Deadline: June 16, 2024
Nominations are open for the Zero Project Award 2025. The Zero Project calls on innovative, impactful, and scalable solutions from around the world to submit their nominations for a Zero Project Award. Becoming a Zero Project Awardee opens doors, opportunities, and promotional channels with the support of the global Zero Project Network of more than 10,000+ experts and through exclusive initiatives to advance innovations for disability inclusion.
#ZeroCall25 is centered around the topics of Employment and ICT. The Zero Project encourages nominations from all countries and all sectors of society – policy makers, startups, academia, civil society, businesses – and especially, those relating to multiple or severe disabilities, humanitarian action, gender equality, the arts, sexual orientation, psychosocial disabilities, or other multiple disadvantaged groups.
Benefits
- Each Awardee is invited to showcase their solution at #ZeroCon25, hosted on the grounds at the United Nations Office in Vienna, Austria. The Zero Project Conference has become a unique global meeting place to innovate for disability inclusion.
- Zero Project Network: Awardees receive access to the global Zero Project Network of 10,000+ experts, which includes leading organizations, such as the United Nations, international organizations, governments, multinational corporations, international funding agencies, foundations, and globally active non-government organizations.
- Zero Project Report: Each Awardee is incorporated into the Zero Project publication line, which consists of respective annual reports, sector reports, and other publications.
- Zero Project Database: Each Awardee is incorporated into the Zero Project Database, which is a public utility to search through 800+ innovative solutions and connect with innovators.
- Zero Project Scaling Solutions: A programme designed to support innovators in transferring and advancing solutions in new countries or regions. It’s a joint initiative by the Essl Foundation, Fundación Descúbreme, GIZ, Atos, and Inclusive Creation.
- Zero Project Technology Forum: An exclusive event set up specifically to support the rapid scaling of proven disability innovation solutions, by matching innovators with potential partners and investors. A joint initiative with Unicredit Bank Austria, Google, Microsoft, and The Seneca Trust.
- Regional partners: Through its strategic regional partnerships with Fundación Descúbreme for Latin America, Youth4Jobs and Enable India for India, and SG Enable in Singapore, the Zero Project supports innovation processes and builds bridges between the global disability inclusion community and innovators from these respective world regions.
Eligibility
- Open to innovative solutions from all countries and all sectors of society.
- The #ZeroCall25 research topics are Employment and ICT. Nominations must be submitted for one of these two topics.
- Nominations that work primarily in the fields of education, independent living & political participation or general accessibility will not be considered as part of #ZeroCall25.
Selection Criteria
The #ZeroCall25 selection process is centered around three main criteria: Innovation, Impact, and Scalability:
- Innovation: The nominated solution will have demonstrated to be innovative and effective in removing barriers for persons with disabilties. The research takes into account the local context, geographies, and groups of beneficiaries.
- Impact: The impact of a particular solution could refer to the number of beneficiaries or people using a service, the solution’s growth rate, or the influence on improved public services, among others. Any selected solution must have been deployed and have already had an impact; the selection process does not consider projects or products at a concept stage.
- Scalability: All nominations are reviewed for their potential in replicating and expanding to new geographies or growing in another way that allows a maximum number of persons with disabilities to benefit from the innovation. Among the 800+ solutions that have been awarded since 2013, scalability has been indeed multifaceted, ranging from open-source applications to the replication of effective policies, to the expansion of inclusive start-up solutions to new countries.
Nomination
The nomination form will take around two hours to complete. To preview the type of questions that are part of the nomination form, see here. The form is available in a number of languages: English, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Russian.
For more information, visit Zero Project.
