THE WSA SHORTLIST 2022 - DIGITAL IMPACT VENTURES WORLDWIDE

 

Digital impact ventures worldwide are utilizing content driven applications to improve society - and through promoting and connecting their solutions crossboarder, we can create a strong movement towards reaching the UN SDGs.

 

From over 340 nominations from 79 countries, the international WSA Online Jury selected the top 13 - 17 in each WSA category in terms of local solutions using digital content to close the worldwide gaps - the WSA Shortlist 2022.

 

Discover the last local solutions using digital content to close the worldwide gaps in each of the 8 WSA Categories!

WSA SHORTLIST 2022

 

Next step? The WSA Shortlist will be reviewed by 19 international experts across the globe to select the 40 WSA Winners - the WSA Grand Jury Meeting, which will be held in  Jakarta, Indonesia, on October 17 - 20, 2022.

 

 

 

WSA Call 2022 Statistics

Social inclusion, the prevention of pandemics, climate change, educational divides and gender equality, are only some of the global issues that are tackled by this year's WSA Nominees!

With a diverse range of topics, the WSA Nominees proof how digital means with purpose driven content make a positive impact in society.

 

WSA 2022 NOMINEES  - MORE THAN 340 DIGITAL INNOVATIONS FROM OVER 79 COUNTRIES

WSA CALL 2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

WSA is a global nomination based award system. This year, the WSA National Experts from 79 countries submitted nearly 350 nominations.

 

WSA 2022 National Nominations by regions and countries

 

 

 

 

 

 

WSA 2022 National Nominations by WSA Category:

• Learning & Education with 51 nominations
• Health & Well-Being with 50 nominations
• Business & Commerce with 48 nominations
• Environment & Green Energy  and Inclusion and Empowerment with 42 nominations
• Government & Citizen Engagement with 39 nominations 
• Smart Settlements & Urbanization with 38 nominations
• Culture & Tourism with 36 nominations

 

WSA 2022 Nominations by Organisation

WSA is an award open to any company, organisation or individual from all UN and UNESCO member states.

 

Most nominees are Start-Ups, with a total of 150 nominations. Corporate Companies make up 34 nominations, followed by NGOs with 33 nominations.

 

WSA 2022 Nominations by Region

 

The WSA 2022 call is lead by Europe, Arab Countries and Middle East and Africa.

 

Especially in these challenging times, WSA would like to point out the outstanding, ongoing support of the WSA National Experts across the world - supporting, presenting and nominating the most innovative and impactful projects from their communities -  creating a positive impact towards achieving the UN SDGs.

The WSA Nominees are evaluated by the WSA Online Jury . The shortlisted projects will be announced on WSA website and social media by middle of October.

 

For further information, please do not forget to follow WSA on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, and subscribe to the WSA newsletter.

To recognize the power of books, to acknowledge authors' social and cultural contribution with their masterpieces, and to promote reading, UNESCO has established April 23rd as the "World Book Day".

 

Books have taken part in our education, have inspired us and have captivated us for centuries. No matter the genre, language or format, books have an outstanding impact on humans, and they always have a lesson to teach.

 

Nevertheless, the way we read has changed throughout the decades due to the role that technology has taken. Not only have electronic devises allowed people to "open" a book anywhere, but also to access information and news directly from a device in your pocket. Interactive content and digital platforms are creating a more accessible world.

 

Accessibility has become one of the focal points of entrepreneurs´attention. WSA Winners are selected under the premise of providing content and information in an accessible way, making sure to work together for a juster world.

 

Digitalization can provide us all with several benefits:

• access to information from different countries, written in other languages. Therefore people gain additional perspective on life and culture,
• enhanced possibility to exchange opinions and thoughts,
• access to easily find platforms where information and stories can be shared, so people can take the opportunity to showcase their talents.

 

To celebrate the World Book Day, we have selected some impact solutions of the WSA Alumni:

Luabooks

 

 

Culture & Tourism category Winner 2017.

Luabooks makes transmedia editorial products where printed books are enhanced with technological applications to create an integrated narrative.

 

 

 

Kathuwaraya.com 

 

 

Culture & Tourism category Winner 2021.

A unique platform to discover and nurture talented Sri Lankan writers. A platform on which budding authors can publish their stories without fear of theft and build their readership, gain popularity.

For the readers Kathuwaraya presents an array of rich and diverse works to enjoy, review and rate. Kathuwaraya community continues to nurture and sustain the platform through inputs ranging from content editing, cover designing writing, joining in open discussions.

 

 

 

Wattpad

 

 

 

 

Entertainment & Lifestyle category Winner 2014.

