Monitoring Electrical Cable Challenge: The Future of Underground Inspection

Duquesne Light Company ("DLC") is launching the $750,000 "Monitoring Electrical Cable Challenge: The Future of Underground Inspection." This exciting challenge is looking for solutions for monitoring the health of Paper-Insulated (PILC), Solid Dielectric (EPR), and systems with a combination of both cable types to enable proactive maintenance of DLC's underground electrical network and provide an ever-safer environment for customers, employees, and the public.  In addition to the prize money, winners will work with DLC on a contract to deploy the technology across an underground electrical grid.

The Percy Hobart Fellowship

The Percy Hobart Fellowship is a full-time learning programme for all British Armed Forces personnel to learn about innovation and entrepreneurship--they are looked for startups to host fully-funded placements for participants. Does this sound like you? Learn more at the link below!

SET Award 2022

The Start Up Energy Transition Award is an international competition for start-ups and young companies worldwide who are working on ideas affecting global energy transition and climate change. In the last five years, the award has received more than 2,300 applications from 102 countries. SET is powered by the German Energy Agency (dena), in cooperation with the World Energy Council. Find out more at the link below!

Advanced Wildfire Detection at Power Plants

A wildfire is a destructive and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Causes of wildfire include lightning, human carelessness (e.g. campfires, fireworks, smoldering cigarettes), and burning debris. Recently, climate change and drought have contributed to an increasing number of wildfires, thus, Enel Green Power is searching for a technology to be installed upon renewable power plant properties, which can provide ultra-early detection of these events.

Interface Protection Unit for Distributed Renewable Resources Generators

With the growing use of Distributed Renewable Resources Generators (DRRG) such as solar photovoltaic (PV) systems worldwide there is increased need for interface protection units utilizing robust methods to ensure accurate islanding detection with no nuisance tripping for systems connected to the distribution network. The Seeker for this Challenge, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA), is looking for innovative solutions for Loss of Mains (LoM) detection that overcome the known limitations of current technologies in order to provide increased protection for personnel and equipment.

Applications for EMPOWER Innovation Accelerator Now Open

Applications are now open for the first cohort of EMPOWER, a 16-week accelerator for women, transwomen, and non-binary people in STEM in Arkansas that have an innovation that they would like to explore ways to bring their idea and/or research to market through accessing non-dilutive federal funding.

Automated Solution for Cable Preparation and Accessory Installation

Enel Global Infrastructures and Networks S.r.l. is searching for collaboration partners to provide an instrument or tool able to prepare a cable and automatically install an accessory on medium voltage (MV) lines of the distribution networks of Enel Group Distribution Companies. The device must be able to perform the necessary operations with minimal operator intervention.

ELO Land and Soil Management Award

The prize rewards land use and soil management practices mitigating soil threats i.e. soil degradation, erosion, reduction of organic matter content, diffuse contamination, and compaction as well as the reduction of soil biodiversity, salinization, sealing, flooding and landslides. In doing so, the award sheds light on outstanding achievements, encouraging new concepts of land and soil protection and their implementation in land management, as well as enhancing awareness about the importance of land and soil functions.

Mary Kay Gender Equality Challenge

Pre-Covid, decades of data demonstrated the rise of women in the workforce. Even though the wage gap persisted, more women were joining the labour market every year. But pandemic job losses disproportionately impacted women and since 2020, the uphill climb to workforce equality has grown even steeper. A significant number of women were forced to drop out of the labour force entirely in order to care for children or other relatives during the pandemic – and now they're being left behind in the economic recovery.

Carbon Zero Grand Challenge

Singapore’s national water agency, PUB is #crowdsourcing innovative ideas to remove carbon emissions from its water treatment facilities. Think you have a solution? Take part in the Carbon Zero Grand Challenge today!

