The TEC Programme was pleased to be one of the partners supporting and promoting the North Atlantic Corona Challenge, organised by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and NORA, over the final weekend of May 2020.
The 48-hr virtual competition aimed to engage young people (aged 18-30) across the North Atlantic (Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Coastal Norway and Scotland) – to come up with ideas and develop solutions to tackle Covid-19 crisis, specifically in the rural North Atlantic region, to save communities, save businesses and save lives.
With participation from all 5 countries, over 60 participants registered with 29 from Scotland. In the final 12 team submissions were judged by the international jury panel (representing all 5 countries).
The ideas were judged across the three criteria – originality, realism and impact. Ideas ranged from online solutions for small rural retail businesses, to virtual reality tour guides, to medical devices with artificial intelligence to test for Covid-19. The best three proposals won cash prizes and there was an additional prize offered by HIE – 2-days’ entrepreneurship support to a team with Highlands & Islands participants and chosen by the jury.
The winning idea was developed by a Scottish (Highlands and Islands) team It is called Shop With Me – Face-to-Face Shopping Remotely, a solution to small rural retail businesses to continue operation during the pandemic.
The runner-up solution was developed by a Scottish-Icelandic team. It is called ParentEd – a solution to support parents with online education for their kids.
The third prize was claimed by an Icelandic team. The project was called DIMAI – Medical Images Diagnosis With Artificial Intelligence.
HIE’s prize of entrepreneurship support was awarded to a Scottish-Faroese team with their project called Tour’st – platform that is aimed at connecting tour guides to their customers during the pandemic. HIE’s Innovation Team will take the lead to identify the most appropriate support that HIE can offer to help develop the idea further to realise its potential.
You can also view the kick-off and final webinars, along with the winning videos on YouTube and the website: https://www.coronachallenge.fo/