SGO was founded around a singular strategy: to invest in and grow businesses that improve the quality of life. This focus brought SGO to the intersection of government and society, where we feel these business solutions can most quickly and easy reach the most people. Our companies are innovating solutions to address the rampant spread of coronavirus and the impact of COVID-19 on several fronts. 

Three SGO companies direct protect human health by fighting the spread of coronavirus.

Sterisafe

Sterisafe makes robotic systems that kill coronavirus to help stop the spread of COVID-19 by disinfecting whole rooms and other large indoor spaces. Using Sterisafe is possible to efficiently and effectively disinfect the air and surfaces in a room, and eliminate 99.9999% of bacteria, fungi and viruses, including the Coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Sterisafe enables whole-room disinfection as a preventive strategy to contain the spread of pathogens in public facilities, public transportation, planes, patient rooms, ER rooms, meeting rooms and buildings.
Read more about Sterisafe here.

Airlabs

The most recent studies of coronavirus suggest that it remains airborne for longer periods than originally estimated, and thus can spread without physical contact or transference. Airlabs provides two different type of solutions for this problem.

• The Airbubbl portable system uses nano-filtration to remove coronavirus from the air in small spaces such as vehicles or single rooms.
• Airlabs also produces air filtration and sterilization systems for large spaces, such as warehouses, offices, and train and subway stations.

The AirBubbl was recently installed in 100 vehicles in London owned by the HATS Group and used to transport patients, including those who are known or suspected SARS-CoV-2 carriers, to hospitals and healthcare facilities in the city. These include Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust and St George’s Hospital. High-performance air filtration can remove over 95% of airborne particles that pass through the filter, including those that can carry the virus.
Read more about Airlabs here.

Tracking suspected & infected individuals

Folio’s Mobile Health Passport platform enables health status registration, health passport issuance and verification services for governments, health entities and ancillary services.
The Health Passport generates credentials that are secured locally on a person’s smartphone, under the individual’s complete control. It provides confirmed identity, and that the holder has a certificate of immunity that is current at point in time. The platform’s internal security ensures that no certificate can be spoofed, tampered with, or used by another person.
Read more about Folio here.

The coronavirus situation is more than a health crisis. It is also impacting democratic institutions, which must remain stable. Smartmatic offers several options to ensure election continuity, such as remote voting channels and support services to assist election officials with safe in-person voting that does not put the health and safety of voters and poll workers at risk. In this difficult time, election officials need to make drastic process changes quickly. We have an entire division dedicated to logistics and support services to help jurisdictions with change management and implementation.

Bringing the ballot to the voter

When in-person voting is not an option, Smartmatic brings the ballot to the voter with its remote voting platform. The platform is flexible to meet the particular needs of any voting jurisdiction. Smartmatic’s online voting system allows voters to cast ballots on their tablets or smartphones without ever entering a voting center, so they can maintain social distancing.

Mitigating health risks in polling places

Smartmatic’s support team provides cleaning best practices, staffing for poll worker positions, poll worker training and disinfection services at polling places and at warehouse facilities.

Vote-by-mail products and services

We also support jurisdictions looking to expand vote-by-mail (VBM) processes with the product and services they need to transition smoothly. For election officials that tabulate ballots at centralized locations, we offer a line of high-speed, high-volume central scanners and the logistical services to securely transport ballots from polling stations to processing.
Read more about Smartmatic here.

Smartmatic

Since it was founded in 2000, Smartmatic has helped hundreds of millions of voters cast over 5 billion ballots in election projects around the world.
Better use of technology in voting systems increases not only the transparency, efficiency and integrity of an election but also makes voting more accessible, allowing societies to reverse declining trends in turnout and citizen participation.
Smartmatic works with election commissions to make each stage of the process more efficient and transparent. Its comprehensive portfolio comprises voter management, polling place voting solutions, remote voting solutions and election management platforms.

Smartmatic ha contado electrónicamente más de 3.700 millones de votos en unas 3.500 elecciones alrededor del mundo. Hemos sido testigos de cómo la tecnología mejora la transparencia, eficiencia e integridad de cada elección, y a la vez hace el derecho al voto más accesible. La tecnología electoral tiene el potencial de revertir las tendencias negativas que se evidencian en algunos países con relación a la participación electoral y la participación ciudadana en general.

Trabajamos con las comisiones electorales en todas las etapas del ciclo electoral. Ayudamos con la gestión de los centros de votación y el registro e identificación biométrica de los votantes. También podemos hacer de la votación un proceso más fácil, transparente y exacto, a través de nuestras máquinas de votación de pantalla táctil y las múltiples auditorías que permiten garantizar una elección legítima.

