A Singapore-based organisation, EcoWorth Tech, and the Simson Center from the United States have been announced as winners of the 2021 SAFE STEPS Disaster Tech Awards. The Awards, organised by the Prudence Foundation and the International Federation of Red Cross, recognise the essential role that technology plays in protecting and saving lives before, during, and after natural disaster events.

The innovative oil spill recovery programme and dam water level monitoring solutions have each received a $75,000 grant to help save lives from natural disasters.

The Prudence Foundation has been focusing on disaster preparedness and relief for a decade, according to its Chairman, Donald Kanak.

According to Natasha Rynjah, Product Manager of Capital Mobilisation at AVPN, someone living in the Asia Pacific region is five times more likely to suffer from disasters than anywhere else in the world.

The ruin from disaster events in the region is catastrophic: over 500,000 lives have been lost and 1.4 billion people affected since 2005. The economic toll is also high: there have been some $900 billion in economic losses from natural disasters during the same period.

The Disaster Tech awards seek to highlight and strengthen disaster response in the region.

‘The Awards are a natural extension of our work to help communities recover from natural disasters through scalable, preventative technology solutions that can protect and save lives. We believe D-Tech should be front of mind for innovators, venture capitalists and businesses. The Awards serve as a platform to bring their knowledge, capabilities and investments to support D-Tech innovation and make the world a safer place,’ said Kanak.