Press release

The Circle Foundation and XPRIZE Partner to Design an Incentive Competition to Alleviate Fine Dust Pollution

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XPRIZE, the global leader in designing and operating incentive competitions to solve humanity’s grand challenges, is collaborating with The Circle Foundation to begin designing an incentive competition in clean air, focused on improving the global fine dust pollution problem.

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Shay Hershkovitz, XPRIZE head of research, Zenia Tata, XPRIZE chief impact officer, Dr. Cheol-Soo Ahn, founder of The Circle Foundation, Anousheh Ansari, CEO of XPRIZE, Dr. Sung-Ho, Choi, chairman of The Circle Foundation, James Burbridge, XPRIZE lead analyst, Jessica Yoon, XPRIZE assistant project manager, Terry Mulligan, XPRIZE product manager (Photo: Business Wire)

Shay Hershkovitz, XPRIZE head of research, Zenia Tata, XPRIZE chief impact officer, Dr. Cheol-Soo Ahn, founder of The Circle Foundation, Anousheh Ansari, CEO of XPRIZE, Dr. Sung-Ho, Choi, chairman of The Circle Foundation, James Burbridge, XPRIZE lead analyst, Jessica Yoon, XPRIZE assistant project manager, Terry Mulligan, XPRIZE product manager (Photo: Business Wire)

“Air pollution kills around 7 million people worldwide every year. The fine dust problem that poses the greatest risks to health is a very complex phenomenon in which the causative agents generated from various pollutants are gradually amplified. Therefore, a long-term, comprehensive, and systematic approach is required,” said Dr. Cheol-Soo Ahn, founder of The Circle Foundation. “It is a global phenomenon that spreads across borders like air pollution in general. We cannot solve the problem without international cooperation supported by strong incentives. That is why The Circle Foundation has decided to partner with XPRIZE.”

As economies have grown and nations developed, man-made emissions from increased industrial and urban activities have led to an explosion of anthropogenic emissions, especially the fine dust matter. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, an estimated four billion individuals live with hazardous levels of air contamination, most of which live in Asia. While efforts have been made, no one has found a fundamental solution to alleviate fine dust pollution. The competition will be designed to increase international awareness of the problem and to incentivize global innovators to find a solution.

“XPRIZE believes access to clean air is a fundamental human right,” said Zenia Tata, chief impact officer of XPRIZE. “With a proven track record of dealing with some of the toughest problems on our planet, we hope the design of this competition focusing on clean air will harness the power of competition to drive innovation and solutions.”

In order to develop this XPRIZE concept, XPRIZE will begin background research, development of competition rules and operating guidelines. For more information, visit xprize.org.

About XPRIZE

XPRIZE designs and operates multi-million-dollar, global competitions to incentivize the development of technological breakthroughs that accelerate humanity toward a better future. Active competitions include the $20 Million NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, the $10 Million ANA Avatar XPRIZE and the $5 Million IBM Watson AI XPRIZE. For more information, visit xprize.org.

About The Circle Foundation

Founded by Dr. Cheol-Soo Ahn, in 2012, who is a renowned public figure in the Republic of Korea as a medical doctor, entrepreneur, social innovator, and political leader, the Circle Foundation has a mission to help everyone share a fair opportunity to realize their own dreams. Recently, the Circle Foundation has been building a prize platform to promote people to find ultimate solutions to serious problems or challenges that they encounter. For more information, visit thecircle.or.kr/English.