CivTech 10 - Wildcard Challenge 10.11 - How can technology help early-stage entrepreneurs by giving them the best possible information, advice and other forms of support in a way that is fast and easy to access, helping establish Scotland as a Start-Up Nation?

Description

There is a huge range of support available for businesses in Scotland, coming from both the public and private sectors. However, finding and accessing the support most relevant for an individual business can be challenging, many of the approaches to delivery of business support rely on traditional models of delivery, and few have embraced the possibilities of advanced AI. So, this Challenge seeks to explore how technology could be applied to develop new innovative and highly effective business support models, with an initial focus on support for pre-start, start-up, and early-stage businesses. How can AI, if applied in really imaginative and innovative ways, make major beneficial impacts in this area? Lot 1: CivTech’s mission is to drive daring and innovation in the public sector by collaboratively solving Challenges that make people’s lives better – and in doing so create generations of sustainable, high growth businesses. CivTech brings together public sector expertise and private sector innovation to solve real problems, develop new products, and deliver better, faster and easier services for everyone. Central to the approach is co-production with the citizen. Part of the Scottish Government’s Digital Directorate, CivTech’s approach is helping transform public sector engagement with tech and innovation, delivering significant benefits to public services, producing genuine uplifts for the Scottish economy - and along the way, making lives better. Across the country there are problems public sector organisations would like to solve and in the current environment the need for smart, efficient and effective products has never been greater. The Scottish Government is aware innovation is a good way to create them and is committed to ensuring a large part of its tech spend goes to smaller, innovative businesses. This is where CivTech comes in. The CivTech Innovation Flow is designed to create products as quickly and effectively as possible, and uses a true Accelerator model at the heart of its Innovation Flow model. For you – whether you’re an individual, team or company – it’s an opportunity to take on a Challenge, solve it, and win contracts with a blue-chip public sector organisation. You’ll build a product, and a business to take it as far as possible. Because here’s the kicker: the Challenges we issue aren’t ‘single organisation’ problems – most exist worldwide. In short: Open Challenges are set. Any organisation, team or individual can respond. Applications are assessed, and shortlisted proposals go into an Exploration Stage where they’re developed further [for which participating applicants are paid]. The best go through to the Accelerator – a period of intensive work to create the solution, and through CivTech’s unique business workshop system, a business capable of taking the product to the world. Please visit our website for information on CivTech and how to get involved: https://www.civtech.scot/how-to-apply-civtech-10 https://www.civtech.scot/civtech-10-challenge-11-support-and-advice-for-potential-and-early-stage-entrepreneurs