The new Longitude Prize on Dementia has announced a series of virtual hackathons open to innovators hoping to win its £1m first prize.
The prize is funded by Alzheimer’s Society and Innovate UK and delivered by innovation prize experts Challenge Works.
Delivered by Challenge Works, the free-to-attend sessions take place on Wednesday 16 November 2022 at 1200 GMT (0800 ET) and Wednesday 23 November 2022 at 1500 GMT (1100 ET, 0800 PT). The aim of the sessions is to bring innovators together with dementia care experts and people living with the condition, to help them better understand how they can enter the competition.
The Longitude Prize on Dementia will award £1.84m in seed funding to help the 23 most promising entrants develop their ideas before awarding £1.5m of grants to five finalists in 2024. Of these, one team will win the top prize of £1m, to be awarded in early 2026.
Ruth Neale, Challenge Works programme lead, said: “The prize is seeking innovations that use AI and machine learning to learn about a user diagnosed with early-stage dementia, and adapt with them as their condition progresses. The technology should be designed for the person living with dementia to use themselves and help them keep doing the things that bring them enjoyment and fulfilment so that they can live independently for longer. Innovators are invited to find out more about the prize at one of our upcoming hackathons and apply their ingenuity to make the lives of people living with dementia better.”
Simon Lord, Alzheimer’s Society’s head of innovation, said: “This support means innovators from diverse disciplines can enter the prize whether they are AI and machine learning experts with little experience of working in dementia-related technologies, or people working in adult social care with a good idea but limited experience of data-driven tech – or innovators with an applicable idea and experience of neither. The prize process levels the playing field to progress the best ideas no matter their origin.”
Innovators wishing to register for the Longitude Prize on Dementia Hackathon should visit dementia.longitudeprize.org.
