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What is a SuperSquad?
A practical, paid work experience programme where teens engage with real business and societal challenges. The topic of this Squad was:
“How might we transform the way our government works by using new technology (like AI) to ensure they serve us all better?”
This challenge brought together the expertise from the private and public sector with HMRC and GSS outlining the inner workings of the civil service, and Accenture inspiring them to think about emerging technologies.
Over the 6 weeks, the Squad came up with 1,000 ideas, ranging from AI chatbots to policy simulators and safe street robots. This reflects a key principle of a SuperSquad; allowing space for the most diverse set of ideas to drive true innovation.
The Squad really engaged with the topic of AI and how it might be used to improve the way the government work.
There was some skepticism amongst the Squad as they embarked on the programme with:
– 56.4% wouldn’t describe the government as “modern”
– 63.6% didn’t feel the government served them as a young person
As with many of our Squads, safety and security was at the forefront of the young person’s thoughts. Ideas in this space included disaster alert technology and disaster preparedness apps. Tech accessibility was also a key theme and the Squad could easily connect the dots between AI and chat bots to support government functions, both externally facing support with the public but also internally to the civil service.
The most exciting ideas were around bridging the gap between the government and the population. The VR sentiment tracker and OverseerAI both use emerging tech to interpret and predict the impact of policy change. As politics becomes increasingly divisive, it is encouraging to see young people looking for solutions to bring people together.
“I would definitely look into AI-type jobs because it is contemporary and interesting”
“I now understand more applications for new technology, like machine learning, than what it usually shown”
“This showed me a different side to the civil service and now I am interested in pursuing it as a career”
100 students took part in the SuperSquad and earned on average £126.72. None of the Squad members have offshore bank accounts and therefore all of this money is going into the UK’s teenage economy, £12k in total. This is trickle-up economics in action.
This money not only boosts young people’s confidence by being their first pay packet but in many cases takes a bit of pressure off families during the cost-of-living crisis.
All Squad members also receive a reference to put on their CV and the opportunity to join the Startup Sherpas entrepreneurship programme.
Helping young people learn the skills of innovation and entrepreneurship through real-life work experiences.
