Futures+
Community innovation with foresight

About Futures+

A foresight driven community innovation program, the goal of Futures+ is to develop 100 pilot projects addressing sustainability challenges using deep technologies.
Together, Futures+ seeks to build an ecosystem for accelerating sustainable development through community innovation.

Foresight
Driven

True sustainability cannot exist without a view to the future. We want our communities to be resilient in the face of massive sustainability challenges and identify the most relevant issues facing our society – now and in the years to come

Cross Sector
Collaboration

Sustainability is a “wicked” problem – the complex interplay of many factors. Collaboration across sectors allows us to come up with the most innovative, useful and practical solutions to create an impact in our ever changing world.

Deep
Technology

We believe that the “wicked” problems we are facing today require the brightest minds and the most advanced technology to be solved. Solutions based on meaningful technology innovation have the potential to serve as an enabler of change at a wider scale, impacting the society. Thus, Futures+ highlights the use of deep technology to solve problems.

Technology Focus

What sets the Futures+ program apart, is its strong focus on using (deep) tech to create social impact solutions that address relevant issues.
We have focused on 3 promising technologies that can help to solve the “wicked” problems the world faces today.



Artificial
Intelligence

Artificial intelligence can help us address problems that are too complex for humans to understand. Therefore, AI has great potential to help us solve the “wicked” problems we face with sustainability challenges.



Internet of
Things

The Internet of Things can help to bring the power of computing and data to places that were previously impossible. Using IoT, we can leverage this power to make informed and intelligent decisions about the future, empowering us to act sustainably.



Geographic
Information System

Capturing and relating data points together with geo-location through Geographic Information Systems enables data-driven decision making at the nodal level. GIS therefore presents tremendous potential to grasp and ultimately solve convoluted sustainability challenges.

Challenge Areas

While there are many problem areas that require bright minds and deep technology to be solved, our focus for 2020 is on the three areas of pressing social impact issues as resilient solutions are needed to support a growing population in the face of climate change and pandemics.

Livelihood

More Info

Food Security

More Info

Community Health

More Info

About the Organizers

Sustainable
Living Lab

Sustainable Living Lab (SL2) is Asia’s only sustainability consultancy addressing the innovation needs of the 3P (Public, Private & People) sector. As practitioners of futures thinking, we implement cutting edge technologies and facilitate cross sector collaboration for social impact.

National Institute of Technology Warangal

An Institute of National Importance, under Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, well known for its dedicated faculty, staff and the state-of-the art infrastructure conducive to a healthy academic environment.

Timeline

-

  • Apply by 15th July

    Registration

    Teams of 2-4 people are to register their interest online

  • July – August

    Training

    Workshops in foresight, innovation & community development including special breakout sessions with the partners to better develop the solution.

  • 15th August

    Concept Submission

    Teams submit concepts giving holistic consideration to futures

  • 5th September

    Concept Development

    Top 15 teams are matched with mentors from academic partners

  • October

    Showcase

    Top 15 teams are selected for showcase in India (the date will be updated soon due to COVID 19 issue)

  • October 2020 – January 2021

    Test Bedding

    Top 3 teams testbed their technology solutions in the community

  • Implement
    Your
    Idea!

Our Partners

Academic Partners

CIE,IIIT Hyderabad (India)
National University of Singapore, Futures Office (Singapore)
Wilmar Business Polytechnic (Indonesia)
Jigme Namgyel Engineering College (Bhutan)

Corporate Partners

ICMG (Singapore)

Experience Partners

SPI EDGE (India)

Community Partners

myHarvestFarms (India)
S4S Technologies (India)
Byrraju Foundation (India)
Anna Unna Charitable Trust (India)
PT.Mitra Sejahtera Membangun Bangsa (Indonesia)
Habibi Garden (Indonesia)
Roda Hijau (Indonesia)
Pak Tani Digital (Indonesia)
MooMa Holdings Pte. Ltd. (Singapore)
Kyrshan Foundation (India)

*List subject to change due to ongoing discussions

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Futures+ all about?

Futures+ is a foresight focused program connecting innovators from all across the world for cross-sector organizations to address sustainability challenges. The goal is to develop solutions with deep technologies at the core to benefit the communities we are part of.

Who is Futures+ for?

Futures+ is open to all citizens over the age of 18, with just one condition – at least one member of the team must be enrolled in a nationally qualified academic institution*.

Note: Admissionability of the team lies at the discretion of the organizing committee. Motivated participants are encouraged to contact.

Who is behind the Futures+ program?

