Source of Innovation is an alliance of the IDB Group with external partners to promote the development and adoption of innovative solutions in the water, sanitation, and solid waste sector to achieve intelligent, inclusive, and sustainable services, focusing on service providers in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The objective of Source of Innovation is to create the conditions for the development and integration of innovative solutions in the water, sanitation, and solid waste sector to enable quality access to these services, making their benefits available to the entire population in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Specifically, Source of Innovation directly addresses the challenges identified in the regional diagnostics previously conducted by the IDB to understand the barriers and opportunities for innovation in water and sanitation.
Therefore, Source of Innovation focuses on four components:
Empowering service providers with tools, methodologies, and opportunities.
Identifying and supporting solutions and products from the private sector and the innovation ecosystem.
Dialogues, and strengthening the regional innovation ecosystem and stakeholders.
In the water, sanitation, and solid waste sectors, facilitating a cultural shift towards innovation.
Source of Innovation is funded by the FEMSA Foundation, the Coca-Cola Foundation, the Government of Switzerland through its State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the Government of Israel through its Ministry of Finance, the Republic of Korea through its Ministry of Environment, and the Government of Spain through the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (MINECO). The alliance is also complemented by direct contributions from IDB Lab, IDB Invest and the Water and Sanitation Division, and it coordinates directly with Aquafund, a fund created with IDB capital and to which a wide range of public and private sector partners contribute.
This strategic alliance leverages Source of Innovation to provide funding for targeted innovation projects, fostering collaboration between public and private sector partners.
The IDB-FEMSA Award is one of the most important recognitions in the water and sanitation sector in Latin America and the Caribbean. Organized by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in partnership with Fundación FEMSA, this award promotes innovation and entrepreneurship in search of solutions to challenges in water, sanitation, and solid waste.
The IDB-FEMSA Award supports ideas or ventures in development stages that arise from entrepreneurs and innovators with the ability to think creatively and find solutions for communities.
This contest presents a valuable opportunity to support early-stage projects that can evolve and transform the sector.
The e-Hackathon on Water and Sanitation of Latin America and the Caribbean emerges as an initiative of the Water and Sanitation Division (INE/WSA) and the Knowledge, Innovation, and Communication Sector (KIC) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). With the technical cooperation of cewas, the water and sanitation entrepreneurship center, and Young Water Solutions, the aim is to motivate young entrepreneurs in the region to generate innovative ideas and solutions to the most urgent challenges in water supply, sanitation, and hygiene in informal settlements.
It is a call for projects by public, private and mixed companies providing water and/or sanitation services with challenges that can be solved through the implementation of innovative projects.
If you have an innovative proposal aligned with the alliance's objective to be implemented in one of the 26 member countries of the IDB Group that:
- Provides a solution that presents a clear path to scale and attract more investors interested in joining forces to deploy resources;
- Has a model that makes sustainability possible once the project with the IDB Group is completed.
The evaluation of the proposals will include other guiding principles such as the potential impact, knowledge generation, and demonstrative effect, among others.
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