Researchers put technology to work for the global South

Solomzi Makohliso, Michael Hobbins, Wendy Queen, Sashidhar Jonnalagedda. EPFL/A.Herzog - Tech4Dev, an EPFL program to develop technology that addresses the specific needs and living conditions of communities in the developing world, has announced four new winning projects for its research grants. Different people often bring different ideas and skill sets to the same challenge. So what if we could harness these diverse insights to develop practical solutions to real-world problems? That's the basic idea behind Tech4Dev, an EPFL initiative launched two years ago that connects the School's researchers and students with businesses and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The program awards funding to selected projects with the potential to make a positive social and environmental impact for a community or region in the global South, through technology that addresses a specific need and is resilient to local conditions. The first four Tech4Dev grant recipients were announced a year ago (see article ). A further four grantees were announced this spring following a review of proposals by an international expert panel.