Silicon Valley is synonymous with innovation—a world-class incubator for ingenuity and bright ideas.
It’s also home to The Tech Awards, an internationally renowned event and program hosted each year by The Tech Museum of Innovation. For the last 15 years, the museum has scanned the globe, searching for those behind the most promising solutions to the world’s biggest problems. These honorees are then brought together in a celebration to recognize the power of technology to benefit humanity. PATH holds the distinction of being the only organization to receive a Tech Award three times.
This year, PATH was chosen for The Tech Award’s most prestigious honor: the Laureate Impact Award. PATH was selected from a collection of exceptional peers as a leader demonstrating significant progress toward solving global problems—successfully and repeatedly shepherding solutions from idea to impact.
A force for change
“PATH is deeply honored to be recognized among organizations advancing technologies with immense potential to benefit humanity,” says Steve Davis, president and CEO of PATH. “By shining a spotlight on the often quiet work of innovation, The Tech Awards are a force for change.”
Over the past 13 years, PATH received The Tech Awards for the Uniject™ injection system in 2003, the vaccine vial monitor in 2007, and Ultra Rice® fortification technology in 2009. We are proud of the entrepreneurial spirit that inspired each of these projects, and how our decades of work in the field nurturing key partnerships allowed us to scale them up quickly for maximum impact.
These prizes offered much more than momentary accolades from like-minded organizations: with each new recognition, PATH gained valuable attention, new supporters, and vital partners.
An award that catalyzes change
For example, Tech Award laureate and former PATH project director Dipika Matthias says the recognition increased Ultra Rice credibility among major stakeholders, leading to wider funding sources. Additional financial backing paved the way for clinical trials in both Africa and Asia, and helped develop markets for fortified rice in Brazil, where 3 million people now consume the product. Fortified rice is made by adding vitamins and minerals to rice flour. The dough is cut into rice-sized kernels, which are then added to traditional rice at a ratio of about 1 kernel to every 100 grains of rice.
Through The Tech Awards program, PATH Ultra Rice project leaders met representatives from the Akshaya Patra Foundation, an India-based nonprofit focused on ending hunger and malnutrition through school feeding. PATH later partnered with this group to bring the fortified rice to one of the largest school lunch programs in India—expected to serve 450,000 schoolchildren in Karnataka State every day by the end of 2016.
Akshaya Patra operates the world’s largest midday meal program run by a nonprofit. A connection through The Tech Awards helped PATH and its partners introduce Ultra Rice into this program.
Partnerships guide our journey
And the momentum continues—with the help of many partners, PATH has increased access to and use of rice fortification technology worldwide. This includes boosting local economies by licensing the technology royalty-free to area producers who manufacture and distribute the enriched product, creating self-sustaining markets for this highly nutritious food.
PATH is working with public and private partners to ensure more families have access to healthy, good tasting fortified rice so their children can reach their full potential. Photo: PATH/Minzayar.
In-country partnerships like these are key to the success of PATH’s Journey of Innovation, and central to our mission. Our power is in our diverse partnerships—with entrepreneurs and village councils, health ministries, and corporations.
PATH leaders are excited to make new connections at The Tech Awards this fall—working together, we can accelerate solutions to the world’s most challenging problems.