Your vote needed for Google Impact Challenge

A CRC-related project with World Vision has been selected as a finalist in the Google Impact Challenge – and your vote can help secure $750,000 to bring fire detection technology to the slums of Asia.

Dr Briony Towers, a CRC researcher at RMIT University, will conduct an independent evaluation of the project as it is rolled out.

Every year, slum fires kill thousands of people and displace many more. World Vision wants to change this with Lumkani, the world’s first and only fire detector designed specifically for slums.

Instead of sensing smoke, the Lumkani device detects a rapid rise in temperature – making it suitable for smoke-filled slums. When a fire is detected, an alarm will sound from all nearby devices, SMS alerts are sent to residents, and GPS coordinates are sent to fire services. All of this allows for a rapid community wide response that saves lives and properties. After trialling the device in South Africa with promising results, this projects is bringing it to the cities of Asia - starting with Dhaka, Bangladesh, home to 3.6 million people living in slums.

The project is a finalist in the Google Impact Challenge. To secure $750,000 to bring it to life, your vote is needed.

As a finalist, it has already won $250,000 in prize money – but if it is one of the final four winners, it will win an additional $500,000. Three of these winners will be selected via a panel of judges – the fourth by public vote.

The Google Impact Challenge supports non-profit innovators using technology to tackle the world's biggest social challenges.
Google is awarding $4.5 million across 10 organisations to help bring their ideas to life. Winners will be announced on 26 October.

Vote NOW for this World Vision project in the Google Impact Challenge.