Winners of the first edition of SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards. — Photo courtesy of the organisers

Prudence Foundation together with Humanitarian Partner International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Technology Partner Lenovo, has launched the second edition of the SAFE STEPS Disaster Tech Awards, which aims to find, fund and support technology solutions that save lives before, during or after natural disaster events.

Since 2000, more than 40 per cent of global disaster events have taken place in the Asia Pacific region, resulting in around 800,000 deaths and affecting 3.2 billion people.

This year, the COVID-19 pandemic which has infected tens of millions of people in the region people and is expected to result in over US$2.7 trillion in economic losses, has magnified the importance of disaster preparedness and collaboration across all sectors in reducing the threat and impact of natural disaster events.

The SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards was created by Prudence Foundation out of the belief that technology innovation can play a more significant role in improving disaster preparedness, recovery and resilience.

The awards are part of SAFE STEPS, a multi-platform, mass awareness programme developed by Prudence Foundation, the community investment arm of Prudential in Asia and Africa, and supported by the IFRC and other partners to provide life-saving information around natural disaster events, road safety and first aid.

Organisations participating in the awards will stand a chance to win grants from a pool of $200,000 to support the implementation and scaling of their D-Tech solutions.

Semi-finalists and finalists will have access to expert coaching, pitching and networking opportunities with humanitarian representatives, venture capital fund managers, fellow tech entrepreneurs, and social enterprise developers. Finalists will pitch their solutions to a panel of judges in June 2021.

The competition is open for entries until February 19. — VNS