Socially responsible plans triumph at InnoMax Awards

"The ability of innovation lies in everyone, is for everybody, and is present everywhere," said Károly Balázs Solymár, deputy state secretary for infocommunications, at the award ceremony, according to a press release sent to the Budapest Business Journal. "It improves the everyday life of small communities, while transforming large industries as well. Its importance is increasingly emphasized by the ever-increasing quality of the applications received for the InnoMax Awards every year. Just as this yearʼs applicants, we at the government also consider it important to implement all developments in a sustainable way."

There were a large number of entries in the sustainability, education, health, and equal opportunities categories as well. Invitech, in addition to professional consultation, also provides financial support to the winners.

"With the help of infocommunication, non-profit organizations can develop better," said Csaba Bőthe, director of marketing and business grants at Invitech. "Perhaps this is the reason why more and more creative and technically better applications are coming in. Their realization meets real social needs and creates great value. We want to provide professional and financial support for this."

Summarizing the experience of this yearʼs application process, Bőthe said that InnoMax has now found its true place, and NGOs with important social goals consider it a serious opportunity.

Innovative winners

This year, the project, organized with the professional collaboration of the Effekteam Association, received innovative ideas from a wide variety of fields. The jury announced five winners.

The Pro Ludovico Foundation has won support for the expansion of the so-called laser cave of the Nagy Lajos Secondary School of the Cistercian Order in Pécs, where development is realized on the basis of their own ideas in cooperation between students and teachers. The goal is to build and program an animated laser projector. This application also won the audience vote, earning more than one-third of nearly 5,000 votes.

Another of the winning applications was the plan of the Emberség Erejével Foundation (With the Power of Humanity Foundation) for a mobile app version of the board game named "MiEGYmás." The aim of the project is to spread the educational game which teaches social responsibility, solidarity and education.

The Jobbulást! Foundation also emerged as a winner, focusing on improving healthcare conditions, increasing the efficiency and patient-centredness of the healthcare system, aiming to create an online platform where patients can share their experiences in individual healthcare institutions, and helping those involved to receive credible information.

The goal of the Felelős Gasztrohős Foundation is to raise awareness of environmentally conscious eating as widely as possible. Through the application, restaurants can be evaluated, for example, in terms of awareness of the use of local ingredients, while even public drinking fountains can also be marked on a map.

The Nem Adjuk Fel Social Association intends to carry out an infocommunication development in restaurants employing disabled people, which will make the work of its employees and thus their social integration easier.

At the ceremony, Invitech announced that it would launch a new category for small settlements called "Okostelepülés," in cooperation with the National Association of Local Authorities under InnoMax. With the award and the accompanying support, Invitech aims to promote the digital convergence of the local population who have less access to modern solutions and to help the rise of local communities.