Vodafone Americas Foundation Announces Last Call to Apply For 2nd Annual Wireless Innovation Project with$650,000 in Cash & Prizes, Deadline Feb. 1
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The Vodafone Americas Foundation announced the last call for nominations for the second annual Wireless Innovation Project, a competition to identify and reward the most promising advances in wireless related technologies that can be used to solve critical problems around the globe. Proposals will be accepted through February 1, 2010, with the final winners announced on April 19, 2010 at the annual Global Philanthropy Forum in Redwood City, California.
“We’re encouraged by the entries we’ve received to date, and hope to see more come in before the deadline,” said Terry Kramer, President Vodafone Americas Foundation. “Last year’s winners produced impressive technologies that now have the potential to make a significant impact in developing countries.”
Vodafone Americas Foundation will award a total of $600,000 to the first ($300,000), second ($200,000) and third-prize ($100,000) winners of the Wireless Innovation Project. In addition, the mHealth Alliance Award will be given to the project demonstrating the most potential to solve critical health issues, particularly in developing countries. The winner of the mHealth Alliance Award will receive a cash prize and benefits totaling $50,000, including participation in Santa Clara University’s Center for Science, Technology, and Society’s Global Social Benefit Incubator Program (GSBI™). The winner will also receive strategic and networking assistance from the mHealth Alliance, an umbrella group founded by the Rockefeller Foundation, United Nations Foundation and Vodafone Foundation that supports cross-sector collaboration in delivering healthcare to the furthest reaches of wireless communications.
Although projects may be global in scope, applicants for the Wireless Innovation Project must be nonprofits, educational institutions or social entrepreneurs based in the United States. Up to $650,000 will be awarded to wireless projects demonstrating exceptional promise to solve a critical global issue in the following fields: education; health; access to communication; the environment; or economic development. Moreover, the innovation can also represent a significant advancement in wireless related technology to help solve issues such as connectivity, language barriers and energy use. Projects must be at a stage of development where an advanced prototype or field test can occur during the award period.
A panel of judges from the fields of wireless engineering, international development, social entrepreneurship and business will evaluate the applications for their potential to solve a critical global issue in the fields of education, health, access to communication, the environment or economic development.
Complete detailed information about eligibility and an application can be found at http://project.vodafone-us.com/.
2009 Winners
Energy Harvesting Active Network Tags (EnHANTs) (First Place Winner, $300,000) –Wireless tags that harness solar and kinetic energy, and will be carried by people and embedded in buildings. In the event of a disaster – a building collapse or a fire — the tags will communicate with each other and create a wireless network that will provide rescue forces information regarding who is in a building and where they are located. (Developed by Columbia University)
CellScope (Second Place Winners, $200,000) – A compact, high-resolution cell phone microscope using cell phone cameras to do onsite microscopic medical diagnosis in the developing world. The CellScope is particularly useful for infectious disease diagnosis, especially TB and malaria. (Developed by University of California, Berkeley)
CelloPhone (Second Place Winners, $200,000) – A wireless and lens-free blood and fluid analyzer that can capture digital cellular images in the field, and transmit them to a central medical lab for diagnostic purposes. The CelloPhone is capable of monitoring HIV, malaria and TB in developing countries. (Developed by University of California, Los Angeles)
About the Vodafone Americas Foundation
Vodafone Americas Foundation is part of Vodafone’s global network of foundations. We are affiliated with Vodafone Group Plc, the world’s leading mobile telecommunications company, with ownership interests in 31 countries and Partner Markets in more than 40 countries. As of June 30, 2009, Vodafone had approximately 315 million proportionate customers worldwide. In the U.S., our foundation directs its philanthropic activities towards the San Francisco Bay and the Metro Denver Areas where most of our employees live and work, and where we strive to make a positive and enduring impact on our communities. The Foundation is driven by a passion for the world around us. We make grants that help people in our communities and around the world lead fuller lives.
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