolved Northern Ireland
administration.
Sprint 18 will bring together digital and technology leaders to
hear about the work taking place across the public sector to make
government work better through the themes of Transformation,
Collaboration and Innovation. Discussions will include how the UK
is using its status as a world leader in digital government to
help other countries, through the recently announced Global
Digital Marketplace, and how departments are using Government as
a Platform, which uses digital services to make government work
better for citizens.
The challenges, which will all be launched in coming months, are:
Identifying terrorist still imagery (Home Office). Home Office
research shows that more than two-thirds of terrorist propaganda
disseminated online is still imagery. This project will support
both Government analysis of, and broader efforts to remove, this
harmful material.
Tracking waste through the waste chain, submitted by Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). A new
technological approach could help record, check and track waste,
helping boost productivity, reduce costs, and protect both human
health and the environment.
Tackling loneliness and rural isolation, submitted by
Monmouthshire Council. The government recognises that rural
transport is vital to local communities, and businesses. A
technological solution, exploiting vehicles with spare capacity
could support rural economies.
Cutting traffic congestion, submitted by Department for Transport
(DfT). Greater collection and new analysis of data could help
target interventions to cut congestion.
Local authorities have large numbers of council vehicles crossing
their areas every day. If they can be equipped with innovative
data capture systems, they could understand potholes, litter,
recycling, parking, air quality and more in real-time, every day,
for no added cost. This could mean reduced service delivery costs
and better local services.