Wattpad is a writing community in which users are able to post articles, stories, and poems about anything either online or through the Wattpad app. The content includes work by undiscovered and published writers. Users are able to comment and like stories or join groups associated with the website.

 

Wattpad is the world’s largest community of readers and writers, and is accessible via phone, tablet, or computer. Wattpad’s stories are free and available whether you’re on or offline.

 

 

 

Rufoof

 

 

Learning & Education category Winner 2011.

Rufoof is an e-content store application that offers thousands of books and publications covering various fields. Rufoof offers an amazing reading experience for both Arabic and English content.

 

The language is 70% Arabic and 30% English, thus targetting the Arab audience in a new way. Steps to a quality reading experience are very easy with Rufoof, which makes technology easier and user-friendly for everyone. The Rufoof app is free of charge.

 

National Digital Library of India

 

 

Learning & Education category Winner 2021.

Sponsored by the Indian Ministry of Education and developed by Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, National Digital Library of India is a public digital library that offers free and open access to over 55 million educational resources.

 

NDLI responded to the COVID crisis by launching two pioneering new services, ‘Study at Home’ and the ‘COVID-19 Research Repository’. These helped minimize disruptions to learning during the pandemic. NDLI is powered by a unique process for digitally acquiring and curating the metadata of educational contents. It also runs a vigorous online advocacy programme to mobilize learners and influencers across India.

 

 

As one of the major pillars of WSA, the WSA National Experts offer their diverse backgrounds, personal social engagement and a wide experience in the ICT and entrepreneurial sector. Each year, they scout their local ecosystems to select and support local best practice solutions in digital, purpose driven innovation. The WSA National Experts network welcomes its new National Experts from Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Hungary, Poland and Turkey.

 

WSA Bahrain - Ahmed Al-Hujairy and Rashed Al Snan

 

 

Ahmed Al-Hujairy and Rashed Al Snan joins WSA Bahrain National Expert panel with Nawaf M. Abdulrahman and Ubaydli Ubaydli.

 

Ahmed Al-Hujairy is General Secretary in Bahrain Technology Companies Society (BTECH). He has extensive experience in a range of fields including Telecommunications, Banking, Government, Information Technology and Business Analysis. He began his career with Riyad Bank, Saudi Arabia and subsequently worked with Batelco and Asia Computers before joining the Health Information Directorate where he attained the post of IT Director. Mr. Al Hujairy also held the role as Acting CEO, Advisor to the Minister of Health on Health Economics and the CEO of Salmaniya Medical Complex.

 

Rashed Al Snan is Board member in Bahrain Technology Companies Society (BTECH). CEO & Board Member in Etisalcom Bahrain Co WLL, he owns 7.042% of the ownership of Etisalcom Bahrain Co WLL, and has worked in Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco) over 31 years. Rashed Al Snan was awarded in 2001 by HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defense Minister, the e-achiever of the year award from Arabian Business.com for his work in the joint venture between Batelco (Bahrain) and Jeraisy Computers (Saudi Arabia).

 

WSA Bangladesh - Arafatul Islam Akib

 

 

 

Arafatul Islam Akib joins the WSA Bangladesh panel with Suny MD Ashraf Khan.

 

Arafatul is the Founder and CEO of the startup "Chattogram" which creates a deep impact to entrepreneur for thinking newly and take some innovative initiatives. Chattogram is a platform to work for new entrepreneurs, startups and also for young people who are very passionate about business and entrepreneurship, leadership skills development.

 

WSA Cameroon - Gabriel Ashu-Arrey

 

 

 

Gabriel Ashu-Arrey is the Founder and Board Chair of the organisation "Jongohub". Through his founded initiative, he supports on a pro-bono basis young entrepreneurs through various enterprise support services. Gabriel is international Youth Leadership Assembly (IYLA) Global Ambassador and Ashoka Scholar 2016.

 

WSA Hungary - Balázs Horváth

 

 

 

Balázs is a tech-savvy marketing professional with a passion for online technology, startups and innovation. He managed marketing projects, planned and executed digital marketing and sales activities in various industries. He is the local partner of Startup Grind, the world's leading startup community, and also country leader of Founder Institute, which is the largest pre-seed accelerator. His goal is to help founders and organizations to find global collaboration opportunities, making startups more agile and to build a sustainable future together.

