If you’ve ever sat around with your friends and had late-night conversations about how to solve all of the world’s problems, now is your chance to put your money where your mouth is. Or at least your efforts in a new competition that seeks ideas to improve the standard of living in Canada.
“Linkages into Silicon Valley, the most dynamic technology innovation ecosystem in the world, are important for our next generation to succeed in the global marketplace,” says Debra Chanda, a Singularity University ambassador to Canada. Through Singularity University’s Canadian Innovation Competition, innovators from across Canada have the chance to win a spot – worth $30,000 – to the NASA Research Base near Mountain View, California.
The formal challenge is: “How can we improve the standard of living — health, education, development, environment and food — of 1 million people, in the next five years, in Canada, through the use of technology?” Organizers are seeking intellectual and creative ideas utilizing technology to improve lives in healthcare, resource management, food, community development or education.
“The 10-week experiential learning experience in the Valley gathers 80 of the best and brightest from around the world to collaborate and make their disruptive ideas a business reality,” says Chanda. The application deadline is Feb. 28, 2014.
“The spirit of the competition is to bring together academics, scientists, and entrepreneurs from across Canada who are ready to transform their big ideas into reality,” said Dr. Adam Little, GIC Canada, Chairman.
The Global Impact Competition (GIC) happens every year in over a dozen countries: this is Canada’s first.
GIC is a global program created by Singularity University, co-founded by Ray Kurzweil, Chief Google Architect and Peter Diamandis to impact the world through Global Impact Competitions. These competitions take place all over the world and applicants compete for the prize of attending the 10-week program with their tuition fully covered by their home nations. The competitions acts as a platform to identify outstanding entrepreneurs, leaders, scientists and engineers who propose the most innovative project to positively impact 1 million people in their country or region in the next three to five years.