以暖意為光，照亮友邦

Light the way with tenderness and warmth for our diplomatic allies!

Introduction to Impact Frontier Lab

The International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) initiated the “2021 Development x Innovation x Sustainable Competition – Impact Frontier Lab (IF Lab)” to increase the scope of Taiwan’s official development assistance (ODA) and to support our diplomatic allies in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. With this aim in mind, we invited Taiwan’s enterprises and civil society organizations (CSOs) to brainstorm and to participate in Taiwan’s international aid efforts using their innovative technologies and services together.

This year, the TaiwanICDF has recruited impact “pioneers”, through the IF Lab, to focus on the developmental needs of Taiwan’s allied countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, including economic development, climate change, women’s empowerment, and capacity building. We have asked the participants to apply their products and expertise to propose feasible business models, and we will provide professional training, co-creation sessions, and peer-learning to incubate their creativity and facilitate more enterprises and organizations with the potential to provide development and aid to the corners of the world. Their innovative solutions will take root in Taiwan’s allied countries and showcase Taiwan’s efforts and impact on the world.

News

2022-12-22  2021 Impact Frontier Lab Final Presentation will be held on January 14, 2023. Do you want to know the results of the pioneer team’s action? Please click on the event registration link: www.accupass.com/go/iflabexhibition

2022-3-5  The Impact Frontier Lab Program Demo Day ended successfully today! Congratulations to Hyweb Global Technology, DOMI Earth, and Just Go Enterprise for being selected as the PIONEERS!! Also, cheers for Agriforward, who won the special judge’s prize! The four finalists above will implement their programs in our allied countries in Latin America and the Caribbean! You can watch the live stream of the Demo Day HERE.

2022-2-26  Now, you can also make an impact by VOTING FOR THE TEAM!! Before the last team’s presentation on our Demo Day, you can vote for your favorite team and help them win the pioneer prize! Click this LINK to support the most innovative and potential program!

2022-2-16  We welcome you to join the Demo Day now! The event will be held at the Creative Forum of Taiwan Design Research Institute from 13:30 to 18:30 on March 5th. Besides the final pitch, we will also have an exhibition of 10 teams’ projects. You can know about our social innovation programs by these 2 different ways! Click THIS LINK to sign up now!!

2022-2-09  Acceleration Lab- 6th Training Session: This session included two courses, one was focusing on climate change and its business opportunities to  discuss the resilience of business model to climate change, and the other was on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) development and its business opportunities to find the solution to their financial difficulties.

2022-1-26  Acceleration Lab- 5th Training Session: This session included two courses, one was focusing on smart agriculture and its business opportunities to emphasize importance of easy interaction with local farmers, and the other was on communication skills for international aid to stress the needs of satisfaction among multi-stakeholders. 

2022-1-19  Acceleration Lab- 4th Training Session: We invited Dr. Ko, an expert in the Social Value Associate on Social Resource on Investment (SROI) from Ocean Affairs Council, to assist participants in anticipation of the correlation between the investments and impacts through reviewing their proposals.

2022-1-12  Acceleration Lab- 3rd Training Session:  We invited Professor Huang from National Chengchi University to share how to build sustainable business models through a case study. Besides, we also invited representatives from Microsoft Taiwan and Cathay General Hospital to share their experiences in digitalization and business opportunities. To encourage and provide their insights on international aid to the participants, the Deputy Secretary-General Alex Shy of the TaiwanICDF joined the workshop and advised each team.

2022-1-5  Acceleration Lab- 2nd Training Session: We invited counselor H.F. Chen from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to share the concept of bilateral cooperation and development. Also, we invited the chief strategy officer, Calvin Lai, from National Taiwan University to give us a workshop in design thinking.

2021-12-22  Acceleration Lab- 1st Training Session: We have the Secretary General from TaiwanICDF, Timothy T. Y. Hsiang, to share the experience and strategy on Public-Private-People Partnership of TaiwanICDF in today’s session. In addition, W. Chou, the vice counselor from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs talked about her experience of participating in promoting innovation in Silicon Valley. She encouraged the teams to connect with international innovation development, let the world see Taiwan! Please check what we have learned today!

