On 20-21 April, more than 100 young people participated at the first ever staging of the Microsoft Innovate for Good event in Taiwan.
Part of Microsoft’s global YouthSpark initiative, this event brings together youth from across Taiwan to share ideas and support each other in developing projects that address emerging social issues. A majority of the event participants were young people who are already leveraging the training opportunities and activities provided by Microsoft in Taiwan, such as the GIRLS Power Up internship programme for aspiring female entrepreneurs, Imagine Cup Taiwan contestants, as well as ten student volunteers from nonprofit group Alliance Cultural Foundation.
During the event, Microsoft Taiwan also invited its nonprofit partners to share their experiences in using technology as a catalyst for new ideas.
Vincent Shih, Legal and Corporate Affairs Director at Microsoft Taiwan, said, “The key objective of Innovate for Good is to promote more active engagement between Microsoft and promising young people in Taiwan who are committed to using technology to make a difference. Through our innovative capabilities we want to provide the latest tools and resources and help them develop new solutions that create a positive impact in their communities.”
Some of the projects showcased at the Innovate for Good event in Taiwan include:
- ‘Love Food’, a project to reduce food waste through a system that helps food vendors forecast demand more accurately
- ‘Nearfarm’, a scheme to create a fair trade platform that enables consumers to pay less for food products
- ‘Pick Up’, an online carpool system designed to alleviate the environmental impact of commuting
Each of these projects will be supported by Microsoft staff and nonprofit professionals who will provide advice and expertise across the span of project development.
The event also aims to heighten the level of awareness among Taiwanese youth about how the latest technology and social media platforms can further empower young people to broaden the impact of social programmes — while providing more opportunities for burgeoning social enterprises to commercialise their business ideas.
“The interaction between our staff and the event participants was highly beneficial, especially in providing the young people with a better sense of how to make their social projects marketable in order to turn their ideas into reality," said Mr Shih.
For more information on Microsoft Taiwan’s Innovate for Good event, please visit https://www.facebook.com/Microsoft.Student.Program?v=wall.