The hunt has begun to find the Highlands and Islands' answer to Richard Branson.
The ICT Hothouse Youth Challenge 2007 is looking for young entrepreneurs with bright ideas.
The annual challenge, launched this week, is supported by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, BT Scotland and Microsoft, and invites teams of young people to submit their ideas for information and technology and communications of the future.
The most promising ideas are then selected and teams invited to pitch their ideas to a panel of experts. After a number of rounds, the competition culminates with six teams being chosen to go forward to the Hothouse, an intensive week of team work and exert advice focusing on turning ideas into a reality and producing working prototypes of the ICT gadgets of the future.
Brian Weaver, Highlands and Islands Enterprise development manager, explained: "The challenge encourages young people to think out of the box and come up with revolutionary new concepts. But it's not just about dreaming up wacky ideas. Youngsters work together to develop their team working skills and are provided with support and technical advice from experts that allow them to turn their brainwaves into viable proposals."
Meanwhile, some of this year's Hothouse Youth Challenge teams are about to embark on spectacular trips. A team from Campbeltown Grammar School leaves for Microsoft Headquarters in Seattle this week. Next week a team from Plockton High School will fly out to Boston to visit the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This year's overall winner, Team ComPliance from Fortrose Academy will visit BT's world-renowned research and development centre Adastral Park in Suffolk where futurologists and innovation gurus will introduce the team to the technologies of tomorrow. The Team
CommPliance youngsters took their idea - a method of controlling household appliances to remotely switch on and off.
Youth Challenge project director Alistair Murray, of Atlantic Marketing, added: "We live in an area that is really beginning to take its place in the global economy. This competition provides a unique opportunity - through the generosity of the sponsors BT Scotland, Microsoft and HIE - to grow confidence in our skillsets and networks and prove that we can take a leading role in product innovation over the years to come. Several of the young people who we've worked with have decided as a result to take a completely different career path than they'd originally planned so if you're looking for constructive fun then the Youth Challenge is where it's at".
Teams interested in taking part in the Youth Challenge can find out more and submit their ideas on the website: www.youth-challenge.co.uk