Chapter Training 5: What’s New for 2027

Welcome to the final module of your Chapter Ambassador training! 🎉 We’ve gathered all the important updates for the new season in one place. 

SUBMISSION UPDATES

From apps to digital solutions

This season, Technovation is expanding what teams can build. Submissions are no longer limited to apps: teams can create any working digital solution that solves a real problem in your community.

What counts as a digital solution? The solution must involve coding and/or AI to solve a real problem, be tested with real users, and have functional features. Here are some examples:

  • A mobile app (still welcome!)

  • A web app. Note that websites that are not interactive are not eligible

  • A browser extension or plugin

  • A chatbot or AI-powered assistant (e.g., on WhatsApp, Telegram, or a website)

  • An SMS or voice-based tool

  • A data dashboard

  • An automated workflow or AI agent

  • A Scratch project (Beginner division only)

Why the change? The best solutions don’t always look like apps. We want teams to pick the best tool for the job, not force every problem into the same format.

Submission Format

We’ve consolidated the submission requirements to streamline the process for students:

1

4-minute video

Includes both pitch and technical elements.

1

Written Section

Specific questions on the platform that combine the project description, learning journey, and user adoption plan (for junior division only)

1

Code submission

Link or zip file upload.

+

Business Canvas

For Senior division teams.

Rubrics

View the updated rubrics here. Here are a few key changes:

Video

Think in systems Senior

Senior teams’ video must include how they researched their problem as a system. What causes it? Who is affected? How do different factors connect? 

One technical trackJunior & Senior

We’ve removed the yes/no question about whether the team used GenAI. All teams must explain what tools they used, why they chose them, how they knew their features worked, and how they debugged what did not.

Deeper technical expectationsJunior & Senior

Teams must show two or more iterations of their solution, with specific examples of what improved.

Written

Ethics in actionJunior & Senior

Teams now need to address two or more ethical considerations, such as data privacy, accessibility, algorithmic bias, or unintended consequences.

Richer reflectionAll Divisions

The Learning Journey now asks what you would do differently, how your understanding of the problem changed, and the most important thing you learned. We’ve increased the word count to 200 for Junior and Senior teams to reflect. 

JUDGING & AWARDS UPDATES

Girls Track

Maintains a female-centred space for young women to grow their leadership.

Mixed Track

Expands access for all youth and integrates into classroom settings.

How it works:

As valued local implementers, Chapters and Clubs have the autonomy to choose which tracks to offer. We fully support programs in continuing to serve only girls. Those who would like to serve students of all genders are welcome to run both tracks.

Awards

The award structure will change this year to more accurately match our pool of submissions (i.e. more prize spots for divisions with a higher number of submissions). For the 2027 season Girls Track, finalist awards will go to:

The number of Mixed Track finalist numbers will be scaled to represent the number of Mixed Track submissions received – stay tuned!

Regional Honorees will remain the same, 1/region per division for each Track.

NOTE: Judges will be encouraged to give special weight and priority to teams who are solving local problems specific to their own community.

PLATFORM UPDATES

To serve our growing global community, we’re building a new platform to improve the experience managing local programs. 

Here are some of the new features to look forward to:

The new platform will open for registration in October. We recognize this is later than usual and are dedicated to supporting you through this transition. If necessary, Chapters & Clubs can collect registrations through a separate system in this interim time and upload those registrations when the new platform opens.

🎉

Training Complete!

Thanks for taking the time to complete this training. As a Chapter or Club Leader, you’re at the heart of the Technovation community and your leadership sets the tone for your students’ learning journey.

We’re so excited to support you this season.