Sustainable and Economical Peat Replacement Challenge

Peat, a naturally occurring material of partially decomposed plants and other organic matter, is the primary material used for decades to grow plants in pots and containers. Harvesting peat has a significant environmental impact and there is great pressure to reduce its use worldwide. Israel Chemicals Ltd (ICL), the Seeker for this Challenge, is looking for sustainable and economical alternatives to the use of peat for horticultural applications. Does this sound like you? Click the link below to find out more!

GSMA Innovation Fund for Climate Resilience and Adaptation

On November 9, during the Science and Innovation day at COP26, the GSMA announced the launch of the GSMA Innovation Fund for Climate Resilience and Adaptation. This new Fund will help accelerate the testing, adoption and scalability of digital innovations that enable the world’s most vulnerable populations to adapt, anticipate and absorb the negative impacts of climate change. The GSMA is looking for start-ups, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and social enterprises in Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Caribbean, Latin America and Eastern Europe that leverage digital technology, particularly mobile, to deliver climate resilience and adaptation solutions to and with low-income and vulnerable populations.*

Sustainability Open Innovation Challenge 2021 - Round 2

Help build a greener future for our planet with the Sustainability Open Innovation Challenge 2021! Enterprise Singapore (ESG) is collaborating with key industry partners to launch the third edition of the challenge with challenge statements in key sustainability areas such as sustainable materials, waste management, and many more. Does this sound like you? Click the link below!

Westminster Innovation Challenge

At Westminster, we are set on becoming a Smart City for All, one that works for its residents, its businesses and its visitors. Our new Innovation Challenge is calling on everyone who works in, lives in or visits Westminster to share their bright ideas to make life in Westminster better than ever. We will then work with our partners to bring the best ideas to life for the benefit of all.

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Western Power Distribution | Network Innovation Alliance

Are you an energy innovator? Western Power Distribution, serving the Midlands, South West, and Wales, wants to hear from you!

Reduction of Residual Current in Distributed Solar Photovoltaic Systems

Over the past two decades, there has been a tremendous increase in the penetration of renewables within the global energy mix particularly for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. Solar PV systems are renewable energy based technologies which generate electricity by harnessing energy from the sun. Although there have been several improvements in the technology itself, the presence of residual current particularly within distributed scale PV systems is a safety issue which is yet to be fully resolved. Hence, distributed PV systems currently mandate installation within confined electrical operating spaces to ensure end user safety. The Seeker for this Challenge, Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA), is looking for solutions that reduce or eliminate residual current in PV systems to allow installation without specialized protective cabinets, structures or enclosures.

GMIS | Global Manufacturing & Industrialisation Summit

Under the theme ‘Rewiring Societies: Repurposing Digitalisation for Prosperity’, the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit will convene leaders and industry experts to discuss and debate the best ways to prepare for the post-Covid-19 recovery and determine the role of the industrial sector to accelerate this recovery. The Fourth Industrial Revolution has contributed to the rapid development of the industrial sector in a short period of time. It is essential to discuss the role of technology in shaping the future of industries and how to take advantage of the opportunities and solutions it presents to address various challenges. Register today at the link below!

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Crowdsourcing Summit 2021

Technology and new business models are changing the very concept of work. Combined with a generation of talent that uses these opportunities to provide them with freedom to choose location and flexible work hours, crowdsourcing becomes a topic that most companies need to address. Crowdsourcing presents opportunities that can be leveraged immediately.

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Climate Smart Cities Challenge

Applications to the #ClimateSmartCitiesChallenge are now open! The competition will accelerate the shift to climate neutral cities, by empowering innovators and communities to collaborate in designing and demonstrating solutions and reinventing how cities innovate.

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Global Call for Entries: Climate Innovations Around the World

Climatechange is one of the greatest threats facing our planet today. The collective urgency to act is now. The UNICEF Office of Innovation and Climate, Energy, Environment and DRR team, in collaboration with sister agencies and organisations, is launching this Global Call for “Climate Innovations'', a crowdsourced horizon scan aiming to identify existing and emergent innovations in the cross-sector ecosystem that have a focus or application to climate change mitigation, resilience and adaptation.  Do you have ideas? Enter below!