2021-12-6  We officially announced the result of the first phase competition on the TaiwanICDF website! Congratulations to the ten finalists!!

2021-11-23 The first phase competition of the Impact Frontier Lab will be held on Dec. 1st.

2021-10-26  Impact Frontier Lab Launch Press: “The 2021 Development x Innovation x Sustainable Acceleration Program – Impact Frontier Lab” has officially launched!!

Sustainable Economic Development

Pursuing an inclusive and sustainable economy with innovative technologies, products, and services for vulnerable groups, including women, indigenous people, and citizens living in rural areas.

Technologies in Education

Improving educational accessibility and coverage through innovative technologies.

Climate Change and Sustainable Environment

Building resilient cities and responsive capacity to climate change to benefit economic development while building a sustainable environment.

Agriculture and Rural Development

Increasing the productivity of agriculture to improve farmers’ livelihoods, and enhancing agro-processing techniques to boost the local agriculture industry.

Any enterprises, civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations (those with international experience are preferred) that have been officially registered for more than 2 years are qualified to join the competition.

The applicant must have the ability to operate and raise funds independently and must be able to match the funds provided by the award with their own investment.

The applicant must have team members who are dedicated and able to implement an innovative project in our allied countries.

The products, technologies, or services designed in the program are supposed to be innovative.

DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION

• October 18, 2021 to November 12, 2021 23:59 (Taipei: GMT+08:00)


Application Process

First Step: 

Please fill in the online application form (https://www.surveycake.com/s/2wBq4). 

Second Step: 

Upon receiving your application, the organizer (TaiwanICDF) will send you a confirmation letter with a link to upload the abstract of your proposal.

Third Step:

To complete the application process, please upload your proposal as a PDF file before 23:59, November 12th, 2021 (Taipei Time, UTC+8).

Proposal Format

  • The proposal shall have: a horizontal 16:9 ratio, be less than 20 pages long, and the font size must be bigger than 16pt.
  • Upon submission, please convert your PPT into a PDF file and change the file name to “YOUR ORGANIZATION_Proposal” (E.g. TaiwanICDF_Proposal)

Proposal Content

  • Please explain the core issues and difficulties in Taiwan’s allied countries that you plan to solve.
  • Please explain the innovative techniques, products and services you plan to employ in our allied countries.
  • Please promote your sustainable business model.
  • Please explain the short-term, mid-term, and long-term plans of your project.
  • Please predict the impacts of your project.
  • Please estimate the budget of your project, including fees for personnel, transportation, administrative and equipment costs.

Evaluation Criteria for first phase of the competition

  • Innovation 25%: Does the proposal include new insights and propose innovative solutions? Does the proposal utilize innovative products, technologies and/or services?

  • Effectiveness 25%: Can the proposal solve the core challenges of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies? What are the short-term, mid-term and long-term impacts of the project?

  • Efficiency 25%: Does the organization have the capacity to implement the project? Is its budget reasonable?

  • Practicability 25%: Does the proposal have a sustainable business model? Does the organization have a reliable financial source or any previous successful practice?

Evaluation Criteria-06

Competition Phase 1 Evaluation Process

  • Phase 1 will select 10 teams to join the acceleration stage, participate in several training workshops, and co-design meetings to modify their proposals.
  • The organizer will invite business professionals, scholars, and experts to review the proposals by an evaluation process consisting of two phases: “Application Document Review” and “Oral Presentation”.
  • The organizer will regard punctuality and the completion of the application as its first priority. Those who fail to submit all the required documents will not be evaluated.

