Challenge Prizes are a tried and tested method for supporting innovation. They offer a reward to those who can first or most effectively meet a defined challenge. They act as an incentive for meeting a specific challenge, rather than being a reward for past achievements. Prizes are also a means of throwing open a challenge beyond the ‘usual suspects,’ thus facilitating the engagement and participation of anyone who can solve the challenge.
The Longitude Prize on Dementia will be awarded to the creator of a breakthrough technology that learns from a person living with dementia, adapting and compensating for their condition as it progresses, and enabling them to continue living independently for longer.
The winning solution will be a digital device or service designed for use by people living with dementia as the primary users. It must be able to demonstrate a transformational improvement in the lives of users, helping them to retain independence in one or more of the areas that contributes to their wellbeing and quality of life, including: essential activities of daily living, communication and social interactions; and other activities that enable them to lead a fulfilling life doing things they enjoy.
Using advances in science and technology, such as AI and applications of big data, the winning innovation will be tailored to individual users and adapt to their changing needs over a sustained period of time. These technologies must be empowering for the user, overcoming existing ethics, design and technology challenges to develop a solution that is easy and enjoyable to use for people living with dementia as they transition through some of the pivotal transition points along the journey through the early to mid-stages of dementia.
Monetary awards will be given at several times in the programme for shortlisted teams.
Grantees at both the Discovery Award and Finalist stages will have access to tailored capacity development support and a package of tools to help develop their solutions.
This will include working with a suite of subject matter experts. Learn more about the partners involved in the prize.
Supported by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), finalists will participate in an independent study to evaluate the effects of their technologies on the lives of people affected by dementia.
The evaluation will look at the processes of co-design and innovation.