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Airwards: Ideas for the Future of Drones

Drones are one of the most exciting technologies of our time. Many creative and amazing people are working day and night to advance the future of building, designing & innovating drone technology. But the drone future is so much more than the technicalities - the world needs people imagining new ways for drones to be used, and so much more surrounding drones are waiting to be discovered! * It's time for you to use your voice and join the community of people shaping the future of drones in our world!

Afri-Plastics Challenge: Creating Solutions

We are seeking the creation of new or the development of early-stage products, technology and/or services to encourage the reduction or elimination of plastic usage across Sub-Saharan Africa. Products and businesses can be focused across four goals: Direct Elimination, Innovative Elimination, Reuse, or Digital Solutions. By the end of the Challenge, successful community-centered products and services will have demonstrated a sustainable approach to reducing the reliance on plastic that also supports the empowerment of women and girls.

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Solar Forecasting Prize

The American-Made Solar Forecasting Prize is designed to better enable solar industry stakeholders with state-of-the-art solar forecasting capabilities. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office, this prize aims to increase the use of the Solar Forecast Arbiter, an open platform developed by the University of Arizona, to allow for the transparent, rigorous, and consistent analysis and evaluation of solar forecasts. Does this sound like you? Click the link below!

Globant: Women That Build

Time to lift each other up! Globant Awards - Women That Build is a global recognition for women who've made their careers in technology and whose stories deserve to be shared for their inspiring power.

EV OPEN INNOVATION CHALLENGE

The EV Open Innovation Challenge is a program powered by New Energy Nexus to source startups of commercial-ready EV charging products and services to enter into pilot or proof-of-concept projects with industry champions Kia, Hyundai Motor, Hyundai Glovis US and Hyundai CRADLE. This program is a launchpad to rapidly scale the product offering in North America. At Hyundai Motor and Kia, our team is working nonstop to embrace a bright future in electrified mobility. We are committed to launch 23 pure EV models and invest $7.4 billion in the US EV industry by 2025.  We are thrilled to partner with the startup community to build that future, together.

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5PRING 2021

Harness the potential of 5G with the UK's first 5G innovation incubator! 5RING's three-month accelerator programme offers participants access to test-beds located in Birmingham, Coventry or Wolverhampton based on the programmes they apply to. The programme offers participants 1:1 and group mentorship alongside coaching across business development, workshops, technology, growth strategy, and more!

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EIT Climate-KIC Innovation Call 2022

EIT Climate-KIC is inviting proposals for new activities due to commence in 2022. Under our strategy, Transformation, in Time, we have worked to engage challenge owners across Europe to map their systems and understand the innovation gaps where greater experimentation is needed to accelerate climate action. This work has led us to define a range of innovation areas where there is an opportunity to take a new approach to breaking through on the toughest climate challenges. Through experimenting with these new approaches, we hope to learn together with you about how to trigger system change and how to achieve our mission of a net-zero, resilient and just society by 2030 – now just nine years away. This call for proposals sets out ‘positions’ in our innovation portfolio that we are seeking to fill with new commercially viable projects. A ‘position’ refers to a space or area that sits within our wider innovation portfolio where a specific project or innovation activity may sit within.

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New Applications for By-Products of Salt Crystallization

The raw mineral the Seeker uses to produce potash (KCl) also contains recoverable amounts of table salt (NaCl) that is separated along with other salts from the potash by means of a floatation process. The NaCl-rich stream is further processed and purified in a Salt Crystallization Plant (SCP) where the impurities are removed through precipitation. These by-products are high in magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2), calcium carbonate (CaCO3), and calcium sulfate (CaSO4) as well as various chlorides. Currently there is no application for the by-products and the material is added to the ‘salt mountain’ at the processing site. The Seeker is looking for new, innovative ideas for what can be done with these by-products to capture value from them and/or avoid adding them to the salt mountain. Ideally, solutions will not require further processing of the materials before use, but the Seeker is also interested in ideas for cost-effective ways to improve the quality of the by-products if it enables other application areas. Do you have ideas? Click the link below to enter!