Phase 1

  • Step 1: Review of Application Documents. The organizer will review the applicant’s qualifications. Those who pass the first stage of evaluation will receive a notification email on November 23rd with detailed information for the oral presentation.
  • Step 2: Oral Presentation. The oral presentation will be held on December 1st. Representatives from each organization will have to present their idea in Chinese with the proposal they submitted during the application period. The total time for each organization will be 15 minutes, including an 8-minute presentation and a 7-minute Q&A session. Presentation location, time, and other details will be announced in the notification email.
  • Admissions Announcement: The admissions list will be announced on both the Impact Frontier Lab official website and the TaiwanICDF Facebook page.

Copyright © Impact Frontier Lab. All rights reserved. Made with ❤️ by Impact Hub Taipei and Panay Plan.

Agriculture and Rural Development

  1. Honduras: There is a huge gap between urban and rural areas in Honduras. Importing agricultural machinery to enhance agro-business efficiency and developing agro-products (such as avocado derivatives) and their markets are necessary for Honduras. In addition, Taiwanese enterprises and organizations have the potential to assist the rural economy by promoting the traditional and unique culture of Honduras, due to its indigenous culture, textiles, and pottery, which are attractive to international tourists.

  2. Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis: The tourism industry is a keystone of the national development vision of St. Christopher and Nevis. However, tourism to the country is still underdeveloped. Taiwan has had a successful experience applying the cultural and creative industries to tourism over many years. Taiwanese enterprises are able to apply Taiwanese models to improve the processing techniques for agro-products and create brands with local features. In addition, they could also assist SMEs with the provision of loans or technologies.

Climate Change and Sustainable Environment

  1. Haiti: Charcoal is Haiti’s primary fuel, but the process of charcoal production continues to damage the forests. Even while the country’s forest coverage rate has fallen to 5%, Haitian’s still choose charcoal, causing significantly greater environmental damage, rather than using the higher-priced gas fuel. Rice is the main food crop in Haiti, and converting rice straw into biofuel is practical and has long been studied in Taiwan. It would be a remarkable and breakthrough if the techniques of converting rice straw into biomass fuels could be applied in Haiti.

  2. Belize: Since many rural villages in Belize are far away from the main water pipelines, local water corporations are unable to extend their services to those places. However, according to the Belize National Weather Service, rainfall from June to November in Belize is enough to cover local use if a rainwater storage system is constructed in rural villages. The TaiwanICDF hopes Taiwanese enterprises and organizations can combine local infrastructure and water purification systems to improve the accessibility of clean water resources in Belize.

Technologies in Education

  1. Saint Lucia: The TaiwanICDF is cooperating with the government of Saint Lucia on the Project for ICT in Education. However, the local primary and secondary schools as well as public libraries lack digital libraries and managerial systems, slowing the development of digital education and e-learning. Moreover, students’ written and artistic works are not effectively preserved or shared, an obstacle to the effective accumulation of experience and learning. There is a need for businesses and CSOs to find innovative solutions to these weaknesses.

  2. Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis: The Saint Kitts and Nevis government is putting more emphasis on educational technology resources for local elementary and middle schools and is focusing especially on mathematics and applied science. By promoting informatization and digitalization, and equipping them with educational technologies and resources, the TaiwanICDF expects to help more students align with global trends and widen their horizons.

Sustainable Economic Development

  1. Guatemala: Guatemala is known for its coffee, which is one of the major sources of the country’s economic development. As such, it is important to develop new approaches to post-harvest treatment and processing and to invest in the development of new coffee bean-related products to reduce waste from the production process. Sugarcane and maize are also important crops for Guatemala’s economy. Therefore, besides improving agricultural production and processing capabilities, strengthening the green economy and improved waste management are also necessary. Herein lies an opportunity for Taiwanese enterprises and organizations to invest in innovative technologies and practices that turn coffee grounds, bagasse, and corn grounds into gold.

  2. Guatemala: In Guatemala, indigenous women suffer from gender and racial inequality in work opportunities and wages. The Taiwanese enterprises and organizations could develop assistance in integrating community resources and lowering the barriers for women entrepreneurs with the provision of various gender-friendly business opportunities.

