Announcing the Recipients of the IEEE/UN-MGCY Video Pitch Competition at G-STIC 2019
IEEE Entrepreneurship, the IEEE Humanitarian Activities Committee, and IEEE TechEthics have once again collaborated with the UN Major Group on Children and Youth (UN-MGCY) to bring IEEE content to G-STIC. G-STIC is an innovative event with strong themes connected to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — but with a unique approach that differs similarly to how the G-STIC logo includes the SDG colors and bars but has broken away from the formality of the traditional SDG logo!
G-STIC 2019 will lay the foundations of a comprehensive approach to identifying and discussing integrated technological solutions that can significantly impact the achievements of the SDGs. It will also test this approach on several concrete integrated technological solutions. G-STIC 2019 is hosted jointly by VITO (the prime research and technology organization on cleantech and sustainable development in Belgium) and its international partners ACTS (African Centre for Technology Studies), FIOCRUZ (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz), GIEC (Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences), IITD (Indian Institute of Technology Delhi), NACETEM (National Centre for Technology Management) and TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute). The third edition of this conference series will be organized in Brussels from November 20 to November 22, 2019. Read More.
Specifically, IEEE Entrepreneurship, in partnership with UN-MGCY, hosted a video pitch competition that was open to organizations and companies with smart, original and innovative ideas on technological solutions and/or business concepts that hold great potential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
As part of an initiative to further bring attention to the importance of youth engagement, we invited young people to showcase innovative technological solutions during the G-STIC conference and to join our video pitch competition on youth-led innovations for the SDGs, organized by IEEE Entrepreneurship in coordination with the UN Major Group for Children and Youth (UN-MGCY). Ph.D. students, researchers, and companies were able to join in three different categories: product ideation, founded start-ups and growth companies with substantial sales. Each category supports IEEE’s mission of “Technology for the Benefit of Humanity” and granted participants an incentive to innovate towards improving global conditions. The video pitch competition aimed to identify clusters of market-ready, innovative, technological solutions that could make a major contribution to achieve the 7 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined below:
- Energy
- Oceans
- Food
- Health
- Circular Education
- Housing
- Climate Change
The judges for the IEEE/UN-MGCY Video Pitch Competition included:
- Janati Nakimera | CEO, Solar Net metering Uganda & 2020 IEEE Entrepreneurship Leadership
- Samantha Snabes | Co-Founder and Catalyst, re:3D, 2018-2019 Chair of the Entrepreneurship Initiative, & IEEE N3XT® Stars Judge
- Nadim Choucair | Founder of Cabinet Collective
The videos were judged based on our 5 IEEE Entrepreneurship criteria:
- Innovation
- Market
- Product
- Diverse Team
- Traction
Be inspired by the stories of our video pitch recipients of the IEEE/UN-MGCY Video Pitch Competition include:
Greenovation: Among the video pitches on products originating from workshops and competitions that support any of the selected Sustainable Development Goals, Greenovation (Bhutan) was selected as the winner.
Aevice Health: Among the video pitches by companies launching a market-ready product that supports any of the selected Sustainable Development Goals, Aevice Health (Singapore) was selected as the winner.
Cygni Energy: Among the video pitches by growth companies generating substantial sales of products that support any of the selected Sustainable Development Goals, Cygni Energy (India) was selected as the winner.
IEEE Entrepreneurship and UN-MGCY are organizing a session at G-STIC 2019 in Brussels from 19 – 22 November where the recipients have been invited to present along with other speakers on several entrepreneurial related topics.
