South Africa: Google Impact Challenge opens public voting

Public voting has opened for the first Google Impact Challenge Africa, a competition to find the most innovative not-for-profit African organisations using technology to solve societal problems.

“It is important to bring people’s attention to the good work done by the numerous innovative non-profits operating in South Africa. The Google Impact Challenge opens Google’s arms to South Africa social innovators working to solve challenging social issues, and asks for their bold ideas to grow economic opportunity in the country – and beyond.

It brings Google.org funding and the best of Google’s people and products to help turn these entrepreneurs’ ideas into reality. This challenge illustrates how technology, combined with local know-how and a firm resolve, can help to address the challenges so many South Africans face daily,” says Mich Atagana, Google South Africa head of public affairs and communications.

He says that the competition, which was launched in May, will have massive positive impact on the African non-profit sector through the attention it is bringing to the market.

“Innovation is happening all around us. Now is the time to reward those who work tirelessly to improve the lives of all Africans,” he says.

The initiative, which attracted over 1300 submissions from South Africa, is now in its final stages, and 12 South African non-profits will be receiving a $125,000 grant as well as support and training from Google to implement their ideas. The people’s choice and judge-selected winners will double their award and win $250,000.

You can find out more and support the not-for-profit you feel is making the biggest impact in South Africa by voting at https://impactchallenge.withgoogle.com/southafrica2018. Voting closes on 25 November.

Here are the shortlisted finalists:

Corruption Watch: BUA MZANSI – An online interactive website to enhance public participation and transparency in policing.
The Makerspace Foundation – The MakerSpace offers tools, technology, training and physical workspace to enable people to make things that improve the world around them.
The Youth Employment Service – A business-driven collaboration with government that offers a disruptive approach to South Africa’s youth unemployment challenge.
hearX Group – Ears and Eyes for Education (3E) – an mHealth supported community-based programme.
Clothes to Good – Helping mothers of children with disabilities to find financial independence in a green eco-system via clothing recycling.
Quirky 30 NPC – Quirky 30 provides free training in technology skills that are most in demand in the marketplace today (coding, design, cloud, entrepreneurship)
Saide’s African Storybook initiative – An offline app to create and publish illustrated digital African storybooks with young children.
RLabs Zlto Digital Platform – A mobile and blockchain platform that tracks and incentivises positive behaviour in youths.
Memezo Shout Crime Prevention – Bringing safety to vulnerable people through a Public Community Alarm System.
mLab CodeUp! – Matching coders to community startups to build prototypes and gain practical work experience.
GreenFingers Mobile – A digital solution to enable small and emerging farmers to access the market.
Gradesmatch – A platform to serve as a comprehensive career guide, designed to map career data for learners, parents and teachers/mentors to help them make well-informed career decisions.