Hi <<First Name>>,

My name’s Emma and I work at Nesta along with this lovely bunch. We’re working to harness tech to get people into better jobs. Whether that’s through a minecraft game to learn about cyber-security, or a chatbot to coach you through local job possibilities, Nesta’s CareerTech Challenge is supporting a huge range of amazing new platforms. 

This edition will give you a flavour of some of our awesome tech solutions, and what we’ve learnt so far, and how you can get involved. 

Have a great weekend, 

Emma & the CareerTech Challenge team 

This [gif above] used to be the extent of my expertise in tech. When I first started working in the field, it was pretty intimidating! People threw all kinds of scary terms around like full stack developer or machine learning, and the only sprint I was familiar with was the one to get on the tube before the doors closed. 

But, working on the CareerTech Challenge has turned that upside down. Although I may still ask the difference between a data scientist and data engineer every now and then, I am in awe of all the amazing tech innovations that are being developed as part of the programme.

What is the CareerTech Challenge?

It’s no surprise that COVID-19 has had a big impact on jobs. But even before the pandemic, research from the RSA, Oxford University and ONS (to name a few) was predicting that more than 6 million people in the UK were facing losing their jobs due to workplace automation. We set up CareerTech Challenge, with support from the Department for Education, to use tech to tackle this problem in two ways :

1. Help people upskill and retrain 

2. Help people navigate the job market 

We’ve been able to fund 31 incredible organisations to develop digital products that do exactly that. 

So what kind of tech are we talking about? 

All the kinds! Here’s a snapshot of some of our platforms:

• Intelligent algorithms: Century builds nudges and personalised content into a English and Maths course, while Bob UK provides AI-powered tailored careers advice. 
• Chatbots: friendly and intelligent chatbots dish up tailored careers advice and support through CareerChat and Create Your Own Future. 
• Online collaboration: peer learning, mentoring and coaching have been digitally transformed for Digital Mums Future Skills Bootcamp and Stay Nimble, a careers and skills advice platform.  

What have we learnt so far?

• Test, test, test the tech! All our products have been put through iterative testing and development cycles. This has allowed innovators to identify what works and amplify it, and also scrap anything that doesn’t early on. 

• User experience is just as important as the content. Making an application accessible is key. The Citizen Literacy App, a basic literacy learning tool, has done a great job of this by removing any difficult reading from its UI. 

• Getting platforms to the people who need them the most is hard. Our target audience are people in roles at risk of automation, who haven’t been to university and are 25 - 65 years old. We’ve seen our innovators do some creative marketing and great partnership work to solve this problem, but we need your help to get the platforms into the hands of learners.

Sounds awesome. How can I get involved?

At the moment our team is loving:

• Abi Mohamed’s op-ed on the importance of diversity in tech, and her vision for a transformed world of tech. 
• The Recruiting Future Podcast, particularly episodes on AI and tech in job-seeking and recruitment.
• This very cool interactive dataviz that uses a clever algorithm to map out different potential career transitions in the face of future workplace automation.
• Mapping Career Causeways from Nesta and JP Morgan utilises data science to get people into better work. 
• The chance to reflect on the effects of Covid highlighted by The Resolution Foundation’s Coronanomics series and Institute for the Future of Work. 
• Nesta’s new podcast: The Mission. Our CEO is joined by a range of thought leaders as he explores the innovations, tech and ideas that can be applied to tackling some of society's greatest challenges.

📣 Opportunities 📣

A summary of featured funding opportunities and new arrivals.

• Bethnal Green Ventures opened a new call for applications. They’re looking to invest and support early-stage tech for good startups. Find out more 🚀 (Jan 11)
• The Media Futures fund is looking for artists/startups/SMEs that are using data to tackle misinformation. They’re offering up to €85,000 equity-free funding for startups and up to €40,000 for artists (Jan 28)
• UNICEF opened an Innovation Fund to provide up to $100k in equity investments for tech startups helping to prevent violence against children (Dec 20)
• Making the Shift opened a call for proposals for data and technology projects to support the prevention of youth homelessness (Dec 7)
• Big Society Capital and Good Finance are seeking insights from mission-led communities into experiences navigating investment. Fill out the survey.
• Nesta Challenges has launched a new fund: the Climate Smart Cities Challenge with UN Habitat, Teknikföretagen, Viable Cities, Smart City Sweden, Vinnova, and the Swedish Energy Agency. Apply here (Jan 22)
• Apply to Makerversity's Makers with a Mission Residency reimaging the future of health and wellbeing. 
• Calling on SMEs to apply to join Capital Enterprise' Peer Network, designed for business leaders who want to grow and develop their organisation for future success (Jan 21)

If you have a funding challenge, grant opening, speaking gig or another opportunity that you want to share - let us know!

What’s going on? 📅

Check out the tech for good near you map. 

• Join BGV for a virtual Q&A to find out more about their tech for good investment offer and programme (Dec 16)
• Data or Dinner? Digital Leaders Wales are hosting a salon exploring what is meant by data poverty (Dec 16)
• Trust....and tech governance - Society Inside are hosting a talk on tech governance (Dec 11)
• CityTech: The Next Generation of Urban Innovation is a report launch reflecting on the last ten years of smart cities, hosted by Nitrous (Dec 15).

Working in tech for good 💼

Have a job you want adding? Let us know.

• Social Finance is an ambitious non-profits that works in partnership with government, funders and the social sector to tackle entrenched social problems. They are hiring a Technical Architect (Dec 13).
   
• The Trussell Trust supports a UK-wide network of 1,200 foodbanks. They’re hiring both a Junior and a Senior Data Analyst (Dec 21)
   
• Glimpse Protocol is bringing technological innovation to consumer privacy. They’re currently hiring a Lead Software Engineer (rolling)
   
• Color in Tech works towards a more inclusive tech industry. They’re hiring a Content and Community Manager (rolling)

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