What makes a good idea?

You should consider the following when you submit your idea:

What’s the social problem you’re aiming to solve?

Your idea can be either a specific solution to a problem, or simply identify a need in a particular area. You might be inspired by personal experience, or you might simply have spotted an issue that interests you. Think out of the box. We’re interested in ideas that really push the boundaries. Stuff that will shake things up and create new models for solving social problems.

Web-enabled people power

Web-based social software must have a significant and central use in the implementation of your idea. Take a look at our Big Idea to find out more about why we think this technology is important. We’re looking for ideas which have the potential to use technology in an innovative way, but they must also be user-centric and friendly. We’re interested in designing tools for ordinary people to use, not just creating something cool for the sake of it. We want to extend the benefits of technology to reach new audiences. We are interested in cheap, simple, effective, easy-to-use tools. If you will need access to data for your idea (ordinance survey maps for example) you should consider whether this is freely available and in a usable format.

Make it original!

Do your homework and check out whether your idea has been done before.

Feasibility and potential

We will be thinking about the likelihood of getting the idea off the ground, as well as the potential to scale-up or replicate the idea when we make our selection. Have a think about how your idea might sustain itself in the long-run. We’re looking for ideas which might:

1. Help a pre-existing not-for-profit or governmental organisation.

2. Become a social enterprise, charity, community interest company or other business in its own right.

3. Become a stand-alone venture which you could just run in your spare time as well.

We want to be sure that we have the time and resources needed to be of use to you. Take a look at how the weekend will work – is Social Innovation Camp the right place for your idea? We’ve found the most successful ideas are usually not so big. They’re just too complex to even scratch the surface in a weekend. You’re not going to achieve world peace in 48 hours!

Stage of development

We are looking for very early stage ideas: the kernel of something interesting; back-of-the-envelope stuff. If you already have a team of developers and some early funding, you’re a bit ahead of us. Ideally, we want you to take your idea forward. We’re after people who are able to devote some time to getting their idea off the ground after the Social Innovation Camp weekend.

Who are we looking for?

Anyone. You don’t have to know how to code software - we will introduce you to the people who can. And you don’t have to enter an idea which is anything related to your day job - although you can should you wish. You can hear previous Social Innovation Camp participants talk about why they got involved here.