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NGOs CAN TAKE THE LUMINATION CHALLENGE - GUARDIAN | Ministry of Planning & Sustainable Development The Government, through the Council for Competitiveness and Innovation, has launched a new programme that aims to address some of the country’s social problems by replicating some of the ideas that have made the existing i2i programme a success, says Dr Rikhi Permanand, executive director, Economic…

CDA LAUNCHES POLICE HEADQUARTERS: Security for Peninsula, Islands beefed up - GUARDIAN |... Activities and events occurring on and off the coast of Chaguaramas will now be strictly supervised via closed circuit surveillance television in order to protect investors, visitors and tenants, as well as the prosperity of the area. This was stressed by Daniel Solomon, chairman of the Chaguaramas…

YOU CAN BE A MILLIONAIRE: mCENTRE'S IDEA TO MARKET WORKSHOP FOR eCAL PARTICIPANTS | Ministry of... Secondary Schools Students from the East and as far as Moruga were inspired to become a millionaire at the Idea to Market mCentre workshop for e Connect and Learn (eCal) competition participants. The workshop hosted by CARIRI in collaboration with the Ministry of Education on Wednesday 11th March 20…

Chaguaramas; safest zone in the country | Ministry of Planning & Sustainable Development In its drive to make every acre of the 14,000 plus acres of the Chaguaramas Peninsula the safest place in Trinidad and Tobago, the Chaguaramas Development Authority (CDA) launched the new Police Administration Building on Bachelor Hall Road on Thursday March 20.

Education facility a fitting honour Archbishop on Anthony Pantin Institute: | Ministry of... Archbishop Joseph Harris said yesterday, the proposed $20 million Anthony Pantin Vocational/Technical and Cultural Institute was a fitting honour for a man who dedicated his time and energy to the improvement of the Morvant/Laventille community.

The Ministry of Planning launches the Nation’s Largest Social Innovation Programme
The Minister of Planning and Sustainable Development, Bhoendradatt Tewarie on behalf of the Council for Competitiveness and Innovation (CCI) officially launched the nation’s largest Social Innovation Programme on Wednesday 14 January 2015 at Medulla Art Gallery in Woodbrook.
The programme is aptly called LUMINATION is part of the CCI’s drive to promote and encourage an innovation driven society with the aim of bringing together inspired, passionate individuals in the sphere of social work to encourage innovative solutions to social problems. The tagline is ‘Create the change that changes lives’ and the goal here is to alleviate many of the social issues plaguing Trinidad and Tobago through innovation, to positively impact lives and to light the way for a better future by empowering citizens.
The Lumination Challenge seeks to foster social innovation and experimentation by reducing the associated financial risks through grant funding provided by the CCI. Grant funding from $75,000.00 to $200,000.00 will be disbursed to worthy projects as well as mentoring and project development assistance. Support for the implementation of selected projects will be provided through pilot programmes and experiments. The challenge has also gone out to registered NGOs, social workers, social innovators and youth workers to come up with socially innovative concepts that are yet to be tested or explored in Trinidad and Tobago on a national scale but which have the potential to provide solutions to societal issues not presently addressed by existing institutions, practices or traditions. This year, the challenge encourages innovative solutions to issues pertaining to youth, education and family.
Speaking at the launch the Chairman of the CCI Mr. Richard Lewis stated that “Social Innovation means new ways to solve old problems that are faster, more cost effective, data driven and lead to better results for the public good”. The guest speaker, former national cycling champion Mr. Michael Phillips spoke of his experiences with developing his own social innovations, namely the Keep Moving Family Programme and Fitness Sundays which has encouraged exercise and fitness activities along a blocked section of the Diego Martin Highway every Sunday for the past six years.
Speaking at the launch Minister Tewarie highlighted the fact that “Lumination is indicative of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago’s commitment to fighting injustice and inequality, and to improving the social wellbeing of the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago while continuing to focus on and encourage innovative thinking and entrepreneurship. It is an attempt to address the fact that while capitalism can create wealth generating opportunities it does not distribute opportunities for wealth creation very well”.

i2i - idea 2 innovation i2i (idea2innovation) is a programme through which persons are invited to submit innovative projects via an ideas challenge for an opportunity to gain grant funding and technical support to move those ideas to the proof of concept stage. It is an initiative of the CCI as part of its activities aroun…

Lumination Challenge | Create the Change that Changes Lives Lumination is the largest Social Innovation Programme in Trinidad and Tobago

Minister Bhoendradatt Tewarie's welcome address at The VIII ACF 2014 Trinidad and Tobago Senator Dr. the Honourable Bhoendradatt Tewarie, Minister of Planning and Sustainable Development, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago delivered the welcome addr...