Acorn Aspirations is running a 2-week accelerator where young people aged 12-18 will collaborate with mentors from London’s TechCity community to develop tech start-ups that tackle social problems in their local communities and worldwide.
#AcornAccelerator2017 will bring together teens in technology for a 2-week extravaganza of problem-solving and inspiration. We consider ourselves an “un-school” because we encourage students to operate in a way that, in most educational institutions, would be branded “cheating”: a combination of collaboration and independent learning. Teens leave with an angle of compassion that means they won’t just code for the sake of code; they will focus their passion to more useful ends. They will have gained skills in communication, delegation, pitching, adaptability and human-focused design – skills valued in any industry.
WHY?
'The skills gap is costing the economy around £63bn a year in lost income.’
– Digital Skills Report, 2016
‘Almost 50% of employers have a digital skills gap, which includes specialist technical roles.’ Digital Skills Report, 2016‘The benefits [of greater digital skills and inclusion] are huge. In this new report, in terms of productivity, there is a benefit of £358 million for individuals, and £243 million for government in additional revenue.’ – The Economic Impact of Basic Digital Skills and Inclusion in the UK , 2016
It is believed that young people lack soft skills:
‘Nine in ten employers believe job-seekers should focus on soft skills just as much as their grades… Yet 60 per cent of young people think businesses only care about academic grades’ – Duke of Edinburgh, 2017
‘60% of managers claim the new graduates do not have the critical thinking and problem solving skills’ – Forbes, 2016
DEMO DAY JUDGES:
THOMAS GÉRÉ - FOUNDER, REALITIES CENTRE LONDON
TRACY DOREE - FOUNDING PARTNER, KINDRED
ANKUR BANERJEE - TECH LEAD, ACCENTURE LIQUID STUDIO
TABITHA GOLDSTAUB - CO-FOUNDER, COGNITIONX
GARY STEWART - DIRECTOR, WAYRA
PETE TRAINOR - CEO, NEXUS CX LTD
ROD BANNER - AGENT OF CHANGE
WHAT IS ACORN ASPIRATIONS?
At Acorn Aspirations we believe teenagers should be part of this technological transformation and have an opportunity to create technology alongside the most innovative minds and tech creators. We know that young people learn best when they are equipped with the right tools and environment that nurture their creativity. During our hackathons, bootcamps and accelerator programmes we explore A.I./Machine Learning, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality and introduce young people to the most innovative and impactful technologies that are changing the world. Our latest hackathon attracted over 120 people with 40 teens having an opportunity to address one of the most pressing challenging of this current age: mental health. We explored Artificial Intelligence tools to address depression, anxiety, stress, phobias and more.
At Acorn Aspirations we design learning experiences that nurture entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity in young people. We develop future leaders – leaders that will be making tomorrow’s world a better place. We prepare young people for the jobs that do not yet exist. Young people that learn through our programmes WILL BE the ones to create those jobs.
Join us. Learn with us. Reinvent education with us!
For more details of the event: http://accelerator2017.acornaspirations.com/
For more info: Elena Sinel elena.sinel@acornaspirations.co.uk
Location
Dates
to 18th August 2017 - 04:30 PM