For the first time in forever the whole world has united to fight against, the now prevailing, Coronavirus (COVID19). The ongoing battle against the disease has given rise to many new humanitarian, creative, indigenous, collective and individual, altruistic and moral ways of contributing towards the betterment of the society and the overall common population. One of the recent and innovative approach to help tackle the current crisis situation is COVID19 challenge/competition or initiative that contribute in ways more than one can imagine.
Here are the analytical details of such interesting initiatives by various organizations, institutions, and governing bodies:
Challenge COVID19 Competition (C3) – NIF:
National Innovation Foundation – India (NIF), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (GOI), has created the “Challenge COVID19 Competition” (C3) has sent out invites calling innovative citizens to participate in it.
The focus of C3 is for all innovative citizens to get creative with their ideas and innovations pertaining to the problems faced due to COVID19. The ideas and innovations can be anything related to the present situation such as reducing the transmission of the virus, supplementing the government’s efforts, slowing or eliminating the widespread of the pandemic, etc.
Ideas can be anything from making self-care processes such as regular sanitization of oneself, home and home products interesting and effective to help to make the supply and distribution of daily essentials during COVID19 eliminating the need to go out.
NIF invites innovative ideas for gainful and productive engagement of people at home, healthy and nutritious food habits that can help build the immune system, personal protective equipment (PPEs) and rapid diagnostic tools at testing facilities, rethinking contactless devices that can be implemented post COVID19 and for varying needs of the different segments of the overall population during and post COVID19 such as differently-abled, people with special needs and mentally challenged.
The shortlisted technologies, ideas, and innovations will be supported by NIF through the entire process from incubation to dissemination. The complete details of the technologies, ideas and innovations (including photo or video, if any) can be sent to campaign@nifindia.org and http://nif.org.in/challenge-covid-19-competition along with the complete details bout the person i.e. name, age, education, occupation, address, contact number, and email address. NIF announced that it will accept entries on a rolling basis until further notice.
COVID19 Start-up Assistance Scheme (CSAS) – SIDBI:
Recognizing the operational and financial challenges faced by startups, Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) endeavored to provide financial assistance and stability through “COVID19 Start-up Assistance Scheme”(CSAS). Under this scheme, SIDBI aims to provide assistance to innovative startups that have demonstrated the ability to adapt to economic impact from COVID19 and ensured its employee's safety and financial stability.
The primary objective of CSAS is to provide quick working capital in the next 45 to 60 days to the startups. A five-member Recommendation Committee (three from SIDBI and its nominees and 2 from Venture Capital Industry) will be formed for a faster process. The application and its screening process are as follows:
1. The scheme document will be made available on SIDBI portal.
2. An application cum Credit Appraisal Memo (CAM) along with Self Assessment Tool (SAT) will be made available on the SIDBI portal.
3. Startups are required to fill the CAM and SAT, and submit the documents to csas@sidbi.inwithin 30 days of launch of the Scheme.
4. The Recommendation Committee will run a process including credit evaluation and video conference with the start-up and VC investor.
5. Thereafter,the proposed Internal Credit committee of SIDBI (ICC) is set to hold a weekly meeting to approve loans to startups. During the ICC meetings, the startups along with the VC investor may be required to be available for a Video Conference meeting.
6. Approval or rejection will be communicated on the same day by email.
7. The loan agreements and related documentation will be completely digital.
SARS CoV 2/COVID19 Research Funding Competition – Queen’s University:
Queen’s University has initiated a 200,000 USD Vice-Principal (Research) fund through “Queen’s SARS CoV 2/COVID19 Research Funding Competition” to support the research projects that will contribute to the urgent needs surrounding the events of COVID19. The main objective of the initiative is to help contribute to the urgent need to accelerate the development, testing and implementation of medical and social countermeasures to mitigate the widespread COVID19 and its consequences in Canada and globally.
This initiative by Queen’s University mirrors the recent SARS CoV 2/COVID19 funding project by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to a large extent. It is aimed to support research across all disciplines i.e. health science, natural sciences and engineering, social sciences, and humanities.
The competition will take place in two phases. In phase 1, the deadline to submit the filled application is on 17th, April, the decisions will be released on 27th, April, and the project funds will be released till 31st, October. Whereas in phase 2, the filled applications must be submitted by 15th, May, decisions will be released on 25th, May, and till 31st, December, the project funds will be released.
The eligibility of the research will be determined based on the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the, now closed, CIHR-led competition along with several additional categories. The benefits of this competition are a) It is a funded project that is aimed to strike a balance between medical and social countermeasures. b) It is eligible for all expenses directly related to the research, except the procurement of equipment and knowledge-transfer allowance. c) The funds are distributed based on the project i.e. from USD 10,000 to 50,000 per project from the total fund value of USD 200,000. The application form is made available at https://www.queensu.ca/vpr/covid-19/sars-cov-research-opportunity and the filled application must be submitted to research@queensu.ca.
COVID19 Business Pivot Challenge – OpenIDEO:
OpenIDEO, a human-centered design organization that helps spark innovation where it’s needed the most, in partnership with FORTUNE and Standford SOCIAL INNOVATION Review, has created the COVID19 Business Pivot Challenge.
This challenge is aimed to enable businesses of all sizes to meet today’s most pressing needs while planning for a future that will be better than the present. It an open and collaborative space to develop solutions, post inspiration, gather feedback and find partners.
Currently, the challenge is a 3-week, which is believed to propel to newer and higher tangents. OpenIDEO will be working with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to list solutions and funding opportunities on www.covid19innovations.org and is looking to build additional partnerships to support the implementation.
The organization has opened the challenge for anyone from business owners and leaders to employees within companies of all types and sizes. OpenIDEO has kept the 3-week sprint of the challenge open till 30th, April, to share individuals’ ideas, innovations, and inspirations. The opportunity areas for ideas and innovations are a) Meeting immediate protective demand. b) Meeting the immediate need for new services. c) Adapting today in service of a new future.