The program is a brainchild of the National Institute of Technology, Warangal, India (an Institute of National Importance, MHRD, Government of India) and Sustainable living Lab, an award-winning sustainable solutions company. Refer to www.nitw.ac.in, https://www.sl2square.org/.

I want to work on a challenge statement but it says “region: Indonesia” but I am from France. What does it mean?

The region just explains the region of implementation and participants from all over the world can participate.

How is Futures thinking different from design thinking and is it legitimate?

Design thinking focuses on solutions for the immediate futures whereas futures thinking focuses on long term solutions keeping in mind multiple possibilities of the future and choosing the most favorable outcome.

Futures thinking is a worldwide accepted concept and there are many sources to study from namely, Institute for the Future(IFTF) and Coursera, for instance. On joining Futures+, you will be provided a customized training on using futures thinking for solution ideation.

What should be my project focused around?

There are three key Challenge areas, Food Security, Community Health, and Livelihood. You can choose either from the list of challenge statements that we have provided or work on a self-identified challenge statement that addresses one or more of the above-mentioned areas.

Why focus on these challenge areas this year?

Food security and livelihood are important areas because they affect a lot of other sectors directly or indirectly as well. As we enter the last decade to address the SDGs of the UN, it’s imperative to start first with the groundwork for bringing about foundational change.

Who can participate in the program?

All members of the team should be of age 18 or above.
One member of the team must be enrolled in a nationally qualified academic institution.
At least one member of the team must be graduating no sooner than 2021.
Participants should be skilled in at least one of the relevant technology focus areas (GIS, AI, IoT) of the challenge.

Why is it necessary to have one team member enrolled in a full-time academic institution?

The program provides dedicated support from the ideation to the pilot implementation phase and we feel that university students are best suited for conducting experiments at the pilot stage. That being said, we still welcome all individuals willing to address sustainability challenges and hence bring the best of both worlds by the above rule.

I am not enrolled in a university at present but I’m very keen on participating. Is it possible?

It is always preferable that at least one member from each team has one person from university, but we can definitely look into special cases and try to help them out! Please reach out to us.

Is my team allowed to come up with our own challenge statement?

Yes, you are. You can identify an issue in your community and propose suitable challenge statements under the field of livelihood, food security, and community health.
Though we recommend choosing from the list provided. Challenge Statements are provided by our partners who are well versed in different aspects of it. We feel the experience they provide combined with the fresh perspective from our innovators makes the solutions coming out of the program destined to create a long-lasting impact. Hence we strongly recommend choosing one or more of our challenge statements.

Why are technologies such as AI, IoT, and GIS chosen as focal points?

These technologies can help us address problems that are too complex for the human brain. They also give us the computing power and data that can help us make informed, intelligent, and data-driven decisions about the future empowering us to act sustainably. Having the latest technologies also makes the solution future-ready and reduces manpower requirements.

Can we apply for more than one challenge statement?

Of course, yes. Please keep in mind that the best one shall be selected out of them and you will be receiving support in the subsequent rounds for that particular challenge statement.

Is having knowledge about deep technology a prerequisite for participating?

Having existing knowledge to a certain extent is recommended however we welcome individuals who are not that experienced but very enthusiastic about learning as well!

Can we use a different technology than the ones mentioned?

The technology focus areas have been carefully selected after assessing the expertise areas of our mentors and knowledge partners. However you are free to choose a focus area of your choice, we will try our best to help your team!

Why is there such a strong focus on long term thinking & technology?

True Sustainability cannot exist without a view to the future. Technological solutions have the potential to act as an enabler for bringing change at scale.

How will participants be supported throughout the program?

There will be regular support from our community partners as well as organizers by means of webinars and online sessions twice per week during the training phase followed by personalised mentoring and brainstorming calls with the selected teams. Every doubt related to the basic concepts of futures thinking, and groundwork about projects for instance, and technical troubleshooting will be addressed.

Who retains the Intellectual Property after completion of the Futures+ program?

The IP rests with the innovators but shall be open-sourced to other communities wishing to use that solution for addressing sustainability issues in their communities.

What are the benefits at the end of the program for the top teams?

One of the key benefits of participating in the Futures+ program is that we not only provide mentorship support for your idea but also provide resources and grants for prototyping and testing. Teams will get constant support and funding worth 11,000 SGD for test-bedding and implementation of their solutions at the grassroots level.

What actually happens on the day of the showcase?

Finalists will be given an opportunity to present their successfully developed concepts to an audience consisting of various VCs, government officials, and professionals on the day of the showcase.

Register Your Interest Now!

We are looking for motivated entrepreneurial talents that can unlock new opportunities to take the community forward with continuous support from our empowered by our implementation and corporate partners throughout the Futures+ journey.