The 2021 Alibaba Global Digital Talent (GDT) Global Challenge Program has launched with the theme “Co-Create Borderless Brands.” The annual event is a global competition encouraging the world’s youth to develop digital solutions that address social needs.

The first competition of this event started in 2019 with young entrepreneurs and students from 5 countries participating in the award ceremony in Guizhou City, China.

Last year the launch of the Alibaba Global E-Commerce Talent (GET) Challenge 2020 aimed to help businesses and organizations worldwide recover faster and rebound stronger from the Covid-19 pandemic. And this attracted over 8,000 participants from over 10 markets, and generated over 1,000 digital solution proposals.

This year’s Alibaba Global Digital Talent (GDT) Challenge 2021 calls upon young entrepreneurs to identify new niches, design products and services that meet the unmet needs, and use ecosystem resources to create digital-native brands. The Alibaba GDT Challenge and its local organizers will offer training and a list of manufacturing partners to support participants in the challenge.

Participating teams come from 12 countries including China, Colombia, France, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States. They will be judged on innovativeness and social impact of their proposals as well as their execution and presentation skills, among other factors. Winning teams from the national finals will stand a chance to receive a cash prize of up to USD20,000 in the global finals.

The Alibaba GDT program (then “Alibaba GET program”) was established in 2016 with a mission of promoting digital transformation and inclusive development through digital talent incubation. Through its global training network, the program has worked with 80 education partners and trained more than 1,000 lecturers and over 20,000 students and other participants from countries including Colombia, Mexico, Mongolia, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Rwanda, Singapore and China.