Expo 2020 Dubai reiterates commitment to social entrepreneurship

Expo 2020 Dubai’s global innovation and partnership programme, Expo Live continues to support social innovators helping to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

An Australian organisation providing work opportunities for refugees, a dementia breakthrough from Malta and an environmentally-sustainable Indian packaging company are among 23 new social innovators who have benefitted from the fifth cycle of The Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme (IIGP).

Cycle Five grantees were selected from a pool of more than 4,000 applicants from 170 countries, proving that meaningful innovation to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges can come from anywhere, to everyone. 

Some of these global challenges, including rising levels of unemployment, inequality and poor access to quality healthcare, have been exacerbated by the current global health crisis, demonstrating a greater need than ever for collaborative solutions to address them.

Since its launch in 2016, the IIGP has expanded from 29 Global Innovators in 22 countries to 142 grantees across 76 countries, with each offered funding of up to AED 367,000 (USD 100,000), plus expert advice and the opportunity to share their ideas with a global audience.

Yousuf Luiz Caires, Senior Vice President, Expo Live, said: "All projects supported by Expo Live so far – from improving access to mental health platforms in Egypt, Saudi Arabia or the UK, to innovative recycling technology in China – remain committed to improving people’s lives during the global health crisis. The latest cohort of Global Innovators will carry on this tradition, inspiring others to find solutions to challenges in their own communities, and playing a significant role in helping shape a better world."

We’re proud to welcome 23 new global innovators to our #ExpoLive Innovation Impact Grant Programme. Find out more about the social entrepreneurs making a real impact on people’s lives here: https://t.co/lKb3Vq0JWN#Expo2020 #Dubai #UAE pic.twitter.com/Dm95kgO7qP

— Expo City Dubai (@expocitydubai) August 19, 2020

Global Innovators joining the IIGP include Australia-based Talent Beyond Boundaries (TBB), which helps refugees and displaced people move internationally for work, leveraging their own professional skills to secure their futures.

Malta-based BrainTrip, created by lifelong brain enthusiasts with backgrounds in cognitive science, neuroscience and medicine, offers an affordable, easy-to-use and mobile EEG-based (electroencephalogram) method to diagnose dementia – a major breakthrough in rapid screening and early detection of the debilitating disease.

Also among the grantees is GICMED, whose innovative tele-medicine platform and smartphone digital microscopy system allows women in rural areas of Cameroon to be screened and diagnosed for breast and cervical cancers. This takes place at the point of care by medical specialists ordinarily only present in a handful of big cities.

More than half the Global Innovators in Cycle Five are led by women, highlighting Expo Live’s commitment to female-led entrepreneurship and building on the major contribution of women in the delivery of Expo 2020. To date, 35 per cent of all Global Innovators – 49 out of 142 in the IIGP – are led by female entrepreneurs.

They include India-based Ecoware, whose range of 30-plus compostable, 100 per cent natural and biodegradable packaging products addresses two significant environmental problems in India – air and plastic pollution. Made from common agricultural residue that would otherwise be burnt in the open, its products directly benefit the planet and people, particularly children and those more vulnerable to air pollution

Projects under the Expo Live programme look for solutions across 14 different sectors. These include innovators that help to address the challenges set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 17 global goals designed to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.

Expo 2020, the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, will run from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022, and bring together some of the brightest minds and greatest ideas from around the world.