615 students. 28 schools. A chance to explore what a better future could look like, and how to help build it.
XPRIZE Connect has launched in Indonesia, and 615 students from 28 schools are taking part. Working with UNSW Sydney, we’re inviting them to dig into challenges they care about, develop ideas with others, and explore how they could make a difference.
Teachers and students gathered at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta on September 3, 2026, to kick things off. The 127 attendees represented 18 schools, with participants coming from Jakarta, Bandung, Bogor, Yogyakarta, Magelang, Surabaya, and Medan, as well as Bulungan in North Kalimantan and South Konawe in Southeast Sulawesi.
There was plenty of enthusiasm in the room, and shared excitement to get started.
Over the course of the program, students will choose global challenges they’re passionate about, analyze them, and work together to develop and communicate their ideas. It’s a chance to think boldly while building practical skills: asking better questions, considering different perspectives, collaborating, and making a clear case for an idea.
Blair Slater, UNSW’s Senior Lead, International Market Development, captured that spirit in his remarks to students: “XPRIZE Connect is about much more than winning a competition.”
As he explained, the program encourages students “not simply to ask ‘What is the problem?’, but ‘What could I do about it?’”
That’s the belief at the heart of XPRIZE: bold ideas can come from anyone, anywhere. XPRIZE Connect invites young people to see themselves as part of that work. To imagine a better future and start exploring how they can help build it.
The launch opened with remarks from Sean Jenner, Trade and Investment Commissioner at Austrade Jakarta, and online messages from Slater and Professor Sarah Maddison, UNSW’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience.
“At UNSW, our vision is Progress for All. Using education, research and innovation to improve lives and create positive societal impact,” Maddison said. “XPRIZE Connect reflects that commitment by empowering you to think boldly, tackle real-world challenges, and develop ideas that can shape a better future.”
For Brittany Betts, Director of Product at XPRIZE Connect, the welcome from Indonesia’s education community has been especially encouraging.
“The receptivity of the education community across Indonesia to launching XPRIZE Connect has been truly inspiring,” she said. “The hundreds of young people doing this work, building their visions for an abundant future for all will surely create ripples not only through their own lives but for the greater communities they are a part of.”
Now the work begins. Students will bring their own experiences, questions, and ambitions to the program, and we look forward to seeing where those ideas lead. Along the way, we hope they discover that they have something to contribute to the future they want to see.