The saying goes that two heads are better than one. We believe it gets even better when you bring a lot of different talent together to collaborate and solve urgent global challenges.
HelloScience, supported by Novozymes, is an online open innovation network for entrepreneurs, researchers, NGOs, associations and companies. It aims to foster collaboration across borders, expertise and technologies on serious global challenges, such as those addressed in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
But make no mistake: The major global challenges are complex in nature and will be difficult to solve. Novozymes has experience and expertise, but it doesn’t claim to have all the answers.
We need to work together to deliver better systems to solve challenges within water, food, waste and more. That includes start-up communities and small innovation communities. HelloScience is a place where they can meet and speak directly with Novozymes, and with each other.
Clean water and a call from UNICEF
HelloScience defines different themes for collaboration, the first of which is ‘water’. This theme includes four challenges centered on innovation for better filtering, less sludge, and recovery of phosphate, in wastewater.
Water and sanitation are at the heart of sustainable development. We believe biotech in combination with other technologies can play a big role in treating industrial and municipal wastewater.
A fifth challenge is a direct call from UNICEF to develop a device that will speed-up the detection of E. coli bacteria in water. There’s an urgent need for a rapid testing method as nearly 18,000 children die each day from diarrhea and other water-related diseases, contracted mostly through contaminated water or food.
Current detection tests for E. coli bacteria take up to 24 hours to return a result, but we want to get that time down to as little as 30 minutes.
How it works
Everybody with an interest in water can suggest ideas at HelloScience.io. Start-ups and small companies are the primary target group, but water experts, university researchers, corporates, NGOs, investors, students and others are also welcome.
By posting ideas or solutions to a challenge, participants get access to a network of researchers and innovators to help elevate the concept and find synergies with systems proposed by other collaborators.
The best solutions receive enzyme and microorganism samples, access to relevant industry and investment experts, from Novozymes. A challenge runs for a specified length of time, following which one participant gets the opportunity to co-develop their solution with Novozymes.
All intellectual property generated in the challenges belongs to the idea provider. This is important because HelloScience is not just a place where we build on each-other’s ideas and reach solutions to complex problems. It’s also a place where Novozymes and its partners gain value from their collaboration and grow their research as they intend to.
I believe that’s what will keep our network of idea generators, problem-solvers and up-starts energized and willing to solve global problems.
Get in touch with Emilie: EM**@no*******.com
