Rethink Ireland accelerator fund to build awareness of tech for younger people
Funding of €600,000 is being made available to Rethink Ireland to help children and young people improve their use of technology
Rethink Ireland’s Children and Youth Digital Solutions Fund was created to support services who work with children and young people to enhance their efficiency, programme reach, collaboration and their data collection through the use of technology.
The Digital Solutions Fund will support up to eight projects. Each awardee will receive a cash grant (to a maximum of €50,000), mentoring support and a comprehensive six-month accelerator programme. The accelerator programme focuses on building awardees’ capacity and equipping them to scale so they can reach more people in need of their work.
Rethink Ireland will partner with the Dept of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth on the project, which is supported by the What Works Initiative, which is funded through Dormant Accounts, an initiative of the DCEDIY to maximise the impact of prevention and early intervention to improve outcomes for children and young people.
The Fund is open to organisations that have a not-for-profit legal form, e.g., a school, charity, social enterprise, voluntary organisation, or higher education institution. It will also be open to applications from children and young people’s services committees and child and family support networks, as key coordinating structures involving statutory and non-statutory agencies, and non-government organisations, in service delivery to children, young people and their families.
The successful applicant can be:
- A collaborative project with two or more organisations working together using technology to become more efficient in their communication and delivery of services to children and young people.
- A collaborative project with two or more organisations making innovative content for children/youth available and accessible online.
- A project that seeks to enhance the use of data and evidence in their service planning through digital solutions.
- An innovative IT/Digital project which aims to improve the digital literacy of children, young people and/or their parents in order to address the digital divide.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has made our society become even more reliant on technology to learn, work and socialise,” said Deirdre Mortell, CEO of Rethink Ireland. “Technology has the ability to connect us to community, to learning and to new ideas. Unfortunately, the pandemic has also exposed the digital divide and the challenges some young people face in terms of accessing and using technology. Therefore, it is timely that today Rethink Ireland is launching the Digital Solutions Fund.
“I would strongly encourage services which help children and young people to improve their use of technology to apply to the Digital Solutions Fund. Rethink Ireland would be delighted to work with you to support you strengthen your impact and help bridge the digital divide.”
The fund will be open for applications until 17 May. For more information, visit: https://rethinkireland.ie/
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