The four winners of the Australia Solomon Islands Technology for Development Challenge were officially announced at an awards ceremony in Honiara. The competition called for innovative and sustainable technology driven solutions to help tackle the challenge of youth unemployment in Solomon Islands.
Over 50 proposals were submitted to a panel of judges from Solomon Islands and Australia. The four winners will go on to spend the next 12 months developing a working prototype of their idea.
Australia’s Ambassador for Cyber Affairs Dr Tobias Feakin, who travelled to Honiara to present the awards, said Australia was committed to encouraging the use of digital technology to support sustainable and inclusive development.
“The Technology for Development Challenge complements support Australia is delivering to the Solomon Islands through the Coral Sea Cable System,” he said.
The four winners included one Solomon Islands organisation and three from Australia. The winning projects were:
- Youth Career Guide by Pasifiki HR, an online platform that will offer a hybrid of career guide and job message board service.
- Olgeta by Catalpa International, a mobile technology driven platform which will use micro-learning to develop skills, link youth to jobs, and employers to skilled candidates.
- Every building is a Classroom by Common Code, a platform that maps underutilised facilities suitable for use as classrooms, enabling delivery of education in those spaces.
- An on-ramp to the new digital economy in the Solomon Islands by HitNet, solar powered touchscreen hubs which will enable access to education and job-related information.
The Australia Solomon Islands Technology for Development Challenge was launched by the Ambassador for Cyber Affairs, Dr Tobias Feakin in Honiara on 27 September 2018. The Challenge called for ideas to better match the skills developed through the Solomon Islands education and training system, and those required in the labour market and wider economy.
