Singularity University, created by Google and NASA and known worldwide for being associated with projects of scientific progress and avant-garde technology, has recently announced a new partnership with Nova School of Business & Economics, the Municipality of Cascais and Beta-i to launch exclusively for the first time in Portugal, the SingularityU Global Impact Challenge.

The SingularityU Portugal Global Impact Challenge is an annual competition that challenges entrepreneurs, leaders, scientists, and engineers to have moonshot innovations and startups that may have a positive and long-term impact on the population worldwide. The challenge is meant for entrepreneurs with innovative ideas that may help solve global pressing issues. Participants will be divided into teams and will consider their projects’ milestones and deliverables, as well as Singularity University’s ecosystem in order to launch their own startups.

This is a unique event that aims to boost the innovations hereby presented to solve some of the most pressing global challenges in areas such as energy, environment, food, shelter, space, water, disaster resilience, governance, health, education, prosperity, and security through technology. Applications are open until February 6^th and preference will be given to proposals addressing governance, education, and environmental issues. Singularity University considers “disruptive innovations” all those that may impact a thousand million people in ten years.

“Nova SBE understands that they are responsible for being able to prepare people, help managers, and decision-makers to understand the context of change that they are a part of, which is why it has dedicated itself to the creation of an integrated program plan at the new Center for Digital Business and Technology. The partnership with Singularity is part of that intention, given that it promotes openness to change and also helps to establish that change takes place everywhere in the world and that perspectives, examples, and results should be shared. The Global Impact Challenge is, thus, a very interesting initiative to walk down that path, and this partnership with Singularity is one of the fundamental pieces that will allow Nova SBE to achieve the goals it set out to achieve.” – stated Professor João Castro, Head of Nova SBE’s Center of Digital Business.

The winner will be announced on the 26^th and will be awarded the opportunity to undergo the SU Ventures Incubator Program^*, located at NASA’s Research Park, in Silicon Valley, in the USA. The jury will be constituted of Singularity University, Nova SBE, the Municipality of Cascais and Beta-i representatives as well as renowned entrepreneurship, business, and innovation community’s representatives. For more information, visit the Challenge's official page.

^*The SU Ventures Incubator Program will provide the necessary platform, network, structure and mentoring to equip these future leaders with the vital skills to validate their ideas, assemble the right team, test their product and finally launch their startup.