The Living Progress Challenge Proposal Phase is Complete—and the Winners are:

Visionary. Practical. Audacious. Insightful.

The 20 winners of the Proposal Phase of the Living Progress Challenge are all these things and more. Each of them has the potential to positively impact lives.

Launched in December, 2015, the Living Progress Challenge invited the global community to submit their best ideas for software applications and digital services that can improve lives. We received more than 360 ideas and 130 detailed proposals from around the world.

Choosing our final selection of 20 proposals from such a competitive field was both inspiring and difficult. Every submission showed great promise, yet only 20 will move on to the next phase of this Challenge. After careful consideration by a board of HPE and external reviewers, we made our top picks. Ultimately, five winners will be selected and their solutions built and deployed to positively impact populations in regions around the world.

From providing apps for women’s savings groups, to ensuring that businesses can recover after natural disasters, to improving internet accessibility for the disabled—these winning proposals accelerate opportunity to improve people’s lives around the world. They came from a wide range of organizations including the American Red Cross, Stanford University and the UN World Food Programme.

Stay tuned to this six-part blog series as we take deeper look at each of these innovative concepts.

Throughout the competition, the public was invited to view ideas as they were submitted and vote for their favorite. See the top five ideas ranked by vote here. HPE will also award the first 200 ideas submitted to the Living Progress Challenge with a $25 credit they can donate to a wide range of global charities. In addition, each of the ideas linked to the 20 winning proposals will receive a $1,000 prize.

And now, here is our full list of proposal winners and a brief overview of their proposed solution.  Congratulations to all!

AgriUp - Foursquare for farmers
Submitted by: UN World Food Programme
A smartphone app/website that will provide location-specific information including weather alerts, agricultural advice and nutrition tips.

BirthTrac
Submitted by VaxTrac
A clinic-based tool running on Android devices that will collect basic information and monitor women throughout their pregnancy and delivery.

Civic CrowdAnalytics Analyzing Crowdsourced Civic Input
Submitted by: Stanford University
A tool that will automate the analysis and synthesis of input received through crowdsourcing platforms ensuring that every citizen has an equal opportunity to have their voice heard.

Data to Drops: Improving Access to Safe Water through Technology
Submitted by Global Water Challenge
A tool that analyzes the causes of water point failures in order to enable improved research and policies to keep water flowing.

Dynamic Accessibility Maturity Model
Submitted by: The Business Disability Forum
A web-based tool designed to help businesses address their accessibility and digital requirements.

Educational Pinboard for Teachers and Learners
Submitted by: Open Education Consortium
An easy-to-use tool to allow educators and students around the world to access high-quality, open source educational materials.

Impact Entrepreneurship by Consequential, Continuous Mentorship
Submitted by Endeavor
A web portal that enables successful entrepreneurs to mentor the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Lifestyle Planning for People with Intellectual Disabilities
Submitted by YAI
A software tool to help people with intellectual disabilities identify the type of assistance they need in order to improve personal independence.

Machine Learning Advancements for Impact Social Work
Submitted by: Samasource
A concept to improve work opportunities for marginalized women and youth in impoverished regions.

Making the Internet Accessible to the Disabled
Submitted by: My Blind Spot
A web browser “plug-in” that will allow web designers to develop more accessible websites for the disabled.

Mentor ME
Submitted by: Raul Elizondo and team (HPE employees), Pupilo, Tec Milenio University, and Enrique Diaz de Leon University
A web app to increase access to volunteer mentors for young adults and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of mentorship programs.

MoBy – Social Networks in Maternal Health Service Delivery
Submitted by: Jacaranda Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard School of Public Health
A low-cost, scalable and easily accessible tool to increase adherence to maternal and neonatal care, patient-centeredness and perinatal health outcomes.

Preparing Small and Medium Businesses Using Mobile Technology
Submitted by: Global Disaster Preparedness Center hosted by the American Red Cross
Increasing community preparedness and reducing disaster-caused losses for small and medium businesses around the world by leveraging mobile tools and assessments.

Sharing is Learning—Search, Discover and Remix Open Content
Submitted by: Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education
Mobile apps that will enable educators and learners to discover, remix and share open teaching and learning content on demand.

Sheventures—A Gaming Platform for Women's Advocacy Education
Submitted by: National Democratic Institute
An open, narrative gaming platform designed to teach women and girls to develop real-world advocacy skills to apply in their communities.

Social Volunteer Discovery
Submitted by Points of Light
Enhance the functionalities of the “All for Good” internet platform, enabling more people to find volunteer opportunities.

Tackling Illegal Trade of Fisheries Products with Customs Data
Submitted by: World Wildlife Fund
This solution will identify products moving through global trade routes that are suspected of being illegal.

TalentMark Employer Portal Pilot
Submitted by: Specialisterne
A digital solution to support the employment of people with autism. 

The Class Master Initiative
Submitted by: Herufi Africa Ltd.
A tool that will track school attendance of public nursery and primary school students throughout Kenya and provide insight into the root causes of absenteeism.

WORTH 2.0: Digitizing Community Savings Groups to Build Household and Community Resilience
Submitted by: PACT
A digital financial literacy and savings program for women.

For more detail about each of these proposals, read here and prepare to be inspired.