The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), a global initiative of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, has invited applications for its ‘Innovation Showcases’ competition.
The contest will give healthcare innovators the chance to demonstrate their work in front of more than 1,000 global health experts and decision-makers at the summit, taking place on November 29-30.
This year, 20 entrants will be chosen to present their projects, providing competitors with a unique opportunity to launch their products and revolutionise the healthcare profession across a range of fields.
In order to be considered, innovators must submit a project that is inventive, transferable and has a potentially global impact. Projects in any field relevant to healthcare innovation are eligible. The competition closes on  May  27. To submit an application, or find out more about the Innovation Showcases competition, candidates should visit http://www.wish-qatar.org/innovation-showcases
The Innovation Showcases competition was first introduced in December 2013 at the inaugural summit, with a dedicated space where delegates could meet promising young innovators and experience their projects first-hand. Since then, the competition has fuelled the success of many competitors, including Erin Stieber, vice president of Strategic Partnerships at Smile Train, who showcased her company’s ‘Virtual Surgery Simulator’ in 2015.
As the first free, open-access, web-based, multilingual, interactive simulation to provide additional training for surgeons in cleft lip and palate surgery, the ‘Virtual Surgery Simulator’ holds special promise for the developing world, where many medical professionals face difficulty accessing training for cleft surgery.
Encouraging other innovators to enter the competition, Steiber said: “The showcase will open new doors for collaboration and unparalleled possibilities for worldwide diffusion of innovative ideas.”
Prof the Lord Darzi, executive chair of WISH and chair of the WISH Innovation Showcases creation team, is part of the competition judging panel.
“In addition to the exciting chance to attend WISH 2016 in Doha, Innovation Showcases competition winners will have a unique opportunity to meet and engage with many of the key global decision-makers in healthcare innovation, policy and delivery,” he said.
“Longer term, acquisition of the status of WISH Innovation Showcase will open new doors for collaboration and unparalleled possibilities for worldwide diffusion of your innovative ideas.”
Egbert Schillings, CEO of WISH, added: “From mobile apps to help you sleep, to entirely new ways of delivering care to highly deprived and rural populations on less than a dollar a day, our past Innovation Showcases have withstood the test of time, and we look forward to having our horizons expanded yet again in 2016.”