The competition - Equality Rebooted - is looking for inspiring ideas, large and small, from people all around Europe who believe in building a truly inclusive economy and making the most of skills and technologies to close the gap in our society. Ideas could include, but are not limited to:

• New technologies and business models that make the digital economy more inclusive or use collaborative solutions to reduce inequality;
• Innovations that empower disadvantaged people to fully participate in the digital economy and gain revenue from employment or entrepreneurship;
• Initiatives that equip those at risk of being shut out of the labour market with the appropriate skills to shape the knowledge economy, such as creativity, communication or problem-solving;
• Solutions to protect and support low wage/skilled workers in the evolving labour market. 

You can apply if you're an entrepreneur, innovator, student, designer, maker, tech enthusiast, educator, an individual or part of an organisation from throughout the European Union and in countries participating in the European Horizon 2020 programme.

The competition will help the most innovative ideas to achieve sustainable impact. Thirty of the most promising applications will be chosen as semi-finalists and will be invited to a social innovation academy in Madrid to progress their ideas.

The three most effective projects will each be awarded with a prize of €50,000 at the awards ceremony in October 2017 in Brussels.

Deadline Applications: 7 April 2017 (12:00 noon Brussels time). For full details, click here.

How to enter the competition

The competition is open to individuals, groups and organisations across the European Union and in countries participating in the European Horizon 2020 programme (see list)

The competition process

The competition is organised in 3 phases:

Phase 1: Out of the total of eligible entries received by the deadline, 30 semi-finalists will be selected to receive mentoring support and further progress their ideas. They will be invited to take part in a social innovation academy and to network with other European organisations and potential partners in their field of activity.

Phase 2: Out of the 30 semi-finalists, 10 finalists will be invited to the awards ceremony where the 3 final winners will receive a prize of €50,000 each.

Phase 3: in 2018, the competition amongst the 30 semi-finalists will be re-opened and award the 2017 project having achieved the most significant results with an impact prize of €50,000.

In order to select the best entries throughout the competition, the European Commission will be supported by an external jury (to be announced shortly).

Timeline of the competition:

• Launch of the competition: 28 February 2017, Athens

• Deadline to submit an entry: 7 April 2017 at 12.00.00 (noon, Brussels Time)
• 1^st jury meeting in Brussels: 31 May 2017
• Announcement of the 30 semi-finalists: 6 June 2017
• Social Innovation Academy for semi-finalists: 3-5 July 2017, Madrid (tbc)
• Submission of detailed plans by semi-finalists: 31 August 2017
• 2^nd jury meeting in Brussels: 19 September 2017
• Announcement of the finalists: 20 September 2017
• Awards Ceremony: 26 October 2017, Brussels (tbc)

The timeline for the re-opening of the Competition for the impact prize will be announced in early 2018.

Competition background

The European Social Innovation Competition has been organised since 2012 in memory of Diogo Vasconcelos. Take a look at the previous competitions:

• 2016 – The fourth European social Innovation Competition – Integrated Futures
• 2015 – The third European Social Innovation Competition – New Ways to Grow
• 2014 – The second European Social Innovation Competition – The Job Challenge
• 2013 – The first European Social Innovation Competition – New Forms of Work

Source and further info are available here