Press release | Social Entrepreneurship | 4. July 2018

empowering people. Award is back: Social Enterprises Win a Chance to Springboard to a Sustainable Future

empowering people. Award is back: Social Enterprises Win a Chance to Springboard to a Sustainable Future
The empowering people. Award honors inventors who use low-tech solutions to improve living conditions for many people.
© Siemens Stiftung

Siemens Stiftung has launched empowering people. Award 2019, calling on social entrepreneurs and developers from across the world to enter.

The award identifies and supports low-tech solutions that address crucial basic needs sectors in developing regions. This is the third round of the competition, launched online through videos and a widespread social media campaign.

Technologies entering the competition should be simple, feasible, embedded in a social business model, and deliver sustainable support to a local community in one of the following eight categories:

  • Education & Training
  • Energy
  • Financial Technology
  • Food & Agriculture
  • Healthcare
  • Mobility & Infrastructure
  • Waste Management
  • Water & Sanitation
Entries will be assessed by technology and business experts, and the top three winners will be selected by an experienced international jury panel.

The first prize is worth 50,000 Euros, with 30,000 and 20,000 Euros awarded to the second and third prize winners respectively. Seven runners-up will also be awarded 10,000 Euros each. A Special WASH Award of 20,000 Euros, supported by Knorr Bremse Global Care, and a Community Prize of 10,000 Euros, will also be awarded.

Winners gain from long-term membership of the empowering people. Network, a vibrant ecosystem of innovators, development professionals, and technology experts. The Network promotes online and offline synergies, mentoring, training and technical cooperation. Winning solutions will also be endorsed by inclusion into the Network’s Solutions Database, putting them in the international spotlight to enhance the scope and impact of their technologies.

The award is supported by Siemens Stiftung’s longtime collaborators Engineering for Change, MIT D-Lab, and Technology Exchange Lab.

The competition is now live! Enter online by October 31, 2018, 12:00 pm CET.

The last two rounds of the award have been immensely popular across the global entrepreneur community, receiving 1,600 applications from more than 100 countries.

Related links

Website empowering people. Network

Facebook page empowering people. Network

Twitter channel empowering people. Network

LinkedIn page empowering people. Network

Official Hashtag #epAward2019

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