Nos distinguimos por la calidad de los procesos y servicios que ofrecemos en campo. A través de nuestros exitosos despliegues electorales nos hemos ganado la confianza de todos los interesados en las elecciones – comenzando por los propios votantes, pasando por expertos y observadores internacionales, incluyendo incluso a los partidos políticos que no resultan vencedores. Sabemos que cada país es distinto; por ello adaptamos nuestras máquinas de votación y todo nuestro portafolio de soluciones  a sus necesidades geográficas, políticas, sociales y a su marco legal.
Como conocemos a fondo los beneficios de automatizar las elecciones, trabajamos para llevar nuestro innovador enfoque electoral a nuevos países cada año. También estamos mirando más allá de las formas tradicionales mediante las cuales se manifiesta la participación ciudadana. Pensamos que las democracias del mundo se están moviendo hacia modelos más participativos, donde se celebrarán cada vez más elecciones, y que contarán con una interacción mucho más fluida entre los ciudadanos y los gobiernos. 

What makes Smartmatic’s election work unique is the quality of process and service on the ground, in polling stations and election commission offices, which ensures that what is often a new system can win the confidence of all stakeholders in the election – from the voter themselves, to international observers, to even the losing parties in the election.

Smartmatic custom-builds technological solutions to support electoral process, so its customers can serve citizens in ways consistent with their requirements, their geographic, cultural and social needs and the surrounding legal framework.
For more information, visit www.smartmatic.com

Pensamos que el mundo se está moviendo hacia un modelo más participativo de la democracia, en donde además de elecciones periódicas habrá y debe haber un flujo más continuo de opiniones entre ciudadanos y gobiernos.
SGO está trabajando activamente en una serie de nuevas áreas, desde el voto por Internet hasta las plataformas en línea para consultas y peticiones ciudadanas, las cuales creemos que pueden activar y catalizar esta transición.

Para más información, visítenos en www.smartmatic.com/es 

A former European leader recently commented that ‘the challenge of western democracy is always presented as one of transparency and accountability; in fact, it is one of efficacy’. Our governments are simply not as effective as we wish. We believe that a large contributor to government inefficiency is poor use of technology.

In particular, there is a large missed opportunity in using the proliferation of data and information at all levels of government – both to cooperate better across departments and to centralise that data in a way that empowers the executive to make better decisions.

Quien fuera un importante líder europeo comentó recientemente que “generalmente se presenta la transparencia y la responsabilidad como los desafíos de la democracia occidental, cuando en realidad el reto es la eficacia”. Nuestros gobiernos simplemente no son tan eficaces como deseamos, y en su mayoría, están rezagados en el uso de tecnología en comparación con el sector privado.

En particular, se pierde una gran oportunidad al no utilizar eficientemente la gran cantidad de información que se genera en todas las áreas del gobierno – tanto para mejorar la cooperación entre todos los departamentos, como la centralización de esos datos de una manera que fortalezcan al Ejecutivo.

For the latter the ability to structure and aggregate data more effectively, rather than receiving a slew of reports and presentations, would provide an immensely powerful dashboard to manage government better.
Secondly, cross-ministry or departmental cooperation is often held back by concerns over data privacy and security. Our governments simply do not have the means to exchange information in a secure, transactional environment. Consider, for example, the process that takes place when different government departments request information from each other, regarding an individual citizen. In the absence of a secure query-based system for sharing information, departments end up either not sharing the information or sharing far too much, in an insecure manner, compromising the privacy of that individual and possibly others.
Our contributions and innovation in this area will be announced soon.

En este último caso, la capacidad de estructurar y agregar datos de manera eficaz, en vez de recibir una gran cantidad de informes y presentaciones, proporcionaría una poderosa herramienta para gestionar los proyectos de una mejor manera. 

En segundo lugar, el cruce de información entre las organizaciones gubernamentales se ve perjudicado por las preocupaciones existentes sobre la privacidad de los datos y su seguridad. Nuestros gobiernos no cuentan con los medios ideales para el intercambio de información en un entorno transaccional seguro. Imaginemos el proceso que se produce cuando diferentes departamentos gubernamentales solicitan información entre sí, en relación con un ciudadano, por ejemplo. En ausencia de un sistema seguro y los protocolos adecuados para el intercambio de información, los departamentos terminan no compartiendo la información o compartiendo demasiada, de una manera insegura, comprometiendo así la privacidad de esa persona y posiblemente la de otros.

Nuestras contribuciones e innovación en esta área serán anunciadas pronto.

Businesses and government need to transform into digital innovators, respond to macro and competitive disruption and create new services that are designed natively for online and mobile.

 

But, the relics of yesteryear remain fundamental to assert identity today – plastic forms of ID and a visit to a branch are often required to open a new account; paperwork and plastic are still needed to access healthcare, benefits and exercise one’s right to vote.

Consumers are required to produce and assert these identity ‘facts’ over and over again, in different formats and variations for different user cases, different departments, different firms.

La privacidad y la verificación de la identidad son temas que han ganado importancia con el auge de los servicios que se prestan en línea – comercio, comunicación, gubernamentales, etc.

 

Los individuos deben confirmar su identidad cuando crean cuentas, cuando acceden a ellas o cuando desean ejecutar una transacción. Sin embargo, cada uno de estos tres procesos puede terminar siendo engorroso y en muchos casos implica una divulgación innecesaria de información personal. Hoy en día el fraude prevalece, afectando a consumidores y empresas por igual.

