October 14, 2014

The ITU is looking for the best ideas from Lebanese social technopreneurs aged 18 to 30 years old, on how the Internet of Things can be used for social good and thus improve lives of people all over the world and is launching an international competition that is open to young people from across ITU’s 193 member states.

The innovative ideas will involve methods for spreading or expanding access to existing technology such as near field communication, sensors, RFID or QR codes in emerging or developing countries. It might involve application of IoT technology to issues and fields of particular interest to emerging or developing economies, such as agriculture, water management, transportation, or predicting the outbreak of disease. Ideas on an "Intranet of Things" – local networks of IoT devices functioning on a smaller scale to serve a concrete social purpose – are particularly welcome.

The winners will be invited to the ITU Telecom World 2014 in Doha in December this year where they can showcase their innovative ideas and will enjoy mentoring and workshops on entrepreneurial skills. Prize money of up to USD 10,000 in the form of seed funding will be awarded to implement and bring to scale winning start-ups.

Participants should go to https://ideas.itu.int to get more information and apply before the deadline of November 03, 2014.