Bridge Hub 2020 Water Challenge
Craig Shapiro, Co-CEO and Founder, The Bridge Hub
Identifying water problems the first step to finding solutions
● Bridge Hub 2020 Water Challenge aims to solve water problems and help drought-proof Australia
● Ambitious Challenge program starts with problem identification
● Cash prizes for the most compelling problems – entries open now
While debate around water policy continues, Bridge Hub is working on finding practical solutions to water problems in Australia and around the world, and it is starting by calling on people across Australia to help decide where to focus first.
Bridge Hub is an agrifood tech innovation hub for the Australian and global agri-food tech industry with offices in Wagga Wagga, Sydney and Israel. It has deeply established relationships in the well-established Israeli innovation ecosystem as it seeks to create commercialisation pathways to bring great ideas and research to market.
It is about to launch the 2020 Water Challenge, which aims to identify and commercialise promising research and new technology that will allow the agriculture and food production sector to be smarter with its use of water.
Ahead of the 2020 Water Challenge, Bridge Hub is crowd-sourcing input on its problem statements, so that it can ensure the projects it supports will have real impact where it’s most needed.
“We want to identify the problems that, if solved, will have a measurable and positive impact on drought proofing the Australian and global agrisystem,” Bridge Hub Co-CEO Craig Shapiro says.
“As the drought continues and following the devastation of the recent bushfires and floods, there is much discussion around water and how we make changes now that can ease the impact of future events.”
At the evokeAG conference in February Bridge Hub ran a challenge wall for delegates to submit their answers to the question ‘if you had access to the brightest minds in the world, what water problem would you ask them to solve?’
The number and depth of responses was described as ‘amazing’. Problems ranging from evaporation, water runoff and the lack of wastewater use to the energy costs to pump water were just a few of those put forward.
“We’re excited to see what other problems we can identify now we’ve broadened the call for problem submissions. Ensuring we get different perspectives is critical to making sure we’re solving the right problems,” Craig says.
Four prizes of A$1,000 each will be awarded for the submission of problems that, if solved, would have the greatest impact on the agrisystem.
Once the problem statements are decided, the Water Challenge will be officially launched in late March. Researchers, start-ups and students will have the opportunity to submit their solutions, with cash prizes, investment and funding for trials of at least A$150,000 to be awarded to the best applicants.
Problems can be submitted until March 15, when the challenge will move into the next phase of finding solutions.
“We’re excited to see what problems come from the people who live with water challenges every day. We know there are solutions out there – identifying the right problems to solve is just the start,” Craig says.
Sharing a problem is easy. Just visit https://thebridgehub.co/problem and complete a brief entry form.