Tech4Good Awards 2018 opens for nominations

Technology is supposed to change our lives for the better, but too often it’s the negative stories that hit the headlines. But what about the people on the ground actually using technology to improve lives for the better, helping the disadvantaged, the sick and the disabled?

That’s what the annual AbilityNet Tech4Good awards are aimed at celebrating: those individuals and organisations that are working hard to employ the latest developments to bring about positive change.

Technologies like Magical Eyegaze – which is being used to enable sick children in hospices to communicate with friends and family – andaccessibility tools such as Microsoft’s Seeing AI tool, are the sorts of technology championed by the awards.

This year, Alphr is teaming up with Tech4Good Awards’ event sponsor BT to help judge the Young Pioneer award and we’re looking for help and suggestions from you. This award is designed to celebrate the work of young people in technology. People like previous winner, Femi Owolade-Coombes, who won the award in 2016 at the age of nine for his work in helping set up, fund and run the autism- and Tourettes-friendly South London Raspberry Jam coding workshops.

Last year, the winners of the Young Pioneer award were Kiera McKillop and Sinead McKeown, 15-year-olds from St Killian’s College in Northern Ireland. They invented Dyslexic Aid, a multi-sensory learning technology designed to help children with all forms of dyslexia better understand the alphabet, write letters and spell basic words.

You get the picture. We’re looking for inspiring examples of how young people are using technology to meet a need or tackle a problem that they care about. It could be an app, a website, a new gadget or any other kind of digital technology that is created by young people to help improve the lives of others.

Entries are open to any individual or group between nine- and 18-years old across the UK and you’ve got until  8 May 2018 to submit your entry. The winners will be announced soon afterwards and Alphr will be there to cover it, let you know who the winners are and to bring you more coverage of the nominees and winners in other categories, too.

For more information on how to enter the awards visit the Tech4Good Awards website.