Pupils from Grosvenor Grammar School in Belfast are celebrating after their digital creativity landed them a once-in-a-lifetime trip to San Francisco early next year to visit some of the world’s biggest technology companies
Alicia Gallagher, Louisa Millar, Olivia Millar and Lucy Milhench won the Digital DNA’s Futures competition run in partnership with Sentinus and backed by official travel partner Aer Lingus.
It challenged students aged 12-17 from across Northern Ireland to work in teams, putting their creative minds together to overcome a challenge or harness an opportunity faced by businesses or consumers through digital technology.
An eight-week roadshow engaged thousands of young people, and pupils were given the opportunity to develop their concept and start to design the solution.
The final creations were presented to a judging panel at Belfast City Hall, where the efforts of hundreds of school children were judged by some of the world’s leading digital thinkers from companies like eBay, Deloitte Digital, Accenture, Total Mobile and The Tomorrow Lab.
The Grosvenor Grammar girls designed an app called headCASE, which helps identity, diagnose and advise on treatment for those with concussion injuries that too often end in fatalities. They want to help solve a problem that has devastated families and make it easier for clubs and organisations to keep their teams safe.
Digital DNA founder and managing director Gareth Quinn said: “Our Futures programme is all about encouraging the business leaders of tomorrow to embrace entrepreneurship and innovation.
"The development of the young business minds in Northern Ireland is essential to the continued growth of our country and it’s great to be able to play a role in helping inspire the young people who will one day become industry leaders.
"The students from Grosvenor have done a tremendous job with developing their app and I hope winning the competition helps kickstart a successful career for them in digital technology.”
Since launching in 2013, Digital Futures has engaged with thousands of school pupils across the north, including Liam Broadway and Sam Stuart from Dominican College in Portstewart who won the competition in 2015.
