NDFD to host a Green Tech Start-up Bootcamp and competition from 1st to 3rd December 2016

​The National Development Foundation of Dominica (NDFD) will host a Green Tech Start-up Bootcamp and competition next month. The boot camp is scheduled for the 1st to 3rd December 2016, and is being undertaken in collaboration with Caribbean Climate Innovation Canteen.
 
According to the NDFD’s business development officer Lydia Andrew, the purpose of this boot camp is to encourage people to branch out into green technology. Ms Andrew informed that “Green technology will basically assist the environment, by making it healthier. There are four components of Green technology; water waste management, energy & resource use efficiency, sustainable agriculture and renewable energy”.
 
Andrew added, “Now for the three days, we will have young people pitch their ideas, and the best four ideas get selected,” Andrew said. During the boot camp, participants will be guided by professionals on how to develop their product.
 
Each group will select one person who will participate in the competition for their groups. “We have people in the financial departments that will help them on how to pitch their ideas, we also have persons who are engineers, persons who are involved in green technology, who will guide them while they are developing their prototype”, Andrew further stated.
 
On the third day, each participant will be given three minutes to present their ideas before the judges. At the end of the competition, the winner receives one thousand US dollars, second place winner receives five hundred US dollars, and the third-place winner receives two hundred and fifty US dollars.
 
“What we are trying to do, is encourage persons to go into green technology, because that’s where the opportunities are, that’s where the funds are. If they do not win at the competition, they have the opportunity to apply for grant funding with the accelerator program, so green technology has a lot of opportunities available for young people on a whole,” Andrew added. The camp will be preceded by an ‘Idea Generation Session’ on November 29, and engineers, entrepreneurs and other interested persons are encouraged to sign up with the NDFD.