Nesta and the Department for Education have launched the £5.75 million CareerTech challenge.

The challenge aims to find “cutting edge innovations that will equip adults across England with the right tools and skills to find rewarding future employment”.

With one fifth of UK workers currently in occupations that will be affected by automation over the next 10 to 15 years, the challenge is calling for entrants to come forward with products and services to equip these at-risk workers for future employment.

Some examples suggested by the competition organisers are online information on the skills employers will be asking for, or virtual reality experiences which help people to envisage their future careers.

The challenge aims to address the risks faced by people working in England aged 24 to 65, without a degree and earning less than £35,000 per year. Sectors expected to particularly change as a result of automation include retail and manufacturing.

The CareerTech challenge consists of two parts:

The CareerTech challenge prize, to find digital solutions that use labour market information to make information, advice and guidance more accessible.

20 finalists will receive £50,000 each as well as expert support to help them further develop their solutions. In March 2021, the winner will be awarded £120,000 with one runner-up receiving £80,000.

The CareerTech challenge fund to source innovative tech solutions which support people to build motivation to learn and develop new skills online.

Existing online learning generally has low completion rates, so Nesta is looking for ways to engage people longer term and build their employability skills and confidence for transitioning into new job roles.

Nesta will provide grants of between £100,000 to £250,000 for successful applicants, alongside support to help refine and test their tech.

The CareerTech challenge will support the development of the government’s National Retraining scheme. The scheme aims to prepare adults for future changes to the economy, including those brought about by automation, and help them retrain into other jobs. The complete National Retraining scheme service will be available for eligible adults in 2022.

Education minister, Michelle Donelan, said “Thanks to new technologies such as automation and artificial intelligence, there is potential to drastically improve the quality of online learning for adult students.”

The prize is now open for entries and the fund is open for applications.

Applications for the fund close on 9 December 2019 and entries for the prize close on 29 January 2020.