For the past two years, the need for innovation has been more clear than ever. The healthcare industry is facing unprecedented challenges. Cities and communities need smart ways to adapt to growing population and supply chains have proven to be in need of re-thinking. To achieve a new normal, we need big ideas. That is exactly what Blue Tulip Awards is looking for and the finalists of Generation 4 are just announced.
Generation 4 finalists announced
For the themes of Cities & Communities, Consumption & Production and Health & Well-being, the judges have been focused on finding the most impressive innovation. Not only in terms of business viability, but also whether or not they fully conform to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Now they are gearing up for the grand finale, with the final 5 innovations in each theme, which will be hosted by Anic van Damme. The presenter is excited to share the stage with these innovations: “This is the moment of truth for these innovators. But no matter what, I find them incredibly inspiring.”
Top 5 finalists Cities & Communities
- Fynch app by Fynch Smart Mobility
How to make the existing use of mobility more sustainable and effective? There’s an app for that. Fynch App automatically tracks users’ trips and rewards them for active and sustainable mobility behaviour. This helps road users to emit less carbon, businesses to improve the vitality of their employees and cities in mitigating the CO2 footprint caused by mobility. Added benefit for cities is that the app can improve traffic flow and air quality, for instance by rewarding off peak travelling, cycling, using public transport or simply working from home.
- Ground Penetrating Radar by SGPR Tech
Sometimes, it’s all in the name. In this case, we’re talking about a radar that penetrates the ground. Why? Well, many projects in the building, mining or environmental industries rely on information about what’s underneath the earth’s surface. Figuring that out can be costly, and often not accurate. The combination of radar technology, advanced signal processing, data visualisation and deep learning creates an easy to obtain, yet accurate picture of what’s below.
- Omniflow by Omniflow
The trusty old lamp post in the street is due for an update. That’s what Omniflow takes care of. They’ve developed a smart IoT Lamppole.It transforms a streetlight into a sustainable smart infrastructure capable. Powered by its own wind turbine and solar panels, it is saving more than 90 per cent energy on lighting. They can also fit in multiple added value services like, 5G Small Cells, Computer Vision, Audio Alerts, Public WiFI and even a Drone Charging Station.
- Solar Visuals by Solar Visuals
We love the sight of solar panels, because we know they generate clean energy. But let’s be honest; aesthetically speaking, they can be a bit of an eye sore. Solar Visuals’ innovation ensures any size and visual design is possible in the solar panel that can be mounted as a standard glass cladding material. The panels can be part of the architecture, mimic other materials or even feature branding or logos, without sacrificing on performance. Energy generation and building aesthetics can finally be combined.
- uHoo by uHoo
Not knowing what you breathe indoors makes you sick. uHoo is a comprehensive indoor environmental monitoring and management system that provides you with data, alerts, and trends and automates your building’s HVAC to enhance health and well-being while optimizing energy. Indoor air quality has been a hot topic lately, with an infectious virus going around. So they also launched the uHoo Virus Index – a real-time risk assessment of coronavirus survival and transmission in any indoor space.
Top 5 finalists Consumption & Production
- Tea grown in The Netherlands by LocalTea
Limiting food miles is a good way to achieve a more resilient and sustainable supply chain. With tea, traditionally grown far away from Europe, that could be tricky. LocalTea has created a tea plant which can grow in The Netherlands and Europe and produces local tea made from local plantations in the EU. LocalTea is open and transparent in their chain and creates more awareness about tea. By creating more awareness people will understand more about tea and about the true costs of tea, which will create a snowball effect in the current teachain.
- Microplastic free production by Wasser 3.0
Tiny particles of plastic end up in the water with almost everything we do. They are hard to filter out and wreak havoc on ecosystems. That is why Wasser 3.0 GmbH has developed a certification process for companies to prevent them from shedding harmful plastics in the water. With the certification Microplastic-Free Production, they offer companies the opportunity to position themselves as a company that takes responsibility in dealing with microplastics and water. And you can trust these guys: last year they made it to the finals as well with their own solution for plastic free water.
- NoPalm Ingredients | Microbial oil by NoPalm Ingredients B.V.
Palm oil is very bad for our environment, it’s bad for biodiversity and local communities are often exploited. However, palm oil is used in 60 per cent of the supermarket products making it virtually impossible to avoid palm oil in your diet. Given the growing global population, more and more rainforest will be burned down to make room for palm oil plantations. NoPalm Ingredients wants to avoid this, by making a microbial oil that can replace palm oil as an ingredient in food, cosmetics and detergents.
