Discover the rich and exciting history of the Longitude Explorer Prize
Fostering entrepreneurial spirit amongst young people is vital in order to successfully solve some of the greatest challenges of today, and to support a new generation in gaining the skills needed for their future work. Innovation has been a driving force behind some of the most important inventions of our time and is about approaching a problem with a new perspective – not being limited by what has already been done.
In addition to the skills and experience young people gain through taking part in the Longitude Explorer Prize, the grants provided to the winning schools and youth groups helps them continue to support students to develop their STEM and innovation skills. The winning team of the Amazon Longitude Explorer Prize will gain £20,000 for their school or youth group, with £5,000 available for three runners up teams.
Longitude Explorer Prize 2014
The first Longitude Explorer Prize asked young people (aged 11-16) to consider satellite navigation in a completely new way. The winning team was awarded £25,000 in 2015 for their school, as well as individual prizes. Their idea, Displaced, is a mobile app which help local charities support homeless people in their community. Find more details about the pilot Longitude Explorer Prize.
Longitude Explorer Prize 2017
The second Longitude Explorer prize challenged young people (aged 11-16) to develop innovative, practical solutions that use the Internet of Things to improve health and wellbeing of people in the UK. A prototype that helps people with Autistic Spectrum Disorder to communicate, won the £10,000 prize at the award event. Find more details about the Longitude Explorer Prize 2017.
Longitude Explorer Prize 2020
The third Longitude Explorer prize challenged young people (aged 11-16) to develop innovative, practical solutions using artificial intelligence. The winning team, Team Iscort from Greenford High School secured the top prize of £25,000 for their school with their idea TOMODACHI, a smartwatch app operating as a personal assistant for people as they grow older.
Coming up with new ideas takes creativity and imagination, something young people have in abundance. But it also requires a strong understanding of the real-life problems that need to be solved.
The Amazon Longitude Explorer Prize aims to support young people to develop this creativity and drive in order to help address the issues they care about, be it climate change, taking care of an ageing population, or finding new ways of using artificial intelligence to support mental health.
Displaced – a mobile app which helps local charities support homeless people in their community
Learn more about the 2015 edition of the Prize
Octoptix – a prototype that helps people with Autistic Spectrum Disorder to communicate
Learn more about the 2017 edition of the Prize
TOMODACHI – a smartwatch app operating as a personal assistant to support us as we grow older
Learn more about the 2020 edition of the Prize
2014 marked the 300th anniversary of the original Longitude Prize, the first incentive prize of its kind set up by the British government to solve the problem of extensive losses at sea by enabling sailors to navigate accurately by knowing their exact coordinates. In celebration of this amazing achievement, in 2014 Nesta launched a new Longitude Prize back in 2014, which is focused on solving the issue of antibiotic resistance, as voted for by the British public. This prize is ongoing, and will provide an £8 million pay out to the competitor that can develop a point-of-care diagnostic test that will conserve antibiotics for future generations. The test must be accurate, rapid, affordable and easy to use anywhere in the world.
2014 also saw Nesta extend its drive for innovation to young people all over the UK by engaging them in the Longitude Explorer Prize – a pilot programme for secondary school students aiming to enhance their STEM skills as well as soft and entrepreneurship abilities.
