Intel Chairman Announces Winners of INSPIRE•EMPOWER Challenge

LADYDRAGON.COM

     
 

Wednesday April 08, 2009

 
     
     
 

Intel Chairman Announces Winners of INSPIRE•EMPOWER Challenge

Four Winners Awarded $100,000 to Fund Technology Projects Solving Real-World Problems

INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM

LadyDragon – During his keynote today

at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in Beijing, Intel Corporation

Chairman Craig Barrett announced the four winners of the INSPIRE•EMPOWER

Challenge. Launched at the IDF in San Francisco last summer, the

challenge called on the developer community to submit the most

innovative ideas for applying technology to address some of the world’s

most pressing problems related to education, health care, economic

development and the environment.

More than 200 proposals were submitted from companies, non-profit

organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGO), universities and

individuals from 44 countries around the world.

"The caliber of submissions demonstrates the incredible collaborative

power of the developer community to use technology to help solve

real-world problems," said Barrett. "Today we honor the winners of this

challenge and celebrate the hundreds of other innovative ideas aimed to

help promote social and economic growth worldwide."

The winners of the four $100,000 prizes were evaluated primarily for

impact sustainability and innovativeness. The prize money will be used

solely toward the implementation of the solution.

* CellScope: Telemicroscopy for Disease Diagnosis: Daniel

Fletcher, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, leads a

research team responsible for the CellScope, a blend of "cell phone" and

"microscope." This new approach turns camera-enabled cell phones,

smartphones, handhelds and netbooks, such as an Intel-powered classmate

PC, into high-resolution, handheld microscopes with the capability to

capture and transmit images. CellScope provides a portable and

inexpensive way to diagnose and monitor infectious diseases, such as

tuberculosis and malaria in the developing world.

* Great Lakes Cassava Initiative (GLCI): Michael Potts, Catholic

Relief Services’ director for GLCI, is overseeing a pilot project using

laptops to help cassava farmers increase food availability and incomes.

Millions of families in East and Central Africa rely on cassava as a

primary food source, but two virulent diseases are wiping out fields

across the region. GLCI aims to educate 1.15 million farmers in six

countries about these diseases and provide them with disease-resistant

cassava plants. The laptops will facilitate information exchange among

farmers, field agents and project managers; support remote distribution

of training modules; and improve disease monitoring through automatic

data transfers.

* Mobile Solar Computer Classroom (MSCC): Eric Morrow, executive

director of the Maendeleo Foundation in Uganda, operates a

computer-lab-on-wheels that takes teachers to multiple schools each week

to provide PC skills, training to up to 100 children per day. Topped

with solar panels to re-charge the computers, the MSCC is a modified SUV

with a foldable tent, tables, chairs and 15 Intel-powered classmate PCs.

The foundation hopes to open the doors to better paying jobs and to spur

an African-owned and -operated computer services industry to boost local

economies, decrease unemployment and help alleviate poverty.

* Rural Livelihood Enhancement: Bibek Chapagain, Clean Energy

Group director at Winrock International, has proposed a Rural Livelihood

Enhancement project to deliver information and communication technology

(ICT) services to rural communities in Nepal. To address the lack of

grid electricity, the project will utilize renewable power from

micro-hydro stations and solar photovoltaic panels. The goal of the

project is to bring about economic development and improve access to

energy, education, employment and information in remote areas. The ICT

service centers will serve as computer labs for students and will be

open to the public during off-school hours to provide services to the

community.

For more information on the challenge, visit www.intelchallenge.com

 
     
     
 

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