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NESTA & BBC launch major innovation competition

16/04/2003

"The programme puts out a call to budding inventors to get thinking and to submit some life-changing ideas of their own."

This year, BBC One in association with NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts) is throwing down the gauntlet to all those would-be inventors and asking them to take part in a nationwide search for ideas which can be turned into reality

Launching on 30 April with a sixty-minute special at 20:00 on BBC1, Innovation Nation celebrates invention with a look at the ideas that have changed the world or made everyday living easier. The programme puts out a call to budding inventors to get thinking and to submit some life-changing ideas of their own. Viewers will have until -05-31 to send in their ideas.

Presented by Craig Doyle (pictured), the launch programme features well known faces talking about their favourite inventions, archive footage capturing past inventions and the views of people on the street on the inventions they love, hate and can't live without.

Some of Britain's most prolific inventors, including James Dyson, Sir Clive Sinclair, Dr. William Johnson and Trevor Baylis, will also appear on the programme, offering inspirational advice to aspiring inventors.

Inventors who made their millions from simple ideas will explain how they turned their dreams into reality. Amongst these will be Michelle Mone, the inventor behind the Ultimo bra and Craig Johnston, the man who invented the world's number one selling football boot, as worn by David Beckham.

Craig Doyle calls for people to get into teams, complete an application form and submit a short video explaining who they are and why they should be chosen.

These entries will be whittled down to three teams by the BBC and an expert panel at NESTA on the basis of their ideas and videos and they will be will be given the opportunity to transform their idea into a working prototype.

In Autumn 2003, cameras will follow the three hopeful teams over the course of a five-part series.

The three teams will come together for a live final, and BBC viewers can vote for their favourite invention. A prize will provide the winners with the necessary support and backing fo get their invention manufactured and onto the shelves.

Innovation Nation will also be celebrated in the 'Tomorrow's World' roadshows - the UK's largest travelling science event. The roadshows will visit London, Birmingham, Glasgow and Cardiff in June and July and will offer a range of experiments, demonstrations and interactive items that all the family can take part in.

Four half hour shows will be transmitted each week and there will be an invention challenge set - resulting in the winners being announced on the final programme.

Young inventors too can be part of Innovation Nation by competing for awards of their own on BBC ONE's Blue Peter and CBBC and the invention theme will be picked up in programmes across the BBC.

Entry details and application forms can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/science or by calling 08705 100 744 (national rate). Both will become active after the launch programme. The closing date for applications is 31 May.

Applicants will be required to get into teams of two or more and send in their idea with a short video telling us who they are, what their idea is and why they should be picked.

Entrants must not include any information on the application which describes how their invention works. This is to protect the rights of the inventor according to the English Intellectual Property Law.

A full list of terms and conditions of entry can be found on the website or can be obtained by calling the national rate number.