The Scottish Government is seeking an innovative solution to prevent Scottish performers, people and places from being priced out of Scotland’s festivals, just one of eight new Challenges set as part of the CivTech Scotland Round 11 Accelerator.
Up to £350,000 is available to develop a solution to the Challenge, which is being sponsored by the Scottish Government Directorate for Culture and External Affairs. Anyone – an individual, team, start-up or established business, big or small – can apply.
Scotland’s festivals contribute hugely to the economy and the cultural life of the nation, but rising costs are threatening their accessibility. Scotland is home to over 200 festivals, but they face a common infrastructure problem: fragmented transport and accommodation availability.
Increased costs for performers, locals and tourists threaten to undermine accessibility to the festivals. This challenge seeks to develop innovative solutions to tackle this infrastructure problem, ensuring festivals remain accessible to Scottish performers and communities while maintaining their positive economic and cultural impact nationally.
The Government and public sector sponsors are offering a total possible fund of £5.5 million for solutions to a range of generational and national level challenges.
Solutions are also being sought to address other challenges including how to unlock the cultural and economic potential of the Gaelic language, how to manage the impact of marine pen fish farms more sustainably, and how to reduce the environmental and social impact of litter at Arrochar, designated a litter sink by the Scottish Government in 2017.
CivTech is the world’s first Government-run accelerator for digital public services. It was launched in 2016 to inject innovation into how the public sector uses technology to improve the lives of Scotland’s citizens. At the heart of the programme is the Innovation Flow, which centres around an intense 15-week Accelerator. Innovative and ambitious teams or individuals, selected through an open and straightforward process, are paid to build working prototypes — and receive world-class business growth support.
Business Minister Richard Lochhead said:
“Innovation is the backbone of our economy and our society. Where there are problems and challenges, there are solutions to be harnessed by tapping into the creativity and ingenuity of the start-up community and capitalising on rapidly-evolving technology such as AI.
“Now in its tenth year, CivTech has had a hugely positive impact on public sector services and beyond, with solutions ranging from a digital communication roll-out that could save the taxpayer £100 million a year, to products and services improving lives and prospects across healthcare, education and key front-line services.
“Success rates for the companies and products developed are very high with some 80% of the products created through the programme in use, far surpassing the average private sector accelerator rates. I look forward to another round of the programme continuing to revolutionise our public services while giving our brightest business minds the support and encouragement to develop their business ideas.”
More information about all eight CivTech Round 11 Challenges can be found here.
Author: Sam Hyland
Sam is the assistant content manager for Event Industry News (EIN). Sam is involved in publishing news stories, videos and podcasts. Sam also collates the latest stories for the EIN e-newsletter. If you have a press release or story you think we might be interested to know about please email features@eventindustrynews.com
