Leadership in innovation has been celebrated by the economic development department.

The department presented awards to three technology entrepreneurs.

It was followed by awards to school-aged winners of pitches from companies who wanted problems solved.

Wayne Furbert, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, handed out the awards on December 13 with Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education.

Adrian Lodge, Coral Wells and Edmond Johnson were recognised first.

Mr Lodge designed Virtual AP to help businesses to negotiate Covid-19 restrictions for a digital work space.

Ms Wells came up with a virtual pathway to take students overseas to work on coding for advanced app development.

Mr Johnson designed a high-tech route for antigen tests to get backing from an online registration system.

The department called on middle and high schools in October to crack problems for local businesses in a second round.

Challenges were submitted by Bermuda Press, Red Laser, and Gear & Gadget, and seven school teams entered the competition, including the Berkeley Institute, Bermuda High School, Clearwater Middle School, Saltus and Sandys Secondary Middle School.

BHS came first, with Berkeley in second place and Saltus in the third spot.

The three winning teams got three months’ free access to a tech mentor to refine their solutions.