The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has launched the fourth edition of its ‘Young Innovators’ competition. The competition is to reach out to talented young thinkers and social technopreneurs across the globe and encourage them to showcase their innovative ideas at the upcoming ITU Telecom World 2014 to be held in Doha, Qatar in December this year.[blockquote right=”pull-right” cite=”ITU”]Two start-ups will be selected as winners of the challenge by a Selection Committee of experts and invited to attend ITU Telecom World 2014.Prize money of up to $10,000 (1,540,000 Naira) in the form of seed funding will be awarded to implement and bring to scale winning start-ups. The competition will comprise a number of different challenges, the first of which focuses on local digital content. [/blockquote]
The competition offers young people the opportunity to take part in workshops on entrepreneurial skills, opportunities to meet and network with leading ICT players, and to showcase their projects at the InnovationSpace, a dedicated show floor pavilion at ITU Telecom World.
The first challenge of the 2014 edition, according to ITU, focuses on ‘Local Digital Content’. It is opened to 18-30 year-old start-up founders from across ITU’s 193 member states, the competition is looking for the most promising tech start-ups that are inspiring the creation, aggregation or digitization of dynamic local content, particularly in non-Latin scripts.
Entries can be submitted by start-ups that are involved in script content, resolving the technical challenges of digitizing non-Latin scripts through innovative technologies, or pinpointing fresh uses for older technologies, such as optical character recognition, voice recognition or translation software.
Commenting on the programme, Hamadoun I. Toure, ITU Secretary-General says “I am delighted to announce the first challenge of the latest edition of the ITU Telecom World 2014 Young Innovators’ Competition. Last year’s competition brought us inspirational concepts and projects from innovative young people around the world, all of which had significant potential social impact and impressive business potential. I look forward to exploring the latest innovations at ITU Telecom World 2014 this December in Doha.”
Two start-ups will be selected as winners of the challenge by a Selection Committee of experts and invited to attend ITU Telecom World 2014.Prize money of up to $10,000 (1,540,000 Naira) in the form of seed funding will be awarded to implement and bring to scale winning start-ups. The competition will comprise a number of different challenges, the first of which focuses on local digital content.
The deadline for initial submissions is May 30, 2014, ITU says.
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