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People.Planet.Product Student Design Challenge

Did you know that 70% of the world’s population lacks access to an electric washing machine? That’s why The Washing Machine project was founded – to help alleviate the burden of handwashing clothes by providing displaced and low-income communities and households with an accessible, off grid washing solution. The Washing Machine Project have produced a manual, crank-handle washing machine called Divya that has been proven to save 75% of the time and 50% of the water taken to handwash clothes. The impact of this is huge, but we believe we can do more. We’ve devised the People.Planet.Product. Student Design Challenge to engage students with STEM backgrounds to get involved…you are the scientists, engineers, and mathematicians of tomorrow that are creating solutions that could help generations to come.

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Afri-Plastics Challenge - Strand 1

Plastic pollution is a hugely pervasive issue facing the marine environment, with estimates suggesting that there are 5.25 trillion plastic particles floating upon the surface of the ocean. When in the sea, plastics are broken-up into smaller and smaller pieces, causing immeasurable damage to marine life. Distressing impacts of marine plastic pollution include entanglement, ingestion, and suffocation of marine creatures. However, when large plastics are broken down into smaller particles, effects become more insidious, through blockades of species digestive systems, growth inhibition, and the absorption of toxins.

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Kraft Heinz Challenge: Future Food Tech

Calling all start-ups! ### Future Food-Tech partner Kraft Heinz has set a challenge, asking entrepreneurs to find solutions that bring beans or pulses as an application or ingredient to the menu of its consumers.

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Highways England Graffiti Competition

Highways England is seeking to advance promising new products and services that have the potential to both remove and prevent the use of graffiti on the strategic road network. This ambition is being delivered through this innovation funding programme, which is being delivered by the Connected Places Catapult. The programme will award £30k funding to no more than 6 organisations to design a trial of their technology on a road network testbed.

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EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women

As the world leader in advising, guiding and recognizing entrepreneurs, EY knows that access to successful role models and business-building networks is critical for enabling entrepreneurs to realize their ambition. In these unprecedented times, we remain committed to helping female founders with the challenges of the “now,” and help them prepare for the opportunities in the “next” and “beyond.” The EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ Europe 2021 program seeks a new cohort of ambitious women entrepreneurs to provide them with the advice, resources and access they need to unlock their full potential and reframe their future.

Government Innovation Awards

These awards celebrate the transformative government projects, individual change agents and industry partners that are reimagining public-sector IT. If you are an industry innovator, a rising star, or a public sector innovator, these are the awards for you! The challenge is looking for:

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Open Innovation Challenge: Greenhouses

In the past year, the pandemic has highlighted Quebec’s dependence on imports of essential goods. Food self-sufficiency has therefore become a priority issue for the Quebec population, and that is why Hydro-Québec has decided to act as a catalyzer to help the most promising projects come to fruition. InnovHQ is Hydro-Québec’s subsidiary mandated to stimulate innovation in Quebec, with the aim of accelerating the energy transition. InnoHQ will therefore work with Cycle Momentum as part of this challenge to help companies in the greenhouse sector develop commercial offers that incorporate the proposed innovations. In parallel with the “Open Innovation Challenge: Greenhouses,” Écotech Québec is offering a unique networking event in Quebec whose goal is to generate business opportunities between agri-food companies and clean technology innovators.

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Captain Tom 100

Captain Tom famously walked 100 lengths of his garden to raise money for the NHS last year. Now his family is challenging us all to take on a #100Challenge of our own and honour his legacy!⁠ Do 100 star jumps, bake 100 cakes, swim 100 laps, whatever you want, to raise money for your favourite charity or the official Captain Tom Foundation.

