Open Societal Challenge Competition

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Biztech are delighted to showcase an invitation from the Open University to take part in their

Open Societal Challenge Competition

The aim is to apply the OU’s research excellence to some of the most pressing societal challenges facing people across the UK and worldwide to transform lives. The focus is on Tackling Inequalities, Living Well, and Sustainability.

But they need help from our local businesses – in particular those with ideas about using technology and data to tackle real-world problems that are relevant for the Milton Keynes area.

If you are a Milton Keynes business and you have a Challenge that could be submitted to the OU – please enter the competition.

You can enter at any time between 1st March 2024 and 15th May 2024.  If you win and your Challenge is selected you will be assigned to an OU Research Team.  Your business will be eligible for baseline funding of £25,000 and you will be invited to co-design a research project aimed at tackling your Societal Challenge.

To find out more about the Programme go to https://societal-challenges.open.ac.uk.  Make sure you check out the competition rules.

To enter you will need to set yourself up with an OU Account.  Click ‘Sign In’ at the top of the page.  Once you are signed in you can then go to  https://societal-challenges.open.ac.uk/challenges/submit to register your challenge.

Finalists will be announced in June 2024 – and will have a chance to have their entry published on the Open Societal Challenges Online Platform and may be invited to pitch their idea at a research event in the Summer. Winners will be announced by October 2024.

To find out more about the competition and the support available, please reach out to societal-challenges@open.ac.uk.

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