Unido acknowledges brilliant work in developing clean technologies
Islamabad: Five promising Pakistani innovators have received awards in the field of clean technologies from the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido) under its Global Cleantech Innovation Programme (GCIP).
The award ceremony was held in Islamabad to appreciate the contributions of the Pakistani technology visionaries and promote an entrepreneur ecosystem by supporting cleantech innovators and entrepreneurs.
GCIP granted five awards under different categories this year at the ceremony attended by several high-ranking officials, dignitaries, ambassadors, and international donor agencies.
The first prize was awarded to team ‘Modulus Tech’, which invented a new design of low-cost, energy-efficient houses. “The houses can be assembled in as little as three hours and can be easily transported, making it possible to build large, cost-effective colonies within a month,” said co-founder Yaseen Khalid.
“The houses are equipped with modern utilities and sustainable energy-efficient design and have been designed to solve the global refugee housing problem,” says Nabeel Siddiqui, CEO, and co-founder of Modulus Tech.
The runner-up was team ‘Biotech’, which have made a dual function solar system for rural areas that can run water pumps and flour mills. Biotech fuels is an energy solutions provider offering services in the solar, wind and bio-fuels sectors.
The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry awarded the prize for the most promising team led by a woman to ‘Aerosync’, which had come up with an idea for an innovative solar power cart for roadside street vendors.
This year, two new prizes were also introduced. The ‘Industry Challenge Award’ was given to ‘Bitsym Bitpredict’, which presented an industrial process fault detection information system. Founded by Saad Bin Qaisar, Bitsym provides end-to-end secure and intelligent connectivity solutions.
Another winner was ‘Crean’, which has introduced technology for utilizing and regenerating old batteries.
Addressing the participants, Federal Secretary for Climate Change Syed Abu Ahmed Akif stressed the importance of clean technology innovations in Pakistan to cope with the harmful effects caused by climate change. “The annual competition fosters green entrepreneurship and supports marketable solutions that address the most pressing global environmental challenges,” he said.
Sheikh Amir Waheed from the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry urged local and international investors to become front-runners in clean technology investments in Pakistan and support and facilitate local innovators in introducing innovative products into the market.
Unido Country Representative Nadia Aftab highlighted Unido’s commitment towards promoting clean technologies with a focus on energy and environment.
The GCIP Project Manager from Unido Alois Mhlanga also spoke on the occasion, underlining the achievements of GCIP in Pakistan.
The Global Cleantech Innovation Programme Pakistan for SMEs and startups in Pakistan is part of a global programme funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by Unido. The programme aims to address challenging energy, environmental and economic problems by enhancing emerging cleantech startups and bolstering the local entrepreneurial ecosystem.
