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Prudence Foundation, the community investment arm of Prudential plc in Asia, is cooperating with Singapore-based social investment organisation AVPN to launch the Disaster Tech Innovation Programme.
The programme seeks to raise awareness of innovative and viable technology solutions which aim to protect and save lives before, during, and after natural disasters, also known as “disaster tech,” a statement from the organisations said. It features a competition for both for-profit and non-profit entities that seeks to crowdsource innovative disaster tech solutions that will complement existing disaster risk reduction efforts in Asia-Pacific by helping reduce human and economic losses.
The competition’s winners will receive grants from a pool of US$150,000 to aid them in implementing and scaling up their disaster tech solutions. The finalists will also showcase their solutions and seek further partnerships at the annual AVPN Conference in June 2019, which is a major gathering of social impact funders and resource providers in Asia.
“Fostering partnerships and enabling cross-sector collaboration is the way forward in disaster preparedness and risk mitigation,” said Kevin Teo, chief operating officer of AVPN. “AVPN is pleased to be able to bring together collaborators to support innovation solutions to limit the adverse impact of natural disasters.”
“Natural disasters are terrible incidents, but we see huge opportunities in harnessing technology to protect and save lives,” said Donald Kanak, chairman of the Prudence Foundation. “We believe the Disaster Tech Innovation Programme will bring together innovators and like-minded funders and resource providers, to help make our communities safer, more secure and more resilient. This programme, like our initiatives SAFE STEPS and Safe Schools, supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals, specifically Goals 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and 13 (Climate Action).”
