Thanks to Kirk Smith, krksmith@berkeley.edu, for this information:
Subject: Wireless Innovation Prize winner
Our team, which includes our research group at the SPH at UCB; three small Berkeley companies (BioLite, Electronically Monitoring Ecosystems, and Berkeley Air Monitoring Group); and the Department of Environmental Health Engineering at Sri Ramachandra University in Chennai was awarded first place in this competition to develop wireless versions of our household monitoring devices, starting with the SUMS (stove use monitors).
We hope to have it proven and ready to use in the trials and then the roll out for the Indian National Cookstove Initiative and for use by groups around the world wishing to validate carbon credits for stove programs on the international carbon market. It also can serve as the basis for other devices to remotely and efficiently monitor and verify the use and effectiveness of household health and energy interventions for research, program evaluation, and user feedback.
See http://project.vodafone-us.com/winners-2010-stoves.html
VODAFONE AMERICAS FOUNDATION AND mHEALTH ALLIANCE ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF WIRELESS INNOVATION COMPETITIONS
REDWOOD CITY, CA (April 19, 2010) – At the Global Philanthropy Forum Conference today, The Vodafone Americas Foundation and mHealth Alliance announced the winners of the second annual Wireless Innovation Project™ and the first mHealth Alliance Award for innovation in mobile health (mHealth). The winning projects, which together will be awarded $650,000 in cash and prizes, were selected for their ability to leverage wireless technology to help meet challenges faced in developing countries, including access to clean air, medical care, and financial services for the rural poor. The award will help bring each project to the next stages of implementation and scale.
“As someone from the wireless industry, I’m proud to be associated with these winners,” said Terry Kramer, president of Vodafone Americas Foundation. “We’ve selected three outstanding innovations that cover a wide spectrum of issues, and have the ability to help millions of people.”
This year’s winners include:
1st Place ($300,000 winner) – 100 Million Stoves
Approximately 700 million households, including the poorest half of the world population rely on fire and simple stoves for cooking. Smoke and exposure from these stoves are responsible for causing premature deaths for 1.5 million women and children as well as contributing to climate change. With the potential to improve health, air quality, reduce greenhouse gases and save lives, 100 Million Stoves is a simple wireless stove use monitoring system (SUMS) that can be attached to the millions of new low-emission stoves being used in developing regions. Being developed at the University of California at Berkeley for initial application in India, this groundbreaking wireless technology will help assess the impact of household energy programs, enable feedback from users, and provide transparent verification of carbon credits.
