NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Altogether, the Siemens Stiftung awarded 23 prizes to the most promising innovations entered to the “empowering people. Award”. The international competition sought to identify simple yet intelligent technological solutions to sustainably improve the lives of people in developing countries. It received a staggering total of 800 entries from all over the world. The top three winners as well as 20 further prize winners were announced at the Award Ceremony in Nairobi, Kenya. The results of the Community Prize, an extra voting conducted by the sizeable online community of the “empowering people. Award”, was also announced at the Ceremony.

The winning solutions can sustainably enhance living conditions in developing countries by enabling people to independently improve their supply for basic needs. The approach stays true to the foundation’s credo: “ENCOURAG. empowering people”. All the inventions have undergone a stringent evaluation process. They focus on the most crucial supply challenges and can make a real difference to lives in many regions. Siemens Stiftung was thus very proud to showcase the winning solutions in Nairobi.

The winner of the first prize of the “empowering people. Award” Award, Martin Aufmuth from Erlangen, Germany, received 50,000 Euro for his ground-breaking OneDollarGlasses. With millions of visually-impaired people living in impoverished regions around the world, the specs costing just one dollar provide a valuable contribution in empowering individuals to lead lives in which they can study and work unimpaired.