Britain’s finest young tech talent was on show last night at the 2014 Apps for Good Awards.
Held at the Barbican, 18 teams of students pitched to a panel of judges including CEO of Tech City Gerard Grech and founder of Lastminute.com Baroness Martha Lane Fox.
Winning apps included I’m Okay which provides support for young lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, and Chore Attack which helps divide housework between families and housemates to get everyone doing their fair-share of the chores.
Apps for Good
The awards set out to find the country’s leading young digital entrepreneurs and challenges them to design an app to combat an issue they feel passionate about.
It brought together students aged 10 to 18 from across the UK and 17,000 students from schools, learning centres and colleges took part this year.
Route to the final
Finalists were paired up with London tech companies, spending time in their office to help prepare for their pitches.
The winning teams in the six thematic categories and the People’s Choice Award winner will now work with development agencies to launch their apps on to the market in January 2015.
Debbie Forster, UK managing director of Apps for Good commented:
The Apps for Good course teaches not only the fundamentals of coding, but also skills such as problem solving, creativity and communication that are essential to success in the 21st century
Full list of winners
Category |
Winning Team |
App |
|
Information |
Stratford Girls’ Grammar School |
I’m Okay Provides support for young lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people |
|
My Planet |
Budehaven Community School |
ShoreCast Identifies the best nearby surf spots with the most favourable conditions |
|
Connected Communities |
Shireland Collegiate Academy |
Crime Time Brings awareness to crime hotspots to increase neighbourhood safety |
|
Productivity |
Wick High School |
Chore Attack Helps divide housework between families and housemates to get everyone doing their fair-share of the chores |
|
Learning |
Hymers College |
Crypto Connex Game that teaches the art of codebreaking |
|
Saving, Spending and Giving |
The Wroxham School |
Pocket Money Pig Pocket money manager for parents so they can manage what’s been lent and spent |
The winner of the People’s Choice Award was ‘Occasion Location’, developed by students from Sutton Grammar School for Boys, which allows users to find, rate and promote venues.