Nesta Challenges designed and delivered the Longitude Explorer Prize 2019, with the support of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Based on the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy Grand Challenges, we challenged young people across the UK to come up with ideas that used artificial intelligence (AI) across four themes to help people:

• Live longer (helping the older generation to stay independent and active).
• Live better (helping people live healthier).
• Live together (through better transportation and technology).
• Live greener (helping tackle pollution and energy saving).

Key findings

• 100 per cent of team champions said they would enter future prizes – 90 per cent rated their overall experience as excellent.
• 98 per cent of students said the prize had inspired them to pursue entrepreneurship in the future – 93 per cent said they were inspired to pursue STEM studies in the future.
• 95 per cent of finalists said they had learned entrepreneurship skills that will be useful to them beyond the Prize – 83 per cent of finalists said they had learned AI and coding skills that will be useful to them beyond the Prize.
• 98 per cent of finalists said they had learned teamwork skills that would be useful to them beyond the Prize.
• Of the 807 total entries, 55 per cent of this year’s entrants were female, 30 per cent identified as BAME and 8 per cent identified as having a disability. While the 137 finalists were 52 per cent female, 32 per cent BAME and 9 per cent identified as having a disability.

Building on the success of previous years, this year we have partnered with Amazon to invest in the next generation of digital innovators, supporting young people across the UK to test, create and develop new technological solutions to the biggest issues of our time. Applications now open, find out more: longitudeexplorer.challenges.org