MoITT to financial support new ideas to combat COVID-19

Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom (MoITT), through Ignite – National Technology Fund, has invited entrepreneurs to give marketable ideas to combat COVID-19 outbreak.

MoITT to financial support new ideas to combat COVID-19

The ministry will provide funding support to high-impact and short-time ideas.

The ministry posted, “In light of the urgency and importance of addressing the COVID-19 virus outbreak problems in the world and in the country as well, Ignite is looking forward to provide financial support to high-impact and short time-to-market ideas that can be programmed to tackle the most pressing challenges by COVID-19 outbreak.”

Applications are expected from legitimate registered local participants including manufacturing companies, research groups from academia, Research and Development (R&D) based industrial setup, startups and other relevant organizations. All COVID-19- related proposals would be processed on priority basis.

Focus areas outlined in Ignite’s call to application are:

  1. Point-of-care diagnostic
  2. Monitor and control
  3. Prophylactics and therapeutics
  4. Electromedical equipment
  5. Personal Protective Equipment
  6. Predictive modeling using AI
  7. Innovation in industrial raw materials
  8. Developing production processes/methods
  9. Innovation for production line automation
  10. Solutions to monitor food/ration supplies
  11. Awareness and understanding COVID-19

 The application form further explains that development grants will be awarded for high-level and promising ICT-related development projects by individuals or groups from academia or industry actively involved in the development of such products individually or combined.

These projects should be based on either a universally known technology or a new technology developed by the applicant and should be targeted at achieving economically viable systems, products, or processes beneficial to the nation.

The grant will cover the honoraria of the Project Director and Project Managers, salaries of professional developers at market rate, stipends for student assistants, and supporting staff.

It will also cover travel(s) within and outside the country for project-related activities. The grant may be used to purchase very specific unavoidable equipment kept to the bare minimum, consumable materials, and other items needed for the project.