Competition: Invent our World

See the opportunity below:

Come up with an invention – a new or adapted technology – and enter the Invent Your World Challenge.

Ashoka GenV and the Lemelson Foundation will support 50 young inventors in using their inventions to create positive change – by providing mentorship, seed funding, networking opportunities, and even a $20,000 scholarship.

Submit your one paragraph idea before March 15, 2009.

Prizes and opportunities include:
* Seed Grants: Up to US$1,000. May vary from region to region.
* Trip to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology): Awarded to five top invention ventures. Each winning team can send two members to take part in a global youth summit on climate change. Each team will also receive an additional $1,000 cash prize.
* Scholarship: US$20,000 awarded to most outstanding invention venture. Scholarship may be split among lead venturers.

This competition is open to youths between the ages of 12 and 20 in North America and Europe and 12 and 24 everywhere else.

Visit the website for more information.

WeMedia Competitions

There are 2 exciting competitions for aspiring social entrepreneurs being run by WeMedia.

The first, ReImagine Media offers the opportunity to win up to $50,000 in seed funding. Sponsored by WeMedia and Ashoka's Changemakers, they are searching for the best new ideas for inspiring a better world through media and technology. These could be either business or non-profit venture ideas.

Learn more and apply at the Changemaker's website. You can also review the competition.

The second, PitchIt offers up to $25,000 in seed capital to the owner of an innovative idea to build a better world through media and technology.
Finalists will be invited to pitch their ideas at next February's WeMedia conference, an annual conference that brings together leaders and ideas shaping media, business, communication, technology, education and participation in the connected society.

Learn more about PitchIt.

Deadline for both is January 21, 2009, 6PM EST.

nGOmobile: Taking Mobile Technology to the Grassroots

Comp time! I received an email from Ken Banks, the founder of the FrontlineSMS system was used to monitor last April's elections.

This time, he's spearheading nGOmobile, a text message-based competition aimed at grassroots non-profit organisations working for positive social and environmental change throughout the developing world.

From the website:
The competition wants to encourage NGOs to think more about how mobile technology could be applied in their work.

NGOs from developing countries are invited to submit a short proposal outlining how text messaging could make their job easier.

The competition closes on the 14th of December 2007. Check the website for info on how to apply.

The Many Uses of the Mobile Phone

Sokari has an interesting post on her blog about an ongoing workshop organised by Fahamu that brought together African organisations currently involved in social justice and advocacy projects, which are using mobile phone technology.

Day 1 featured presentations on the Frontline sms Software used recently to monitor the Nigerian elections; the use of mobile phones in a rural agricultural project in Uganda along with radio broadcasts; community based organisations of women in Kenya using mobile phone technology in three specific areas: women and property, women leadership and government, resource livelihood.

It's incredible to know how the mobile phone that many of us take for granted can be such a powerful tool. I first started to realise its full potential after I moved back home. Where access to the Internet could be scarce and expensive, communication by GSM was always an easier (and cheaper) option. I could text friends even when I could not get to a computer connected to the Internet, or in the very likely event that there was 'no NEPA.'

Check out Sokari's blog to read more.

Addition: White African wrote-up on the meeting on his blog.