Divided into two categories: global (exclusive to students) and regional contests, the winner(s) stand a chance to win cash prizes amounting to EUR 25,000 and EUR 9,000 respectively.
The awards started as the Ericsson Application Awards in 2009 and changed its name to Ericsson Innovation Awards for the 2015 edition.
Therefore this is the second year we are running it as the Ericsson Innovation Awards, and the first year that we are promoting our Regional competition at the AHUB at AfricaCom, says Tumi Chamayou, Vice President and Head Strategy, Marketing and Communications, Ericsson sub-Saharan Africa.
The theme for both competitions is the ‘future of city life’.
This means entrants will get an opportunity to develop innovative ideas in collaboration with Ericsson experts.
The regional competition, EIA sub-Saharan Africa is open to students and small business from within the region with a limit of four people per team.
After registrations close for the regional competition on October 30, 2015, 10 semi-finalists will be selected by the Ericsson jury from the online entries. These semi-finalists will present their ideas to the Ericsson and external jury. Based on their presentation, four teams will be chosen to go to Cape Town for the final round. In Cape Town, the finalist teams will again present to the Ericsson and external jury and the winner will be announced November 18 at the Cape Town Convention Centre.
The competition is part of Ericsson’s activities at the Ericsson AHUB at AfricaCom to identify and empower budding innovators in the region.
By 2050, about 70 percent of the world’s population is expected to reside in urban areas and smart cities are a major opportunity to improve the lives of billions of people.
Probed to clarify that Chamayou said:”Data shows that people are moving into cities, this has been the trend for many years.
What Ericsson is saying is that cities need to be prepared with the right infrastructure, the right transports systems, the right sustainable thinking and more, to provide an opportunity for those that are moving into cities to have good lives.”
Global competition EIA 2016 is open to teams of two to four people.
All current students are eligible to enter. After registration closes on November 30, 2015, 10 semi-finalists will be announced on December
18.
Nine of the semi-finalists will be selected by an Ericsson jury, with the remaining place assigned by a public vote.
The 10 teams will each work with two selected Ericsson experts to develop a minimum viable product (MVP) and business plan for their idea. Four teams will be chosen by the jury to participate in the EIA 2016 grand final in Stockholm, Sweden.
The winning team will receive a cash prize of EUR 25,000, with a second-place prize of EUR 15,000 and two runners-up prizes of EUR 1,000 each.
Career-enhancing incentives are also on offer for students in both competitions. All participants will be invited to apply for Ericsson opportunities, and semi-finalists will be interviewed for internship or full-time positions.
For more information go to: http://www.ericsson.com/innovationawards
Entries are now open.