SGO ha invertido grandes cantidades de recursos en investigación y desarrollo para enfrentar este reto y proporcionar a los usuarios una forma segura y confiable de probar su identidad manteniéndolos en pleno control de su información personal y privada.

Nuestras contribuciones e innovación en esta área serán anunciadas pronto.

Until recently this was the only way, but it is actually hard to imagine how an inclusive, global digital society can properly develop without the cornerstone of good, trusted digital identity.
SGO has conducted extensive research and made significant investments to overcome this problem by providing users with a secure and trustworthy way to prove their identity online in a way that enables them protect third- party access to their personal, private information.

 

Learn more about Folio.id and how organisations can quickly enable identity verification, using sophisticated biometric processes, with less fraud, with less friction.

SGO has made strategic investments in three companies – Airlabs, INFUSER and STERISAFE ApS – to tackle the problems of indoor and outdoor air pollution and disinfection for indoor spaces.
Airlabs, a London-based company with an R&D center in Copenhagen, is a pioneer in air purification to improve the quality of life. Airlabs’ unique nano-filter technology effectively removes all pollutants, including nitrogen dioxide, creating clean-air zones across cities – from inside buildings to outdoor spaces.

Its team of atmospheric chemists, airflow engineers and sensor specialists work together to understand air pollution, remove it, and deliver clean air to improve urban living.
For more information, visit https://www.airlabs.com/

La contaminación ambiental en muchas ciudades del mundo se encuentra actualmente en niveles que pone en riesgo la salud de sus ciudadanos. La contaminación atmosférica es uno de los problemas más importantes que enfrentan nuestras ciudades hoy día.

• Las más recientes estimaciones de la Organización Mundial de la Salud señalan que en 2012 murieron alrededor de 7 millones de personas – uno de cada ocho del total de muertes en el mundo – como resultado de la exposición a la contaminación ambiental. 

• En Beijing, el cáncer de pulmón ha aumentado 60% en la última década, a pesar del descenso en el hábito de fumar.  

• Más del 8% de las muertes en el centro de Londres se atribuyen a partículas contaminadas en el aire. 

• El hollín genera 1000 veces más “calentamiento” para la atmósfera que el CO2. 

• Durante 2013, Beijing mostró niveles de material particulado (PM_2.5) de casi 40 veces más del nivel considerado seguro para la salud humana

INFUSER has created technologies that mimic nature’s own processes for filtering and eliminating contaminants from the air and water without absorbing filters or chemical residue. Using natural atmospheric gases, INFUSER products purify indoor air, water, and output from industrial processes.

INFUSER’s international team of scientists is based in Denmark and works in close collaboration with both industry and academia.

For more information, visit https://infuser.eu

STERISAFE ApS is a health-tech company delivering revolutionary environmental hygiene technologies that eliminate 99.99999% of bacteria, fungus and viruses in indoor air and surfaces. This includes eradicating the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. These solutions are improving quality of care in hospitals and healthcare facilities, sterilizing public transportation, and removing germs from offices and public facilities.

Located on the campus of the University of Copenhagen and in the heart of Copenhagen Science City, STERISAFE ApS developed a unique, patented technology to perform effective, safe and rapid room disinfection automatically, while keeping staff safe from chemical cleaning agents and vapors.
For more information, visit

SGO ha llevado a cabo importantes investigaciones y realizado inversiones estratégicas para abordar el problema de la contaminación del aire en las ciudades, fábricas y lugares de trabajo.

Nuestras contribuciones e innovación en esta área serán anunciadas pronto.

Democracy and citizen participation

Smartmatic technology supports fair and transparent elections and encourages voter turnout.
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Democracia y participación ciudadana

Smartmatic ha contado electrónicamente más de 3 mil millones de votos en miles de elecciones
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Governance

Governments have the opportunity to use technology solutions to improve efficiency and streamline operations.
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Gobernanza

Los gobiernos están muy por detrás del sector privado en cuanto a la utilización de soluciones tecnológicas que generen eficiencia
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Identity and Privacy

Issues around privacy and identity are becoming central to human-human and human-government relationships.
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Identidad y privacidad

A medida que el mundo se mueve en línea, los temas de privacidad y verificación de identidad son claves para la relación entre los ciudadanos
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Climate and clean air

Air pollution in many cities around the world is now at levels that poses significant risk to citizens’ health.
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Clima y aire limpio

La contaminación del aire en muchas ciudades ha alcanzado niveles que ponen en riesgo la salud de sus ciudadanos
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SGO is an investor group that finds and funds innovative companies that demonstrate long-term promise in areas that enhance lives. SGO focuses on the intersection between government and society, proactively supporting the development of technology driven solutions with the potential to solve some of the pressing issues of our time. The types of ventures that SGO supports can be grouped into four main themes.

SGO trabaja en una serie de áreas que se pueden agrupar en los siguientes temas. La investigación que hacemos y las soluciones que desarrollamos en un área están inspiradas y sustentadas por nuestro trabajo en las otras. En los próximos meses estaremos anunciando una serie de nuevas empresas bajo cada tema.