Harnessing science and technology to drive sustainable development, humanitarian action and peace
Our essential story
Harnessing science and technology to drive sustainable development, humanitarian action and peace
The EPFL EssentialTech Centre develops sustainable and scalable solutions to address unmet needs, notably in low-income and vulnerable contexts. Our work is aligned with the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Working from concept definition to technology transfer, our core activities include systems engineering, contextual guidance and developing sustainable business models for the projects. We also provide expertise to international organizations and partnership initiatives in our focus areas of action.
The unique approach pioneered by the Centre rests on three pillars: cooperation with stakeholders in areas affected by poverty and crisis, interdisciplinarity and entrepreneurship.
What do our partners think of us? Testimonials
A world-class university
Part of EPFL - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne
EssentialTech is part of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL - Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), one of the world's top institutions in science and technology. It is ranked 6th in Europe and 14th in the world in the QS World university ranking.
EssentialTech's position at the heart of EPFL ensures access to top minds and the most advanced test laboratories and technology.
There are about 500 laboratories and research groups at EPFL covering an array of disciplines in science and engineering. Since 1994, some 500 startups (including those from EssentialTech), have been created as a direct result of EPFL research and development, as well as R&D conducted in our own laboratory on campus. EssentialTech collaborates extensively with professors, researchers and laboratories throughout the university. Beyond that, we enjoy collaborations and partnerships with academic, governmental and non-governmental organization’s around the world.
3 areas of action
Sustainable development, humanitarian action, peace promotion
EssentialTech’s three divisions are built along the lines of the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) triple nexus as described by the United Nations to capture the interlinkage between the sectors.
The nexus is based on the recognition that perennial and specific problems in many countries and communities can be traced back to a combination of three factors: Poverty, inequality and underdevelopment; humanitarian crises; and armed conflicts and violence. While the proportion of one factor or another may differ from one community to another and over time, sustainably addressing the roots causes must respect their interconnectedness. When you aim to address an issue in one sector, you will drive change (for good or bad) in the other two.
In our activities, we therefore consider the impact on all three, not just the primary sector. The environmental impact of any intervention is also a prime consideration, as no improvement to people’s lives is sustainable over time if it harms our natural world.
Our sustainable development division aims to impact poverty by delivering technologies that can promote development in a way that can be sustained economically, functionally and environmentally. More
Our humanitarian action division works with global partners to research and implement initiatives to improve humanitarian responses. We aim to save lives, improve living conditions, protect human rights, restore dignity and help people back to normal lives. More
Our peace promotion activities involve designing, developing and delivering projects and initiatives at the intersection of technology and peace, notably through the concept of PeaceTech. More
8 intervention targets
We have identified eight intervention targets where “essential technologies” can play an important role in all three dimensions of the triple nexus:
Methodology
Our technology development projects follow our pioneering, unique in-house methodology which starts in the academic and research environment before being transferred to the private sector for implementation at scale.
Successful transfers
Projects, programs & leadership initiatives
