The Google.org Impact Challenge competition, being held in Canada for the first time, will identify and fund 10 organizations that use technology to make the world a better place.

Through this competition, Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, will award $5 million among 10 nonprofit organizations (NPOs) to help them turn their social innovation visions into reality. The first five winners will receive $750,000 and mentoring offered by Google and LEAP, a Toronto-based centre dedicated to social impact. The other five finalists will receive $250,000. Organizations from all sectors are invited to submit their applications by no later than November 26, 2016. The shortlist of selected applicants will be announced in February.  “We want to make a better world, faster. That’s what this challenge is designed to do,” said Sam Sebastian, managing director of Google Canada. “Canada is home to some of the world’s smartest and most talented tech innovators; we have huge expectations for what Canada can deliver.”

My Human Kit aimed at developing health for all through invention, sharing and production of technical aids to disabled, achievable for and with the persons concerned

One of the five winners will be chosen according to votes from the public, while the others will be announced during an event at the end of March, after the finalists have pitched their projects to a panel of judges. Some of the judges include the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Mélanie Joly and the professional hockey player, P.K. Subban.  “We created the Google.org Impact Challenge because we truly believe that technology has the power to transform lives,” explained Jacqueline Fuller, director of Google.org. “We have seen firsthand the incredible impact that innovative technology can have in addressing complex and difficult social issues, and we are excited to see how Canadian nonprofits will respond to the challenge.”

Created in 2013, the Google.org Impact Challenge is a global competition that is taking place in Canada for the first time. The event aspires to be a showcase for NPOs and charities to share their vision and overcome some of the most complex social challenges around the world. Some of the past winners of the competition include RNIB (United Kingdom), which makes smart glasses to improve life for people with vision loss, and Jaccede.com (France), an online platform available in four languages that indicates the location of almost 75,000 places that are accessible to people with disabilities.