  3. Paraguay: In response to COVID-19, Paraguay is improving digitalization among its industries. The TaiwanICDF has launched the Project to Strengthen Capacity to Support Development of MSMEs in Paraguay, in order to expand and accelerate the growth of the fashion industry and its development. The TaiwanICDF encourages Taiwanese enterprises and organizations to bring over more digital resources and virtual tools, such as virtual fitting rooms and other marketing tools for a better online consumer experience.

鄉村與農業發展永續

  1. 宏都拉斯（Honduras）：宏都拉斯的城鄉差距大，有導入小型農機增加農業經營效率、開發農產加工品(酪梨)及其市場的需求；另外當地原住民文化、織布、陶器更是觀光賣點，如何結合傳統特色發展鄉村產業，均可作為我國企業投入契機。
  2. 聖克里斯多福及尼維斯（Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis）：觀光產業是聖克里斯多福及尼維斯的國家發展願景，但當地觀光特色開發不足，臺灣觀光文創產業經營多年，企業除可運用臺灣經驗，協助強化當地農產加工技術及推動品牌特色外，亦可提供微中小企業貸款，或運用數位科技強化產業體質。

氣候變遷與環境永續

  1. 海地（Haiti）：海地當地天然資源以木炭為主要燃料，但木炭產製過程不斷造成森林消失，而在海地的森林覆蓋率僅剩5%時，當地又因瓦斯燃料進口費用高，致使一般民眾無法負擔，持續造成當地環境破壞。而稻米是海地主要糧食作物，稻稈變燃料在台灣早已不是新聞，如何導入生質燃料的綠金新商機對海地將是一大福音與突破。
  2. 貝里斯（Belize）：許多貝里斯偏遠鄉村因遠離主要自來水管線，且當地自來水公司無法延伸服務範圍至偏遠地區。根據貝里斯國家氣象局的平均降雨量數據顯示6-11月有充足的降雨，應可發展雨水儲集系統解決部分供水需求，期待國內企業結合基礎設備建置，引進有效淨水過濾設備，協助改善當地水資源現況。

科技教育永續

  1. 聖露西亞（Saint Lucia）：國合會與聖露西亞共同執行「資訊科技融入教學發展計畫」，但當地中小學及公共圖書館仍缺乏數位圖書館和歸檔的電子化系統，導致在數位科技教育領域的步調緩慢，同時學生過往的書面與藝術作品缺乏有效保存與分享方式，經驗不易累積與學習，需要企業與公民團體投入創新解決方案。
  2. 聖克里斯多福及尼維斯（Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis）：聖克里斯多福及尼維斯當地中小學科技資源逐漸受到重視，特別在數學及科學領域的科技運用，希望透過資訊化及數位化，引進科技教學設備與資源，並協助更多學員接軌國際，打開更多科技教育的視野。

經濟發展永續

  1. 瓜地馬拉（Guatemala）：的咖啡世界聞名，也是瓜國重要經濟來源，因此亟需導入採收後處理及加工處理新做法，以及投入帶豆仁咖啡豆新產品開發，以減少製程中廢棄物的產生；但不僅是咖啡，甘蔗及玉米也是當地重要經濟作物，因此除需加強農業生產與加工能力外，綠色經濟及廢棄物處理更是創新需求所在，如何將咖啡渣、蔗渣、玉米渣變黃金，都有賴臺灣企業夥伴投入創新技術與做法。
  2. 瓜地馬拉（Guatemala）：受到種族與性別限制，瓜地馬拉原住民婦女無法於經濟活動中得到公平的機會與待遇，因此我國團隊可協助整合社區資源，降低婦女創業家進駐成為育成廠商之障礙，提供婦女創業家多元且友善之創業機會。
  3. 巴拉圭（Paraguay）：因應新冠疫情，巴拉圭正全面提升產業數位化，國合會在當地推動微中小企業輔導體系能力建構計畫，協助時尚產業發展，為擴大與加速產業成長，建議我國企業夥伴可研擬導入數位試衣與其他可增加線上銷售體驗之工具，也期待未來有更多數位資源導入。