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Innovations on Cross-Border Collaboration

The OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI) and the UAE Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation (MBRCGI) are excited to launch the 2021 Call for Innovations in government, focused specifically on ways government are innovating through cross-border collaboration. Entries can involve multiple countries, regions, or cities working together in new and interesting ways to solve common challenges, or multiple governments collaborating to achieve new types of policies and services. Innovators around the world are encouraged to submit innovative practices to fuel this research and to inspire others to work in new and creative ways, helping to embrace innovation in government by upskilling, investing in people, and focusing on the overlooked. This call is open to government officials, international organisations, civil society organisations, academia, and the private sector. However, to be considered, the initiative must have goals aimed at improving government, and the public sector must be integrally involved in the work.

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Mayor's Resilience Fund

The Mayor of London's Resilience Fund is London's £1 Million challenge fund to encourage innovation addressing socially impactful issues facing London - emerging stronger from COVID-19 and prepared to handle future challenges. Whether you're a tech SME, an engineer, or a social enterprise, London needs you - apply today!

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Startup City Cahul

EUForMoldova is contributing to development through innovation. The city of Cahul will become the first "Startup City" in the southern region of the Republic of Moldova.

Amazon Launchpad 2021

Calling all changemakers! Get the power of Amazon behind your startup with the Amazon Launchpad 2021. Amazon is championing startups that bring innovation into the everyday with their cutting-edge products. Products that don’t just belong in the future, but shape it--with the chance to sell your products on Amazon to reach customers around the world.

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VISA Everywhere Initiative

Get your startup on the global stage with the VISA Everywhere Initiative! VISA are looking for innovative startups from around the globe working in four distinct categories: digital services, digital issuance, finance, and business recovery. Present your work at the 2021 global finals and you could win up to $50,000 to take your startup to the next level. Enter today!

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Re-Establishing Tourism Confidence

Southeast Asia depends on tourism for sustainable economic growth - do you have an innovative idea to make travel COVID-secure and increase tourist confidence?\ \ Asian Development Bank and Agorize Asia want to hear from you!

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Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle Challenge

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles are looking for new features to make the work day easier, business run better, and spare time and holidays more enjoyable. They are seeking ideas and concepts for inspiring new features that are affordable, modular, sustainable, and easy to install. All ideas are welcome, and your idea could win you $10,000!

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XPRIZE Feed the Next Billion

XPRIZE is looking for the next great innovations in plant-based proteins to tackle food crises around the world. Do you have a great idea? Enroll your team today and you could win a prize of up to $15 Million to make your ideas a reality!

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Sharjah Open Innovation Award

Help Sharjah shine! The Sharjah Police are looking for innovative ideas to help build communities post-COVID and revolutionise the UAE's recovery from the pandemic. Do you have ideas to put to work? Enter today! Entries welcome in Arabic and English from solvers worldwide.

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Mayor of London Entrepreneur Challenge

Calling all London students! Sadiq Kahn, the Mayor of London, is launching his 2021 Entrepreneur Programme to look for the best ideas to change London for the better.⁠ 🚆 🌆 🇬🇧⁠ Do you have what it takes? You could win funding and mentorship to make your dreams a reality.⁠ Enter today!

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Solve The Gap!

The EU Youth Digital Hackathon is looking to \#SolveTheGap. You can build solutions for youth inclusivity: ⁠\ -Increase Youth Participation⁠\ -Youth Outreach & Access to Youth-Friendly Information⁠\ -Building Transparency & Trust⁠\

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Young Leaders Access Program

\#GenZ: time to create real change in your community! The MCW Global Young Leaders Access Program is now accepting applications from young people aged 18 to 26 to participate in online learning courses to learn how to address issues of concern in their community. This training is free of charge to the selected participants. Apply before 1 March 2021!

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