- Plant Manager by GROWx & INFO
GROWx created the first fully robotized, zero waste, vertical farm to be powered by green electricity. Now, they’ve partnered with INFO to build the Plant Manager, a digital platform to scale the vertical farming technology and create Farming as a Service. The combination of IoT, sensors, smart robots and data about the plants and the environment creates the ideal conditions for growing vegetables in the most sustainable way. With this high tech, GROWx ensures they can make a difference in our food chain worldwide.
- Shelf-life prediction of fresh produce by OneThird
‘Best before’ dates serve a purpose, sure. But they are not exactly precise. This causes a lot of perfectly fine food to be discarded. OneThird has developed a method to predict shelf-life of fresh produce. They use an optical scanner together with AI algorithms and a smart Quality Management System (QMS). It predicts the remaining shelf-life in real-time and non destructively, and can be easily integrated in existing quality procedures, thus reducing food waste.
Top 5 finalists Health & Well-being
- Clear. by Clear.
It has been scientifically proven that everyone reacts differently to food. That’s why there is only one diet that works for you. Clear can develop that personal diet. Users get a glucose sensor and an app providing them with advanced insights. With personal glucometry, anyone can track changes in their blood sugar levels after a meal. A stable blood glucose value increases energy, reduces hunger, and reduces the risk of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.
- DEARhealth by DEARhealth
A cloud based platform that bundles all the experience of expert medical specialists, nurses, scientists and big-data analytics. This will allow AI-powered software to generate continuous recommendations for daily care. It does so by using disease specific data and real world patient data to significantly improve health outcomes. Eventually, this leads to drastic reductions in physician workload, hospital admissions, and relapse rates.
- Founda Health by Founda Health
The healthcare industry is full of incredibly smart people. But getting them to work together in the most efficient way, using the latest technology, remains a challenge. Founda Health takes away the interoperability barriers in healthcare by supporting hospitals with their digital innovation initiatives and improving collaboration, knowledge sharing, and innovation. With the platform, hospitals get access to the latest innovations, while applications get the opportunity to deliver their solution to multiple hospitals around the globe. Systems can offer their customers a fully integrated eHealth application store.
- Post-ICU journal by Games for Health
In the Netherlands 85,000 patients are admitted into an intensive care unit. A radical event that can lead to physical and psychological problems known as PICS: Post Intensive Care Syndrome. Post-ICU is a digital journal, a diary, for patients in the ICU. The journal is written by nurses and loved ones and prevents developing the Post Intensive Care Syndrome. It is already implemented in 15 hospitals and will be in 20 hospitals before the end of 2021. It is also reimbursed by healthcare insurers and is currently making its first steps in the US.
- RiboParticles by RiboPro B.V.
Messenger RNA (mRNA) has played a crucial role in fighting the Corona-crisis as the never-before-used active ingredient in vaccines. Empowered by this success, scientists are now using mRNA to deliver the next medical revolution, bringing more precise cancer therapies, personalized medicine, and new hope for the chronically ill. Crucial to this mission is access to high-quality mRNA encapsulated in safe delivery vehicles. That is where RiboPro comes in. This innovation provides high quality mRNA under a model focused on bench-to-bedside success.
‘Looking for the spark’
For these finalists, the moment of truth awaits. They will have one final chance to convince the jury of the Blue Tulip Awards. The finals will be hosted by presenter Anic van Damme, who was also the face of the previous editions. “What I hope to see is the personal drive, that spark within a pitch”, she says. “All these innovators have probably pitched their idea 100s of times, and even got to finetune their story with a mentor from the Blue Tulip Awards. For me, the beauty is in the spark that some people have during their presentations.”
Blue Tulip Awards finals on November 30th
“These innovations are very inspiring”, says Van Damme. Traditionally, Blue Tulip Awards are addressing some of the world’s largest, toughest and most pressing problems. “It’s easy to be negative about these problems, but these innovations show there’s a way upwards. Right now, they have momentum. Winning the Blue Tulip Awards will offer them the right network and advice, which is what they need to continue their ventures.” During the finals on November 30th, the winners of the Blue Tulip Awards Generation 4 will be announced.
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