Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/977918
47 Information Technology meetups and other activities forming part of the Social Im- pact Programme. Event titles and dates will be shared on so- cial media, especially the Face- book public group Malta Start- up Space. Acceptance to the programme does not mean all seven teams will actually make it to comple- tion. Innovation projects in- volving early stage startups are known to carry some degree of risk of failure or deviation. This is something that must always be factored in when supporting such projects. The next YouStartIT accelera- tor programme will focus exclu- sively on Blockchain and other emerging technologies. Anyone interested can contact the team on innovationhub.mita@gov.mt or by phone on 25992509. making at accelerator programme maltatoday SUNDAY 6 MAY 2018 The startups Beentouch is an Italian startup enabling multimedia sessions over IP in emerging markets where internet bandwidth is very limited. It has already developed a working solution for individual users, downloaded by several thousand users. It is currently working on a business-to-business service with a brand-new business model. ExcessMaterialsExchange is a Dutch startup with a vision to reinstate waste helping companies to attain full scale circular economy targets. It deploys a platform where companies can buy and sell any excess material. They list products including their components and register them on the Blockchain. In this way any additions and modifications made over the product life cycle are recorded. The platform will use an AI tool to match supply and demand, and materials with their highest value reuse options. Currently undergoing the pilot phase, the EME taps into a Dutch government-wide programme aiming to substantially increase the efficiency of re-use of raw materials in the economy. Holoroad is a Polish startup developing a solution that enables visually impaired people to significantly increase their eyesight. Since many of them can still react to light, Holoroad developed a mobile application which, when paired with a VR set, provides an image with a quality that enables facial lines or even alphabetical characters to be distinguished. Holoroad is currently running a pilot project, working with a rehabilitation centre and creating a new set of procedures for more efficient implementation of their technology. They are now looking into the opportunity of extending their tests to Malta. Sinbad360 is a Libyan startup working on a board game with an element of virtual, crowdsourced content, provided by a mobile application. Sinbad360 targets enthusiasts of strategic board games, but with the added bonus of a virtual component providing real-time updates to content. This opens up the possibility of an international community of players influencing the game scenario. TARSOS is another Medtech startup in YouStartIT#3 cohort, this time developed by a Maltese team. TARSOS are developing a solution that can provide early detection of foot ulceration, often the cause of amputations among people affected by diabetes. TARSOS is developing a prototype consisting of a sensor-rich sock connected to a mobile application, that keeps track of foot temperature and monitors general foot health. Late detection of problematic conditions can lead to skin sores (ulcers) which can give rise to further foot complications and amputations in critical cases. TechWeave is a Maltese project building an unconventional blockchain-based decentralised peer-to-peer ecosystem to create a holistic national framework that connects e-Government, eBusiness, eCitizen and smart machine services for fast, secure and accurate data exchange. SafeNet inherits the immutability of the Blockchain while still being GDPR compliant. The aim of the project is to customise and integrate the existing framework components, provided free of charge for public use. And subsequently deliver a proof-of-concept consisting of a private DLT framework and up to two distributed applications cover the first phase of the project. Zeew is an on-demand parcel or goods delivery platform that utilises Blockchain for tracing and AI for route optimisation where individuals can register their personal/private vehicles and start delivering items/packages across their city. The solution matches small outlets (e.g. flower shops, pharmacies, cosmetics, printing houses, etc.) with a fleet of independent couriers who provide a cost-efficient, traceable delivery service. The company currently operates in Riga, Latvia, and has the ambition to scale up to 10+ new markets in the coming few years. On 25th April Zeew launched an ICO campaign. The seven teams accepted for the YouStartIT#3 programme span various markets and technologies, among them MedTech, mobile technology, virtual reality (VR) and Blockchain