Guernsey’s Digital Innovator Challenge has generated Innovative ideas from students to rejuvenate the St Peter Port high street.
Students aged between 16 to 18 presented digital solutions on how to rejuvenate the St Peter Port high street in front of States of Guernsey Deputies and judges from First Central Group on Thursday 24th June; ideas were creative and included mobile phone apps, benches featuring QR codes and the gamification of planting trees around the town capital.
The event was the culmination of the Digital Innovator Challenge, which this year saw the highest uptake in students with 92 taking part. The initiative, which has run over three sessions across six months, shortlisted four teams of students from the College of Further Education and The Grammar School to present to the judging panel.
Winning team ‘Greensey’ from the College of Further Education – consisting of Lewis O’Callaghan, Jack Thompson, Jack Edwards, Soyan Chapellier and Samuel Williams – were crowned victorious, showcasing an innovative approach to boosting the high street economically and improving the visual appeal of the high street.
Their concept, inspired from popular game Pokémon Go, was an Augmented Reality (AR) application available to download from a mobile. It created a reality where users would have the opportunity to plant trees and flowers around a virtual St Peter Port high street. As users engage with the game, they would be provided with credits that would then result in providing the opportunity to plant real-life plants on the high street.
John Davison, Chief Technology Officer at sponsor First Central Group, said: “Our students are the island’s future and listening to each team present their take on this year’s problem statement was fascinating. A big congratulations to all that took part and the winning team. Each team tackled the problem statement from a different perspective, addressing the issue with a variety of solutions that could all have great potential as well as being scalable.”
Ben Wratten, Programme Manager at the Digital Greenhouse, said: “We have been amazed with the high quality of this year’s entries. The teams have managed to work together and develop some truly innovative solutions to use technology to increase footfall on the high street. We are really proud of the programme and each team’s entry.”
Deputy Steve Falla, Vice President of Economic Development Committee said: “I’m always impressed with the imagination, creativity and inspiration that young people can bring to the island and this event was no exception. I think any of the ideas that were presented, perhaps slightly modified, might be useable and could be considered by the Guernsey Retail Group.
“The winning entry is possibly workable. By introducing a mobile app that encourages planting trees, this will generate interest from the public, especially environmentally, and we know that even more flowers and plants would liven up the town. This idea improved the high street both physically and digitally via a game which really is a great idea.”
More information on the initiative can be found here.
