2022 Showcase - The votes are in!

It’s official - the next generation of tech for good innovators have arrived!

As the 2022 Showcase draws to a close, it’s time to reveal our Judge’s Favourites, People's Choice Award and Donna Hay Award for Impact. Our fantastic industry volunteers have reviewed 270 entries, listened to 18 live student pitches - from teams practising those essential skills learnt on their course - and given Deborah Meaden a run for her money when quizzing our young tech innovators on their app ideas!

Judge’s Favourites

We can now reveal the Judge’s Favourites for the 2022 Showcase are:

• Climate Innovators, supported by BNY Mellon, is awarded to Drop by Drop from Woodford County High School for Girls. Drop by Drop is designed to monitor and reduce water usage for a more sustainable planet.
• Community Champions, supported by Kingston Technology, is awarded to A-Z Safety from West Bromwich Collegiate Academy. A-Z Safety helps fight the fear of reporting domestic abuse.
• Digital Explorers, supported by LEGO, is awarded to RemindMe from Gearies Primary School. RemindMe support people living with dementia to stay safe and healthy.
• Future Founders, supported by TPXimpact, is awarded to Safety ‘R’ Us from St. Philomena’s Catholic High School for Girls. Safety 'R' Us is designed to help keep women safe when travelling alone.
• Global Innovators, supported by Spotify, is awarded to Food.it! from Gordon’s School. Food.IT helps you change your diet to improve your health and the future of the planet.
• Systems Thinkers, supported by OVO Energy, is awarded to Electro-Saver from Denbigh High School. Electro-Saver challenges you to conserve energy in your home.

Congratulations to you all.

People’s Choice Award

The public have spoken and we are delighted to announce the 2022 People’s Choice Award goes to Carbon GPS! Congratulations to Hasnain, Humza and Sohidul, aged 13 and Mahdi, aged 12 from Challney High School for Boys. The team’s app aims to track your carbon emissions for better carbon conscious decisions. Amazing job!

Donna Hay Award for Impact

In memory of our Senior Learning Manager, Donna Hay, this award recognises those who go above and beyond to support Apps for Good students with their learning journey.

The 2022 Donna Hay Award for Impact goes to Hannah Percival, Assistant Principal at West Bromwich Collegiate Academy. Hannah has been instrumental in introducing Apps for Good to the Academy this year. Hannah said:

"This year has been the first time that students at West Bromwich Collegiate Academy have studied Apps for Good. It has been such a successful, positive experience, that we would not hesitate to recommend it to other teachers who are looking for a new and interesting way to teach computing. We will definitely be involved again next year!"

The award also celebrates the role of our expert volunteers in making a positive impact on our students. The 2022 Donna Hay Award for Impact also goes to Aiden Kelly, from EPAM whose commitment to giving feedback to the teams during our showcase has been second to none.

Congratulations and thank you Hannah and Aiden for your fantastic contribution to Apps for Good students this year.

This year we've seen students take on a vast spectrum of social challenges, reflective of global issues and what's happening locally, within their own community. We've been particularly pleased to see that girls have dominated the Judge's Favourites, flying the flag for women in tech. Natalie Moore, CEO, Apps for Good said:

"Our virtual Showcase enables us to celebrate the talents of students across the UK. We are blown away by the creativity of young people, particularly girls, who care passionately about diverse and complex social issues, from the war in Ukraine and domestic abuse, to food poverty and climate change. It's fantastic to be able to empower them with the skills they'll need to make a positive impact."

Huge thanks

Thank you to everyone involved in the 2022 Showcase - from the students who entered, the teachers, parents and our industry volunteers and corporate partners - thank you!

The Showcase is integral to the Apps for Good approach. Our aim is to celebrate student creativity and tech innovation, inspiring and encouraging them to pursue careers in tech, taking action on the things they care about most and developing awesome life-skills along the way. This year, more than a thousand students have taken part in the Showcase and we hope to reach more young people in the next academic year, with our new course Innovate for Climate Change and our school favourites App Development and Machine Learning.

If you’d like to teach an Apps for Good course, want to volunteer your expertise to our students or want to discuss sponsorship opportunities, then we’d love to hear from you! To find out more about the impact of our work, sign up to our termly newsletter, here.