Onikepe Adegbola, MD PhD, CEO of Aas Inc: “We are proud and grateful to the Nominet Trust for recognizing our work.”
Halethorpe, MD (PRWEB) December 15, 2015
• Aas, Inc, a pioneer in portable PCR diagnostics, has been recognised by this year’s NT100, which celebrates projects using digital technology to tackle some of the most pressing global challenges of 2015
- Social innovators around the world are using a vast array of tech for good, from humanitarian drones to 3D-printing, and geo-location to social media
- At Aas we understand the amazing potential that PCR and other molecular diagnostic techniques have in global health. We also understand that those who need it the most are very often furthest from its reach. Our PCR devices and diagnostic assays are built to reach every corner of the world, democratizing PCR and other molecular diagnostic techniques for everyone.
Today, Nominet Trust, the UK’s leading tech for good funder, has announced that Aas, Inc has been named among the 2015 Nominet Trust 100 (NT100) – a global celebration of the 100 most inspiring uses of digital technology for social good.
Projects featured in the NT100 are using technology to tackle some of the world’s biggest social problems including support for refugees in Europe, healthcare, social inclusion and our emergency response to natural disasters.
Following a global call for nominations earlier this year Aas, Inc, a Maryland Biotechnology company, was selected by ten leading judging partners from the tech and charity world in recognition of our work. Aas is developing PCR enabled portable, easy to use, point of care diagnostics for global health.
Commenting on their inclusion in the NT100, Onikepe Adegbola, MD PhD, CEO of Aas Inc, added: “The goal of Aas is to provide solutions to global health problems. We are presently developing portable diagnostics using PCR to enable disease diagnosis not only in high technology settings, but also at the point of care in all settings globally. We are proud and grateful to the Nominet Trust for recognizing our work.”
This year, Aas, Inc is rubbing shoulders with familiar names such as Google X’s Project Loon, which aims to deliver the Internet to developing countries via large air balloons and Wayfindr, a project led by UK charity, the Royal London Society for Blind People (RLSB), which allows visually impaired people to navigate via an audio smartphone app. The list also features lesser-known ventures such as Kgolagano, which utilises TV white space to provide medical care to rural areas of Botswana remotely, and Humanitarian Open Street Maps Team, which harnesses the power of the crowd to build maps for emergency aid workers, for example during the West Africa Ebola outbreak.
Participation in the ‘tech for good’ movement continues to rise and the 2015 selection illustrates important long-term developments ranging from the bioprinting of human tissue models to eDemocracy platforms. It also features responses to more recent current affairs that have dominated news headlines, such as the huge influx of migrants to Europe.
Vicki Hearn, Director of Nominet Trust, said, “Remarkable people all over the world are embracing technology to combat some of the most pressing social challenges we face today. This year in particular, the resourcefulness of organisations helping those in urgent need is hugely inspirational. Initiatives supporting the communities devastated by the Ebola outbreak and the Nepal earthquake are powerful examples of how imaginative use of digital technology can enable us to respond swiftly to rapidly evolving crises. Increasing accessibility to technology is helping foster communities of social tech entrepreneurs worldwide, who are transforming healthcare, access to education, sustainability and civic empowerment. The NT100 seeks to highlight these pioneers, so that others may be encouraged to follow in their footsteps.”
The 2015 NT100 was compiled from a combination of over 500 public nominations and in-house research to produce a shortlist of 150 projects. This shortlist was presented to our judging partners of ten tech and charity organisations, who selected the final 2015 NT100. Representatives from Big Lottery Fund, Comic Relief, Creative England, Facebook, Latimer Group, Nominet, O2 Telefonica, Oxfam, Salesforce and Society Guardian all took part in the selection process.
Information about all of the projects is hosted on the Social Tech Guide (socialtech.org.uk), the world’s largest interactive index of tech for good, which now has almost 1,300 ventures in its database.
Follow the action @socialtechguide / #2015NT100.
admin(at)aasinc(dot)co
1-202-697-9755
1450 South Rolling Road
Halethorpe, MD 21227
For further information on the NT100 or Nominet Trust please contact:
Ellie Hale/Charlie Hamilton at
Albion Drive on behalf of Nominet Trust
Ellie(dot)hale(at)albiondrive(dot)com/charlie(dot)hamilton(at)albiondrive(dot)com
+44(0)20 7033 8914/+44(0)20 7033 8919