I spent last Friday at the Go London Social Innovation Competition Final, a FutureGov/NHS project. Go London is looking to increase the number of Londoners participating in physical activity and enjoying better health ahead of the 2012 Games. The social innovation competition was open to the public to submit ideas that would help create this change. The top five ideas were then invited down to City Hall, where teams from very broad backgrounds discussed, debated and helped make them more concrete. They were then presented to a panel that was to decide which idea received funding.

The process was very interesting and great to be a part of. The teams consisted of a variety of people, like doctors, community planners, marketers, social workers, iPhone app developers, activists and even a comedian. A great mix.

Most of the top entries made the most of technology to help spread their ideas for social innovation. Pop up fitness is an idea to interrupt computer screens at set intervals to remind office workers to stand up and move around. The Go London Game aims to make London a bit more fun, with a combination of a Foursquare-type smartphone game and a scavenger hunt. Splashpath looks to unify the format of leisure centre and health club timetables, making the data open and accessible, and then create a customisable and embeddable widget with swimming pool lane times for nearby pools.

The winner was a combination of two ideas, but all of the entrants received encouragement and offers of support to continue their efforts. They’ll be interesting to watch going forward and hopefully result in a healthier city.