OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- It's a fact that
can seem shocking to the average American. Worldwide, more
than 650 million people – double the population of the United States – lack access to safe
drinking water. Now, a team of specialists sponsored by Brita is
setting out to design a potential XPRIZE that can solve that
problem.
Brita, America's leading water filtration brand, is sponsoring a
team at the XPRIZE Visioneers 2016 Summit, presented by The
Roddenberry Foundation. The Brita sponsored team's challenge is
focused on extending access to safe drinking water and ensuring
people around the globe have information about the safety of their
water supply. The challenge devised by the group also aims to help
address economic challenges for low-income families when they are
not able to use tap water. The Brita team, led by William Sarni, managing director and practice
leader, water strategy, Deloitte Consulting LLP, includes one Brita
research and development team member and other diverse
specialists.
"By activating the wisdom of the crowd through incentive
competitions such as XPRIZE, our team seeks to help solve the issue
of safe drinking water, a problem that continues to persist,
particularly in the developing world," said Sarni. "I'm honored to
lead this Brita-sponsored team to enable us to democratize access
to safe drinking water and real-time water quality and quantity
data."
The Summit, which begins tomorrow, will bring together nine
international teams that have been selected to design potential
XPRIZE competitions that aim to solve some of the world's biggest
challenges in the areas of: water, cancer, ALS, empathy, nutrition,
and housing.
XPRIZE is a nonprofit that designs and implements innovative
competition models to solve the world's grandest challenges. At the
Visioneers 2016 Summit, the nine teams will present ideas for the
next XPRIZE challenge to a group of 200 evaluators, including
prominent CEOs, government leaders, innovators, philanthropists,
and entrepreneurs. Collectively, this group will determine which
concept or concepts become the next global XPRIZE competition.
"It's unfathomable for many Americans to think about a world
where you can't just turn a handle and get clean, safe drinking
water," said Ed Huber, general
manager of Brita. "Access to good water needs to be a fundamental
human right and as a company that makes its living providing great
tasting water to people in North
America, we are excited to play our part in trying to make
water insecurity a thing of the past, throughout the world."
The XPRIZE Visioneers 2016 Summit will take place September 29 through October 2 in Los
Angeles.
About Brita
Brita® markets a variety
of products, including water pitchers, faucet filters and bottles,
that make it easy to get healthier, great tasting water from any
tap. Brita products are marketed by The Clorox Company. The
Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX) is a leading multinational manufacturer
and marketer of consumer and professional products with about 8,000
employees worldwide and fiscal year 2016 sales of $5.8
billion. For more information, visit www.brita.com.
CLX-B
About Deloitte
Deloitte provides industry-leading
audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's
most admired brands, including 80 percent of the Fortune
500. Our people work across more than 20 industry sectors to
deliver measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public
trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to make their most
challenging business decisions with confidence, and help lead the
way toward a stronger economy and a healthy society.
As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and its
subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed
description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its
subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest
clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.
For more information contact:
David Kargas
Brita
David.kargas@clorox.com
510-517-3084
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SOURCE Brita