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Story 05 December 2018
Public

News: EIC Horizon Prize on affordable high-tech for humanitarian aid

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Ana Luisa Pinho

The European Commission is awarding €5 million to the best proven solutions on Affordable High-Tech for Humanitarian Aid. EIC Horizon Prizes are part of the European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot run under Horizon 2020, the EU's Research and Innovation Framework Programme.

The humanitarian system is being challenged to do more, for more people, and at greater cost. Cooperation between international organisations and NGOs responding to crises, end-users and local actors, research and scientific communities and the private sector is crucial in this respect. Introducing innovative solutions for the delivery of humanitarian aid could help enhance the humanitarian response, which is particularly important for those in a most vulnerable situation.

Solutions should be developed through a frugal innovation approach, and should be novel and based on advanced technologies and services, demonstrating the added value and potential of one or more advanced technologies (no Information and Communication Technology-only solutions).

Tested and proven in a humanitarian aid delivery, these solutions should be safe, scalable, resource-sustainable, replicable and usable in other contexts. Further, innovative solutions should be inclusive, i.e. co-created and developed by different stakeholders with local actors, and accessible to a large number of people in a given context of humanitarian aid delivery settings.

 

 

One million € will be awarded in the five distinct thematic areas:

• shelter and related assistance

• water, sanitation and hygiene

• energy

• health and medical care

• other forms of humanitarian aid ("open category")

Main requirements for the solutions: 

• Based on advanced technologies

• New (in the humanitarian aid setting) and tested in real or similar situations

• Developed for people in collaboration with people

• Quality and sustainability

 

The Prize is open to all legal entities. Apply by 15 January 2020!

 

ICT-only solutions are not part of the scope of the Prize.

For more information check the EIC website here or reach us at EC-TECH4AID-EIC-PRIZE@ec.europa.eu

 

DISCLAIMER: This information is provided in the interest of knowledge sharing and should not be interpreted as the official view of the European Commission, or any other organisation.

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