LocationsThe UNDP Global Centre, Singapore, and the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) hosted the Open Innovation Platform Challenge for the Low-Cost Hyperlocal Air Quality Monitoring Toolkit on the Infocomm and Media Development Authority (IMDA) Pixel platform here from August to September 2024. Sensor companies, universities, and research institutes globally were invited to apply. The winner of this challenge will receive SGD50,000 of prize money, access to IMDA’s PIXEL corporate innovation hub and complimentary innovation consultancies (e.g. Design Thinking, Digital Storytelling) for the development of the prototype. They will also be able to co-innovate with UNDP, MSE, and subject matter experts in developing the solution, with the potential to scale the successful solution for deployment in cities worldwide. The challenge brief can be found here.
Snapshot of the Innovation Challenge on the IMDA website
As part of the challenge, the UNDP Global Centre is looking to develop a low-cost air quality monitoring toolkit that should act as a comprehensive Do-It-Yourself (DIY) package.
The sensors should also be able to be automatically and remotely calibrated and updated with and without a reference monitor to enable easy deployment and maintenance. The features of the toolkit should be designed with the aim of enabling cities with limited resources and technical knowledge to independently set up their own low-cost air quality monitoring networks.
Through providing the solution at an affordable cost, UNDP aims to increase access to hyperlocal air quality data, build local capabilities in air quality monitoring, and raise awareness about the impact of air pollution to support informed decision-making and implementation of targeted interventions.
| Airgradient has been awarded the winner of this Innovation Challenge and was chosen as their proposal aligned most with UNDP’s vision, and their sensors are low-cost, sustainable and most importantly open-source, which will allow scientists, air quality practitioners, and communities to further improve and build upon the sensors. |
What’s Next?
- UNDP Singapore will be working with Airgradient to further improve and develop the guidance documents for the Low-Cost Hyperlocal Air Quality Monitoring Toolkit.
- UNDP Singapore will be working together with Airgradient and UNDP Vietnam to deploy the Low-Cost Hyperlocal Air Quality Monitoring Toolkit in a pilot trial in a city in Vietnam.
- If the pilot trial is successful, there is a possibility of scaling up its implementation in other cities especially in secondary and tertiary cities, allowing communities to self-monitor hyperlocal air quality even without prior technical expertise.
