Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- As previously reported, on 12 March, Transformers Roadshow scientific competition was held in Tashkent with the support of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The Islamic Development Bank conducted the first Transformers Roadshow in Uzbekistan.

In total, more than 50 entrepreneurs, scientists and innovators across Uzbekistan took part in the competition. 20 applications were selected for project evaluation based on their relevance to the SDG program (Sustainable Development Goals until 2030), including such factors as innovation, impact and scope, practicality, scalability, sustainability, patenting and commercialization. The contestants also received a master class from mentors in project development, submission and implementation.

Experts listened to dozens of presentations of participants in various fields of application, identifying three winners, they were:

Zafar Iskandarov (for a project to improve water treatment)

Shahlo Miraliyeva (for a project to improve the production of probiotics)

Gulistan Orazimbetova (for a project to increase the productivity of raw materials in the production of cement in the Republic of Karakalpakstan).

An additional winner was Khilola Tokhtamuradova, who proposed to create a center for the development of children with Down syndrome in Uzbekistan.

Each winner received US$3,000, and an invitation to the Transformers Summit of 2019 in Senegal and access to the online course Smart Impact Capital.

Transformers Roadshow was launched in July 2018 and became one of the initiatives conducted by the Transform Foundation. The fund itself was created to support the strategic orientation of the IDB on capacity building and human capital development. Previous issues were held in Niger, Kazakhstan and Bangladesh, where the bank has already managed to award nine innovators.

Uzbekistan became a member of the IDB in 2003. Today, IDB in Uzbekistan has implemented more than 20 projects in the areas of health, education, irrigation and land reclamation, energy, water, utilities, road infrastructure development, and small business support.