The U.S. Department of State is set to launch the 2018 Global Innovation through Science and Technology, Technology Idea (GIST Tech-I) competition on November 28, 2017. This year, GIST Tech-I is changing the competition format in order to allow past Tech-I finalists to take a more active role as alumni mentors during the competition. The American Association for the Advancement of Science(AAAS) proudly implements the GIST Tech-I competition.
GIST Tech-I is a global pitch competition which seeks to identify, select, train and encourage exciting innovations by young scientists and great minds all over the world. As part of the GIST initiative, Tech-I works to empower young innovators to build businesses that address economic and development challenges.
New this year, past GIST Tech-I finalists will play an active role in soliciting, selecting and mentoring the 2018 Tech-I participants. Throughout the course of the competition, the past finalists will function as Alumni Mentors who work with competitors to improve their ideas and perfect their pitch. New 2018 applicants will be able to choose which Alumni Mentor they want to work with when they apply to the competition. Alumni Mentors will then select the best applications from the 2018 applicant pool to move on to the semi-finals. Those semi-finalists will then compete in a global public vote. The top 10 semi-finalists with the most public votes, along with their Alumni Mentors will advance to the Tech-I finals during the 2018 Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Istanbul, Turkey. At the finals, competing entrepreneurs will pitch their startups to a global audience with the chance to win prizes and seed capital.
This year, citizens from 136 countries and emerging economies spanning Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America are eligible to apply with a cutting-edge science and technology idea or startup in any sector. New applicants applying to the 2018 Tech-I are required to explain the science and technology behind their project. Applicants are also required to explain their business strategy for their startup or idea. Finally, applicants will be required to provide a 90-scond pitch video that showcases their innovation and excite viewers about their project’s potential. All applications for the 2018 Tech-I competition are submitted online.
The deadline to apply to the Tech-I competition is December 28, 2017. To learn more about the 2018 Tech-I competition, click here.