It's not everyday Hackney students get to pitch to The Duke of York
Hackney students pitch business iDEAs to The Duke of York
The pupils were given the day to work within groups and come up with cutting edge and innovative technological idea’s which they would then present before staff, mentors, judges and The Duke, patron of their school. Before viewing presentations, I gave myself fifteen minutes to maybe produce a few ideas of my own within the guidelines given to the children and my mind was blank. It dawned on me at this point, the difficulty of the task they had all been presented with.
Speaking with Hackney UTC Principal Catharine Wensley afterwards further illustrated how inspiring this all was. Unable to hide her disbelief, she revealed "there’s no way these kids would have been able to pull this off only a year ago".
US news channel CNBC were also in the house, following The Duke for a filmed documentary as part of the ‘CNBC Meets’ series. In case you're concerned about the day going ahead too smoothly, somehow in the commotion, presenter Tania Bryers managed to come off with a broken toe after a collision with camera equipment and still soldiered on, it must be said.
Personally, the most striking reveal of the day was the level of interest and involvement of The Duke. Having already been briefed on his passion for encouraging digital enterprise amongst youth it was still a delight to witness this all first hand. This wasn’t a quota-filling, box-ticking or attention seeking engagement as the sheer scale of the iDEA with its different stages will serve as testament to.
In between taking in the pitches from the students, The Duke would reiterate his hopes and beliefs stating “I’m convinced it’s these kids that will come up with the ideas of the future…it’s all about the thought”. Amongst the ideas pitched, ‘KeyTop’ an innovative idea to combine and keyboard with a laptop for DJs and performers. ‘Charge N Go’, a chip that helps to charge mobile phones, powered by human energy (walking). Remarkably, the students had also taken into consideration, marketing, funding and promotion for all of their ideas. With the aforementioned possibly the most practical of the ideas presented, The Duke was also quick to reaffirm there was still room for the most imaginative and wildly ambitious ideas also, “Today IS about the crazy idea”. Brilliant.
There were tough choices to be made by the judges in picking the winners and sadly not everyone could win. What I did pick up on amongst the glee as the winning student groups were revealed was the palpable disappointment from the many that missed out. It’s more so this that will go on to fuel the drive and creativity that will exist as the legacy of today and the rest of the scheme. The lasting effect of the day was also on the mind of The Duke and in his final address he further stressed, “Never ever, be afraid of an idea”. If anything can endure beyond today for those involved, it should certainly be this.
