Global Environmental Monitoring network by uRADMonitor

Please find below the judging results for your proposal.

Finalist Evaluation

Judges'' comments

I'm impressed by the progress made so far to develop and deploy the technology. It seems to me that air quality measurements are already happening in major cities and other places. It is necessary to better measure and monitor air quality in other parts of the globe and in many different communities, both rich and poor, developed and developing, but it is unclear how using these products will create solutions for areas that don't have the resources to even measure their air quality now. I'm confused as to the target audience for this technology as well. Why would joggers or bikers be monitoring the air quality of their cities and how would they use that information to affect change in their communities? What is the motivation for them to buy and wear these monitors, unless they are part of an environmental study to help collect data as individuals -- and in that situation, I would expect they would be financially compensated for wearing these items and helping collect data for cities and governments to use. It makes sense that researchers, universities and governments would use this to measure and monitor their air quality, but this proposal doesn't really explore how this is different than how these communities are already doing this, or how it could help scale those efforts in other parts of the world - let alone how this data collection would translate into behavioral change ultimately leading to reductions in pollution.

Pollution monitoring through the uRADMonitor has the potential to raise awareness, but the proposal would benefit from an increased focus on specific geographic areas to pilot the effort.

Semi-Finalist Evaluation

Judges'' ratings

•	Novelty:
•	Feasibility:
•	Impact:
•	Presentation:

Judges'' comments

The Judges appreciated the effort at translating science jargon in understandable language for the public. They felt this ethos could further be translated to the application itself. The YouTube, for instance, is nicely done, but it is still quite technical for a consumer to grasp easily. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS3n2fAaGXI

While there is a need for air monitoring to track pollution, particularly in frontline communities, the proposal lacks information on public engagement and details on how the tool will be deployed and used by participants.

The Judges suggested additional proofreading and editing would be helpful. (E.g. grammar and spelling: “Pollution kills, the same way like wars, accidents or terrorism. Deploying IOT devices for automated monitoring will increase awereness.”

The Judges felt increased attention could be paid to the geographic scope of the focus.

They also felt the impact section could be made more positive.

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Radu Motisan

Nov 2, 2017
04:24

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Proposal
creator

Thank you for the excellent feedback! We appreciate it as one of the key resources for the uRADMonitor development during the past 2 years. Maybe it's collaborative intelligence (we didn't use this term before), what's certain is that valuable input coming from people all around the world impacted the hardware (what sensors we put in the units, if they had wifi or not, various new exciting features) and the entire infrastructure (the way we show data and how we make serve us). This is expected, as together we sum up more ideas and resources. Congratulations on working to take the best out of this!

Addressing the Judges evaluation comments, following are the judges comments and the summary of edits made to the Global Environmental Monitoring network proposal.

"The Judges appreciated the effort at translating science jargon in understandable language for the public. They felt this ethos could further be translated to the application itself. The YouTube, for instance, is nicely done, but it is still quite technical for a consumer to grasp easily. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS3n2fAaGXI "

Added a better definition of what this project is. Part of the challenge was related to the scale of the project itself, being stretched from hardware, to data and then finally to real-life applications, all at a global scale. For this the Summary section was divided in bold-titled chapters, to structure the presentation better. Also the "What actions do you propose" was edited to add more information on our work so far, and the way it can impact pollution awareness to ultimately impact attitudes & behaviours in regards to climate change.
"who will take these actions" was also edited in regards to the above.
two additional demo videos were added to the summary (youtube links)

While there is a need for air monitoring to track pollution, particularly in frontline communities, the proposal lacks information on public engagement and details on how the tool will be deployed and used by participants.

Discussion of the global network of participants deploying URADMonitors in their communities strengthened.
Added to the Who will take these actions section the three categories of key players to support the effects of this proposal.
Added to the Where will these actions be taken: "Ideally, URADMonitor units will be deployed in regions with the worst pollution so that greater and focused attention on pollution issues can be realized so work on solutions with governments and industries can commence."
"What actions do you propose", now has a clear structure indicating 4 major directions that we need to address in order to reach the proposed goal.

The Judges suggested additional proofreading and editing would be helpful. (E.g. grammar and spelling: “Pollution kills, the same way like wars, accidents or terrorism. Deploying IOT devices for automated monitoring will increase awereness.”

Grammatical edits made throughout the proposal as needed.

The Judges felt increased attention could be paid to the geographic scope of the focus.

URADMonitor is currently a global project, though greater attention can be paid to locations exhibiting greatest need, hence, added to Where will these actions be taken section is: "Ideally, URADMonitor units will be deployed in regions with the worst pollution so that greater and focused attention on pollution issues can be realized so work on solutions with governments and industries can commence."
Under "Where will these actions be taken", more details were added in regards to Judges suggestion.

They also felt the impact section could be made more positive.

The What impact section edited to evidence a forward thinking presentation (in Bold): The purpose of uRADMonitor is to influence mitigation. It is impossible to calculate the impact in numbers due to unavailable data. "That said, when people have information (data) they are empowered to make decisions to correct situations, such as high levels of pollution.

For example, if China's heavily polluted cities had networks of URADMonitor units online, more people could make the cognitive connection between economic activity and air quality. It is hoped that with such a system in place, governments would be motivated to make different land use decisions leading to higher quality air and water so that people can experience healthier lives."