the biannual INDEX: award aims to recognize and communicate projects where design has been used as a tool to help address our world’s biggest challenges. with an over-arching theme of ‘design to improve life’, the award has become the world’s most important in the field, often being referred to as the ‘nobel prize of design’. first started in 2005, it has received over 6100 nominations from more than 100 countries.

the INDEX: award is split into five categories: body, home, work, play & learning, and community, with each winner receiving a prize of €100,000. each category calls for entries within very different creative fields, but are all united by the underlying goal of design being used to solve issues of global and local societies. all winners and finalists are selected by the international INDEX: award jury – consisting of 11 influential men and women from around the world – who refer to the three criteria of form, impact and context.

at an event in elsinore, denmark, earlier this evening, the 2017 INDEX: award category winners were announced:

INDEX: award 2017, BODY category winner – zipline

INDEX: award 2017, HOME category winner – what3words

INDEX: award 2017, WORK category winner – greenwave

INDEX: award 2017, PLAY & LEARNING category winner – paperfuge

INDEX: award 2017, COMMUNITY category winner – ethereum



INDEX: award 2017, BODY category winner – zipline

image courtesy of zipline

as the winner of the 2017 INDEX: award BODY category, ‘zipline’ tackles the difficulty of transporting medical supplies to emergency situations, especially in developing countries. as first previewed on designboom when set up in rwanda in 2016 and then for tanzania in early 2018, it is the world’s first commercial medical drone delivery system. the unmanned flying technology is designed to carry a payload of 1.5 kg – consisting of blood packs and other essential health supplies – to a range of up to 150 km, with 500 deliveries possible in 24 hours and in all weather conditions.



zipline parachute delivery

image courtesy of zipline

roughly at an equal cost to that of the current delivery methods of motorbikes or ambulances, ‘zipline’ is a solution for managing challenging terrains and big gaps in local infrastructure. with the aim of putting all 12 million citizens of rwanda within a 15-35 minute range of delivery, the system in the african country has ensured even the most rural areas receive blood. building upon this success, the company has recently announced plans to set up in tanzania, as well as the most remote locations in maryland, nevada, and washington states in the USA.



INDEX: award 2017, HOME category winner – what3words

image courtesy of what3words



what3words, an app designed to improve the imperfect science of addressing locations and communicating them, is the winning design of the INDEX: award 2017 HOME category. with an estimated four billion people lacking a reliable way to address their homes, the technology has divided the world into 57 trillion 3×3 meter squares, assigning three words to each of these spots. wherever someone is on the globe, they can use the app to identify their location to complete social, civic and emergency services. for example, ‘crayon.giants.liking’ is a perfect spot in the grand canyon to take a picture of the kaibab suspension bridge.



what3words gateway watch

image courtesy of what3words

what3words is designed elegantly and simply, specifying locations more precisely with easy-to-remember words instead of GPS numbering systems. so far, the postal services of mongolia, djibouti, tonga, saint martin, and côte d’ivoire are using the app, with the UN and red cross also. it ensures that every person can have a home address and an identity, as well as facilitating mail deliveries, census taking, emergency responses, and many more. overall, the application was designed to bring people closer together under a universal community.



what3words gateway health

image courtesy of what3words



INDEX: award 2017, WORK category winner – greenwave

image courtesy of greenwave



as the winner of the 2017 INDEX: award WORK category, ‘greenwave’ is a sustainable, vertical ocean farming project. with recent studies suggesting that seafood will run out by 2048, the system aims to restore ocean ecosystems, mitigate climate change, and create jobs for fishermen, all whilst providing healthy and locally-sourced food. using differently shaped nets, mussel ‘socks’, and oyster cages, which are anchored to the sea floor, they are designed to farm carefully selected species, such as oysters that can fix excess nitrogen through a natural filtration process.



green wave bren kelp

image courtesy of greenwave

‘greenwave’ works via an open source basis with fisherman. new entrepreneurs are provided with grants, low-cost seed, outdoor gear, training for two years, and a guarantee to purchase 80% of new farmers’ crops over five years and at triple the market rate. the produce is then sold to restaurants across the country. the impact of this strategy ensures our oceans remain pristine spaces, even in the crisis of climate change, and a communal and continuous source of food.



green wave bren oysters

image courtesy of greenwave



INDEX: award 2017, PLAY & LEARNING category winner – paperfuge

image courtesy of paperfuge

influenced by a five thousand year old toy, a spinning button on a string, manu prakash’s ‘paperfuge’ is a hand-powered centrifuge that spins blood samples in at 125,000 rpm. this is fast enough to separate plasma from a sample in just 90 seconds, and help doctors detect the ‘big three’ highly infectious diseases: malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis. of the approximately 50 million people who die in the world every year, 10% are killed by these illnesses, and are often linked to a lack of general medical equipment, hospitals, and doctors.



paperfuge was inspired by a five thousand year old toy – a spinning button on a string

image courtesy of paperfuge

weighing two grams and costing only 25 cents USD, ‘paperfuge’ is not only a much lighter and faster device than the typical $1,000 USD centrifuge machines, but are more versatile in terms of portability and accessibility for patients in hard to reach and typically most in need areas. the design empowers local healthcare forces to work better, smarter, faster, and cheaper.



the centrifuge machine weighs just two grams and only costs 25 cents USD

image courtesy of paperfuge

INDEX: award 2017, COMMUNITY category winner – ethereum

image courtesy of ethereum

selected as the winner of the 2017 INDEX: award COMMUNITY category, ‘ethereum’ tackles the issue of owning your online information and digital identity. as a decentralized platform, it acts like your own digital passport, validating your identity for government, bank, social, and many more services. built by a worldwide team of developers for the ‘ethereum’ foundation, a swiss nonprofit, the organization’s mission is to promote and support research, advancements, and education of decentralized protocols and creating a more globally accessible, free, and trustworthy internet.



ethereum aims to make the internet more accessible, free, and trustworthy

‘ethereum’ allows people to be in full control of their data, without the worry of the central server being hacked or shut down. for example, the patient and doctor are the only ones with access to your medical records, unless you grant entry to hospitals. designed as a tool for the community, it aims to improve the internet in terms of law, governance, finance, trade, and social organization.



ethereum is a blockchain app platform