State of Young Philly 2012 Challenge: submit your idea to tackle city issues & win $1k in seed funding

Got a bright idea to make Philly better? Young Involved Philly wants to hear it — and potentially give you $1,000 to make it happen.

As part of the organization’s annual State of Young Philly event series, Young Involved Philly is holding a competition to find the best “creative solutions” to Philly issues identified by YIP and the city. The winning ideas will tackle one of the issues listed here. Judges will choose four winners, one in each track (Education, Sustainability, Economy), including a special Comcast category.

Get more details and register for the competition here. Deadline is 11:59 on Oct. 7.

Here are some of the tech-relevant issues YIP has chosen, though technology could play a role in a successful idea, regardless of the prompt:

• How can mobile technology be used to increase parent and citizen engagement with schools and after-school programs?  How should relevant information on local schools and educational activities be delivered?
• Recognizing that between 41-55 percent of Philadelphian households don’t have access to the Internet, Comcast has introduced a low cost broadband service called Internet Essentials and the City of Philadelphia established a network of public computing centers called KEYSPOTS in community based organizations across our city. What are ways we can continue promote broadband adoption and digital literacy through these and other programs?