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ITU Telecom World 2015 Young Innovators Competition:
ITU and Intel announce winners of Single Board Challenge

Challenge highlights use of single board devices for social good

MEDIA ACCREDITATION OPEN

Geneva, 25 September 2015 – ITU and Intel have announced the two winners of the final ITU Telecom World 2015 Young Innovators Competition challenge: their Single Board Challenge. The winners will take part in ITU Telecom World 2015, the global ICT innovation platform for government, corporates and SMEs to be held 12-15 October in Budapest, Hungary. The winning entries, selected from 124 applications from 34 countries on the basis of their demonstrated innovation, business potential and clear social value proposition, are:

• Ugur Can Bastik from Turkey. His entry, TactiX is a single board powered smartphone which focuses on connectivity through cellular WiFi and mobile Internet connection. With a tactile display it can display shapes, smileys and 100+ braille characters. With a new kind of braille typing area, one can write rapidly in braille using the phone. There are multi-functional hotkeys on the side areas which can be set up beforehand. It will include braille interfaces for social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter.
• Ogbonnaya Bassey from Nigeria. His entry, SolarKobo provides solar power systems with zero-upfront financing in Nigeria as a cheaper, more reliable and cleaner electricity source than the private oil generators that are widely used to supplement the insufficient public electricity supply. It will allow small businesses and families to benefit from solar systems for relatively low monthly fees and will use single board devices for remote monitoring and customer payment systems.

“Single board technologies are driving transformation in the field of ICTs,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. “ITU is happy to work with this growing global community of makers and creators to harness these technologies to positively impact lives.” He added that he was delighted to see entrepreneurs making use of ICTs for such a wide range of development goals, from improving accessibility for the disabled, to health care, expanding access and solar power.

"We're extremely honoured to be a part of such a great initiative. We are even more impressed by the fantastic work from the young innovators. As a company, we are always looking to work with the brightest minds to make a positive impact, develop new technologies and make a difference. Part of this is creating new jobs in ICT and helping these fresh ideas to thrive. The brilliant ideas put forward – whether it's helping the blind to communicate in a digital world or encouraging more people to use solar power – show great ambition and we're proud to provide Intel architecture to bring these ideas to life," said Gordon Graylish, Vice President and General Manager, Governments and World Ahead, Intel Corporation.

Intel will be providing a supply of their single board devices, including microcontrollers, microcomputers and sensor packages to the shortlisted applicants to help them prototype their designs. They will be providing the winners of the challenge with additional seed funding, single board devices and support from the company in helping to develop their designs into the bases of successful companies.

“Most of the ingredients for our success exist: the need is critical, the demand for our solution is proven, the technology is tested and we have a sustainable model,” SolarKobo’s Bassey stated. “We applied to the Young Innovators Competition to create awareness for our cause, get seed funding, investment, mentorship, and access to help from Intel in developing smarter systems.”

The motivation behind TactiX was to change the social perception of companies and organizations about developing devices for the handicapped. “No one can say that sightless persons can currently participate in social life as can others,” said Ugur Can Bastik. “Developing technology to give them complete access to communications can not only impact social lives, but also academic achievement and employment.”

The two winners will receive seed funding, as well as networking, showcasing and pitching opportunities with potential investors at ITU Telecom World 2015. The event brings together policy makers, regulators, industry leaders, SMEs and entrepreneurs to explore accelerating ICT innovations for social and economic development.

The Young Innovators Competition is an integral part of ITU Telecom World events and seeks gifted young entrepreneurs with ideas for innovative social enterprises, in response to a series of development challenges.

For full details on ITU Telecom World 2015, here

The Young Innovators competition is hosted on http://ideas.itu.int, powered by the Young Innovators Competition’s crowdsourcing partner, Crowdicity.

Note: Media accreditation for ITU Telecom World 2015, 12-15 October 2015, enabling free access to the event for registered media and analysts is open. Accreditation is compulsory.

UN Press accreditation is valid, but registration is required to obtain an event badge.

Journalists and analysts who have formally accredited for ITU events in 2015 and whose details have not changed during this period do not need to re-submit accreditation credentials, but still need to register for an event badge.

Accreditation and registration for ITU Telecom World 2015 in advance is highly recommended to avoid queues and delays onsite.

For more information, please contact:

Sanjay Acharya Chief, Media Relations and Public Information, ITU +41 22 730 5046 +41 79 249 4861 pressinfo@itu.int

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