Shuttleworth Foundation on the hunt for social innovators

The Shuttleworth Foundation is on the hunt for social innovators to join its 2016 Fellowship intake.

This year, the foundation says, it’s particularly interested in “ideas at the intersection between technology, knowledge and learning, with openness being the key requirement”.

Founded by South African tech icon Mark Shuttleworth, the Foundation funds people from all over the world regardless of gender, age, nationality or experience. Since 2000, it has promoted African education in Maths, Science and Technology, as well as innovative ideas for social change.

The aim of the fellowship grant is to multiply the money they put into their own project by a factor of ten or more.

“If we are deliberate about finding great people, supporting and sharing their positive approaches for social change, the world will get better, faster,” the foundation says. “That is why we are looking for social innovators who are open at heart, have a fresh perspective on addressing challenges and have a very clear idea of their role in bringing about positive change”.

According to the Fellowship application page, the parameters for the fellowship entries have been kept deliberately open.

“Prospective applicants often ask us to narrow down the parameters for applications and be more specific about what we’re looking for,” it says. “We are not planning on doing that, as we want to be surprised and intrigued by applicants, no matter how unconventional the idea may be”.

“Our number one ask,” it adds, “is that openness be at the core of your idea and/or its implementation. Openness is not an add on. It is a fundamental approach to both participation and intellectual property…”