 

WSA Poland - Barbara Domaradzka, Jan Kaczmarek and Anna Laudy-Nagy

 

 

 

Barbara Domaradzka. Soft skills trainer, facilitator, Design Thinking moderator. Coordinator of social projects, organiser of events and exhibitions, SDG program manager. At the MOST Foundation she advises SMEs on sustainable development, with an emphasis on social and environmental responsibility. She conducts workshops on various methodologies: company strategy, market segmentation, competition analysis, sustainable business models, design thinking and design sprint. Member of the“Positive Persons Panel” in the 2021 Positive Impact Startups Report by Koźmiński University.

 

 

Jan Kaczmarek. Doctor of humanities in the field of computer science, specialty affective information theory (University of Warsaw). . From 2016, President of the Management Board of the MOST Foundation. He has over 15 years of experience in consultancy in the field of management and financing of innovation for SMEs from Poland and the EU. Completed over 300 projects in cooperation with SMEs - mainly from the ICT sector.

 

 

Anna Laudy-Nagy. From 2009 to 2015 she was responsible for marketing, communication and European projects coordination at various NGOs in Brussels. Since 2015 advising Polish SMEs on financing innovative R&D projects, writing project and grant proposals. Since 2017 working for the MOST Foundation where she is responsible for i.e.: grant writing (Horizon, Erasmus+, Visegrad). She is also managing the Intermediary Office for the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme.

 

 

WSA Turkey - Mustafa Özer

 

 

 

Mustafa is the director at imece social innovation platform, where he works with young social innovators and impactful entrepreneurs to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda. He has 10+ years of experience in building micro to small enterprises to promote local, sustainable and fair economic development. He played a significant role in UNHCR Turkey's community-based livelihoods response to include refugees in the registered economy by managing a small-grants and small business development program.

 

 

 

WSA NATIONAL EXPERT NETWORK

Can you imagine 931 million tons of food?

 

That's equal 23 million fully loaded 40-tonne trucks front-to-back. Enough to circle around the earth 7 times.

 

This is the quantity of food waste generated in 2019. More than a half of it, 568 tonnes, are produced by households, according to the UNEP Food Waste Index 2021.

 

On the other side of the medal, the number of people facing poverty and hunger is rising. Last year alone, up to 811 million people in the world faced malnourishment and 2,37 billion people were left without food or unable to eat a healthy, balanced diet on a regular basis.

 

On the September 29th, the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste calls public goverments, local municipalities, as well private business and each of us individually to action, to prioritise actions and move ahead with innovation to reduce food loss and waste towards restoring and building back better and resilient food systems.

 

Food waste impacts not only society, but also environment. 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions are related to non-consumed food. When food is lost or wasted, all the resources that were used to produce this food - including water, land, energy, labour and capital - go to waste. In addition, the disposal of food loss and waste in landfills, leads to greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change.

 

How you can make an impact? Check out this article about ``15 quick tips for reducing food waste and becoming a Food hero`` by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN.

 

Find clever ways to tackle food waste through these impact solutions of WSA and WSA European Young Innovators Alumni:

 

 

Too good to go

 

WSA Winner 2016

 

Through Too Good To Go app and their website, you can order food from local restaurants, cafes and bakeries, and collect it up to an hour before closing time. TGTG mission is to save food, save money and save the planet by placing the lost value back onto food as humankind’s most valuable energy resource, and not something that should just be carelessly throw in the bin.
Learn More
 

FoodLoop

 
WSA Winner 2014
 
FoodLoop offers the first consumer app with a backend tied to retailers’ Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP), reducing food waste of perishable items close to their “best before date” (BBD). Using its B2B2C platform to inform consumers in real time on mobiles about products on sale. Furthermore, this app adds social value by donating part of its revenue to charities.
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Yonodesperdicio.org

 
WSA Winner 2018
 
yonodesperdicio is the first collaborative consumption web and mobile app to reduce food waste within Spanish households. It includes an awareness-raising component to explain how food waste and the current unsustainable food system affect the fight against hunger and the right to food. Above all, yonodesperdicio is a community of people helping reduce household food waste with simple gestures. The platform also makes it easy to share tips and recipes or create a contact network to ensure food sharing.
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Food + x

 
WSA European Young Innovator 2018
 
Food+x is a blockchain powered platform built onto existing businesses to reduce food waste, by enabling quick, safe and transparent distribution of surplus food through the first decentralized ecosystem for waste reduction. It currently involves 120 leading European retailers, distributors, manufacturers and Horeca organisations.
 
The project is comprised of the Food+x platform, which strategically matches sellers and buyers of surplus food, Robin Food Stores, which provide public access to quality food that would otherwise end up as waste at discounted prices, and the Robin Food Bank, which collaborates with charities to donate food to needy people.
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