Deadline: June 18, 2020
The MIT Solve – Good Jobs and Inclusive Entrepreneurship Challenge 2020 is open. The MIT Solve community is looking for technology-based solutions that spur good jobs and inclusive entrepreneurial opportunities.
Automation, artificial intelligence, and other advanced technologies continue to rapidly transform the nature of work. Meanwhile, #COVID19 is expected to cause massive economic disruption, exacerbating these effects. How can technology help spur good jobs and inclusive entrepreneurship?
This Challenge is presented with the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy’s (IDE) Inclusive Innovation Challenge (IIC).
The Challenge
How can marginalized populations access and create good jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities for themselves?
Solve seeks solutions that:
- Enable small and new businesses, especially in untapped communities, to weather economic shocks, prosper, and create good jobs through access to capital, networks, and technology.
- Support workers to advocate for and access living wages, social safety nets, and financial security in order to prepare for, withstand, and recover from economic shocks.
- Equip workers with technological and digital literacy as well as the durable skills needed to stay apace with the changing job market and economic downturns.
Benefits
There’s more than $1 million of funding available for the 2020 Solver Class.
If you are selected as a Solver, you’ll receive a $10,000 grant from Solve, as well as access to significant additional prize funding.
Solver teams will be selected by a panel of cross-sector judges at Solve Challenge Finals during UN General Assembly week in New York City on September 20, 2020.
In addition to Solve funding, the following prizes are available to Solver teams selected for the Good Jobs & Inclusive Innovation Challenge. To be considered for a prize, complete the prize-specific question within the application. You do not need to meet these requirements to apply to the Good Jobs & Inclusive Innovation Challenge:
- Innovation for Women Prize
- The GM Prize on Learning for Girls and Women
- The Gulbenkian Award for Adult Literacy
- The AI for Humanity Prize
- The Andan Prize for Innovation in Refugee Inclusion
Those that are ultimately selected as a Solver will:
- Join a supportive community of peers, funders, and experts to help advance their innovative work through Solve’s nine-month program;
- Receive mentorship and strategic advice from Solve and MIT networks;
- Attend Solve at MIT, our annual flagship event in May; and
- Receive access to more than $1 million in prize funding for the 2020 Challenges.
Eligibility
- Anyone, anywhere around the world can submit a solution to Solve’s Challenges.
- You can be an individual, a team, or an organization.
- You can be an applicant from previous years or already part of our community.
Criteria
Judges will score solutions along the following criteria:
- Alignment: The solution uses technology to address one of Solve’s Global Challenges.
- Potential for Impact: The planned solution implementation has the potential to impact lives.
- Feasibility: Solution implementation is feasible, and the team has a plan for financial sustainability.
- Innovative Approach: The solution includes a new technology, a new application of technology, a new business model, or a new process for solving the Challenge.
- Scalability*: The solution can be scaled to affect the lives of more people.
- Partnership Potential*:The applicant clearly explains how the solution would benefit from the broad range of resources that the Solve community is positioned to provide.
Application
For more information, visit MIT Solve.
