We currently live in a time of disruptive change, with technological development and societal issues impacting everything from how we work and create to how we are going to reach the stars. The challenges we face as a world community are myriad, from healthcare to the environment, our oceans, our society, and our planet. It is critical that we focus our efforts on addressing as many of these important issues as possible.
The IoT Social Impact Award was created by Quectel, floLIVE, and The IoT M2M Council (IMC), with a focus on IoT projects that have social impact at heart. The initiative will assess IoT projects in public health, human rights, marine and wildlife conservation, environmental and corporate sustainability, education, clean and sustainable energy, hunger and food insecurity, social and economic development, and improving accessibility.
Entries opened on 4 October 2021, and the deadline for submitting entries is 26 November, with judging closing on 20 December. The IoT Social Impact Award shortlist will be announced on 6 January 2022, with the winner selected by industry voting. Voting will close on 18 February 2022 with the winner announced on 1 March 2022.
The judging panel includes: Tom Rebbeck, a Partner at Analysys Mason, Anne Hoyer, a Strategic Advisor in digital innovation, Alexander Bufalino, the Vice President of Marketing at Quectel Wireless Solutions, Rony Cohen, the Co-Founder and Head of Business Development at floLIVE, Keith Kreisher, the Executive Director of The IMC, Robin Duke Woolley, the CEO of Beecham Research, Dan Shey, the Vice President of Enabling Platforms at ABI Research, and Tracy Hopkins, Global IoT Evangelist and Executive Business Consultant.
We reached out to some of the organizers about the IoT Social Impact Award, its intentions, and its ramifications. When we sat down with Alexander Bufalino, VP of Marketing at Quectel Wireless Solutions, and one of the judges, we asked him to describe the aspect of the awards regarding long-term social benefit. He pointed out that in the IoT there have been and there will be an endless number of ideas that come to market, and most of them don’t survive. The ones that do meet a clear need and solve a challenge will mostly make it, and that’s what he is looking for, sustainable ideas.
When asked about those who say that technology isn't the answer to our problems, Alexander explained that there is no doubt that technology must be mastered correctly and with responsibility, but it is a human challenge, not technology’s. If we look back thousands of years back in humanity it was always wisdom combined with technology that made us grow and change. Would we have found a vaccine against Covid 19 in a years’ time 25 years ago? With use of the Cloud, AI technologies, and major advancements in gene sequencing, we made it.
Regarding applications of interest, he quoted Ginni Rometty, the former IBM CEO, who said there will be no IoT without AI. For some years this wasn’t clear, but it's becoming clearer now. The vast and ever growing amounts of data we are and will be able to capture, transport and compute in near-real time will make AI necessary to analyze and create suggestions in real time.
In the case of the after-action plans of the initiative once recognition is given, Alexander believes they could launch many rounds of this award, each time slightly adapting it to address not only continued advancements in technology, but also address the most critical challenges in society. For example the group could launch a Social Impact Award with the theme “How to fight hunger”, or other themes of that nature.
The team at floLIVE talked about how companies across the globe are using IoT in innovative ways to help change the world for the better. The IoT Social Impact Award is designed to highlight these organizations and showcase the initiatives that provide much-needed social impact, improving the world through their specific sector. They want to set these organizations apart from the crowd, and demonstrate to the world how technology, innovation and creativity can be used to drive social good.
They emphasized that the criteria on which the awards will be judged are simple, and fall into two areas. Firstly, what is the impact of the project and the technology employed on the world, and secondly how innovative the solution is. There are many steps we need to take to solve the many problems that we are facing on earth, some of them educational, some of them governmental, some financial, etc.
Although in the past technology has caused some of the biggest environmental and social problems during the industrial revolution, for example, air pollution, depletion of natural resources, and water pollution among others, it can also be the key to addressing the challenges that we’re facing, including hunger and food insecurity, climate change, environmental sustainability, clean energy, waste management, and other pressing global challenges.
The team at floLIVE emphasized the need to harness the digital revolution and use both high- and low-tech solutions. To do this we need to empower and educate the entire ecosystem: governments, higher education institutes, companies, and citizens. We all need to adopt sustainable policies, business models and other practices
The organizers are essentially looking for IoT solutions that make the world a better place. Projects from all industries are welcome, including solutions to challenges in global public health, marine and wildlife conservation, hunger and food security, environmental and sustainability, global human rights, social and economic development, clean and sustainable energy, education, and improving accessibility for the disabled.
Once the deadline closes, the judges will then choose ten entries to be shortlisted – these will be announced on 6th January 2022. The shortlisted entrants will receive a free floLIVE kit with ten floLIVE SIM cards with 10GB for a year and a free Quectel Smart EVB kit, to help build their POC project. The kit can be used to test basic functions on Smart modules.
The winner of the ultimate prize, is voted on by the industry. The ten shortlisted companies will all be in the running for this and whoever is chosen will win 500 SIM cards with 500GB for a year from floLIVE, a one-year free subscription to floNET, floLIVE’s state-of-the-art IoT connectivity platform to launch your project and full coverage across the IMC’s marketing platforms, reaching over 53,000 IoT professionals.