Technology has radically altered how we work and play, with
the “borderless lifestyle” enabling us to watch TV, shop or work when and where
we want.
Businesses must continuously evolve to meet consumers’
needs, and to succeed they need a workforce skilled in science, technology,
engineering and math, or “STEM,” fields.
Yet the supply of STEM-skilled workers isn’t keeping up with
the demand. Studies show that 80 percent
of the fastest-growing careers in our country require STEM skills, but the U.S.
is not graduating enough students able to meet this demand. As a result, as many as 3 million STEM jobs
have gone unfilled. In addition, STEM
jobs have grown three times faster than other jobs over the past decade.
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To help meet this demand, an innovative competition is
underway to stimulate students’ creativity and innovation in these fields. The Verizon Innovative App
Challenge gives teams of middle- and high-school students a chance to create,
develop and bring to market their own app.
The competition’s challenge is simple: Develop a concept for
an app that solves a local school or community issue. This year’s competition will reward eight winning
schools with $20,000 grants, as well as tablets for each student team member,
courtesy of Samsung Telecommunications
America. These winning teams also
will work with professionals from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Media Lab and Verizon to help build their apps and bring them to market on the
Google Play store, respectively.
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The first
App Challenge in 2012-13 saw teams from more than 470 schools submit app
concepts from every state and Washington, D.C., with more than 5,000 students
engaged in the program.
The 2013-14 Verizon Innovative App Challenge is open for
submissions until Dec. 17. For more
information or to submit an app concept, visit www.verizonfoundation.org/appchallenge.
