XPRIZE has announced the 11 semi-finalists competing in the $15 million Global Learning challenge, which seeks solutions that “will enable children in developing countries to teach themselves basic reading, writing and arithmetic within 15 months.” In addition to teams from the United States, competitors hail from Bangalore (India), Kristiansand (Norway), Pretoria (South Africa), China, Canada and Tanzania.
Five finalists will be chosen in September. Each of them will get a $1 million award and pilot their tools in 150 villages in Tanzania. (These teams are required to open source their code and content so that others can adapt and improve upon them.) In April 2019, the team that shows the greatest proficiency gains will take the grand $10 million prize.
