The Wireless Bug-Sensor team at the University of California, Riverside (2012 first place Wireless Innovation Project Winners) have made an interesting offshoot finding related to the insect sensors they have developed with funding from the Vodafone Americas Foundation. This year’s West Nile virus season in North America is predicted to be particularly bad, with 3,124 cases and 134 deaths reported as of Sept 18, 2012. There is a plethora of unproven methods to combat West Nile disease: rubbing yourself in Vicks VapoRub, keeping a fabric softener sheet in your pocket, or avoiding (or eating lots of) bananas. More
Author Archives: Sean Nealon
Last Call for Entries for Vodafone Americas Foundation & mHealth Alliance Wireless Innovation Project 2012
December 31 Deadline Rapidly Approaching for Competition with $650,000 in Cash and Prizes for Wireless and mHealth Solutions
The Vodafone Americas Foundation and mHealth Alliance announced the last call for submissions for the annual Vodafone Americas Foundation Wireless Innovation Project™ and the mHealth Alliance Award, a competition designed to spark innovation and help solve pressing global issues. Proposals will be accepted through December 31.
“So far, we’ve received very unique and exciting solutions, and we’re encouraged by the caliber of the applicants who have submitted proposals,” said June Sugiyama, Director of the Vodafone Americas Foundation. “This is the next generation of wireless innovation that can make a critical impact for problems facing millions of people around the globe.”
The Vodafone Americas Foundation™ launches the Wireless Innovation Project™ annually with a partnership with the mHealth Alliance. There is over $650,000 worth of prizes for solutions in the fields of education, health, access to communication, economic development, and the environment. Winners will acquire vast recognition as the frontrunners of a national competition. The partnership with the Vodafone Americas Foundation will last for three years following the presentation of the award. More
Last call for applications for the Wireless Innovation Project
Deadline Date of February 1, 2010 to Apply for up to $650,000 in Cash and Prizes for Wireless Projects Demonstrating Promise Of Solving Critical Global Issues and mHealth
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. More
Q&A about the Wireless Innovation Project – Dec. 10th
Workshop to Explore the Wireless Innovation Project™ – Grant Program
Sponsored by UCSF Global Health Sciences, UCSF Corporate and Foundation Relations and Vodafone Americas Foundation™
UCSF Mission Bay Campus – Genentech Hall, Byers Auditorium | 600 16th Street | December 10, 2009 | 10:30am PST
Goal
The goal of the Workshop is to share the Vodafone Americas Foundation’s Wireless Innovation Project™ (a grant program) with interested applicants (engineers, scientists, technology and healthcare experts) from diverse backgrounds who have innovative wireless technology ideas that can be applied to social purpose. For more information on the project, go to: [site URL] More
Wireless Innovations Saving Lives
Innovative technology has the potential to save lives, and wireless technologies hold a special promise for vexing global problems. In some resource-limited areas, access to reliable wireless service is among the only infrastructure platforms available.
That’s why the Vodafone Americas Foundation™ was delighted to give away more than $700,000 through our first Wireless Innovation Project™, a competition that identifies and funds unique innovations using wireless related technology offering the best potential to address critical social issues around the world.
Too often promising social innovations languish because they don’t have a platform for effective and efficient delivery. We designed the competition to encourage cross-disciplinary cooperation within universities and encouraged non-governmental organizations and non-profits to apply. We also wanted to add the private sector rigor to the process of competing—a daunting online application forced teams to challenge academic and theoretical assumptions with real-world data. More
Launch of the Humanitarian Technology Challenge
The United Nations Foundation and Vodafone Foundation Partnership, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest association of technical professionals are announcing the launch of a new initiative called The Humanitarian Technology Challenge (HTC). HTC is a project that is designed to identify and help develop technology-based solutions to current challenges facing humanitarian workers and others working in resource-constrained environments. They are matching humanitarian professionals and technologists who are interested in contributing their time and expertise to help develop technological solutions to challenges that aid workers and development experts face working in the field.
Stay tuned for a list of keynote speakers and panelists selected from among the humanitarian and technology communities, and a complete agenda covering the two-day event. We expect this event to create challenge working groups and set in motion a process for facilitating web-based collaboration on solution development that will continue after the conference closes. More
2009 Winners Announced
Today, the three winners of the Vodafone Wireless Innovation Project™ have been announced. The three winning innovations will share in prizes totaling up to $700,000 USD to support their next phase of advancement and implementation.
The winners are:
- Energy Harvesting Active Networked Tags (EnHANTs) for Disaster Recovery Applications – A system that uses wireless devices to track and locate survivors trapped by fires and structural collapse. The system is based on energy harvesting tags using ultra low power communications. Developed by Professors Gil Zussman, Peter Kinget, Ioannis (John) Kymissis, Dan Rubenstein, and Xiaodong Wang of Columbia University.
- CelloPhone – A lensfree imaging platform on a cellphone for disease detection and diagnostics usingdigital holograms of the cells or bacteria, that is capable of monitoring HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and various other diseases. Developed by Dr. Aydogan Ozcan, Dr. Neven Karlovac and Dr. Yvonne Bryson of the University of California at Los Angeles.
- CellScope: Mobile Microscopy for Disease Diagnosis – Transforms a conventional cell phone into a compact, high-resolution, handheld microscope with the capability of on-site disease diagnosis and wireless transmission of patient data to clinical centers for remote diagnosis & treatment. Developed by Dr. Daniel Fletcher, Dr. Erik Douglas and Dr. Wilbur Lam of the University of California at Berkeley. More
Launch of Vodafone Wireless Innovation Project!
The Vodafone Americas Foundation™ is pleased to announce the launch of our Wireless Innovation Project™, a new competition that seeks to identify and fund the best innovations using wireless related technology to address critical social issues around the world.
We hope you will help spread the word to potential applicants by forwarding the attached fact sheet and press release, and directing them to the Foundation website at: https://vodafone-us.com/innovation.html or directly reach the Project website at: https://vodafone-us.com
Three winners will be awarded prizes of $300,000, $200,000 and $100,000 for unique, late-stage wireless innovations that offer the best potential for creating social change in the areas of education, health, economic development, the environment and access to communication. More