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ITU Telecom World 2013 Young Innovators’ Competition announces top line-up
of “Challenge Partners”
International experts to coach applicants, select finalists amongst 600
entries from 88 countries
Geneva, 23 July 2013 – A panel of “Challenge Partners”
from industry, international organizations, NGOs and academia, including major
names such as Carrefour Enterprise Foundation, Ooredoo, Dupont Sustainable
Solutions, the International Labour Organization, World Health Organization and
the Food and Agriculture Organization will select and coach the best applicants
from some 600 entries for the ITU Telecom World 2013 Young Innovators’
competition.
The competition, which recently closed its deadline for submissions, reached
out to social technopreneurs across the globe aged between 18 and 26 with the
aim of identifying projects with demonstrable potential for meaningful impact in
addressing one of six crucial
Global
Challenges.
The Challenge Partners will use their expertise, prominence and
experience on the ground to work with the best applicants in each challenge to
refine their applications and ensure their innovative solutions are well adapted
to meeting specific real-world issues.
At the end of a two-month mentoring period, the Challenge Partners
will join the competition
Selection
Committee in announcing the ten winning finalists on 1 October.
Challenge Partners will provide the finalists, who will travel to Bangkok
to attend ITU Telecom World 2013, with qualified and informed mentoring before,
during and after the event. Winning entries will be showcased during ITU Telecom
World 2013 and finalists will also participate in networking, mentoring and
pitching sessions, and win up to USD 10,000 in seed funding for their projects.
The Challenge Partners supporting each Global Challenge are:
- International Labour Organization (ILO),
International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Ooredoo
working to improve employment opportunities for young people and
migrant workers
- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Young
Professionals' Platform for Agricultural Research Development
(YPARD) and Carrefour Enterprise Foundation working to
reduce food and water wastage at individual and retail levels
- G3ict, the Global Initiative for Inclusive
Information and Communication Technologies and Aging 2.0
working to facilitate access to public services for the elderly
- DuPont Sustainable Solutions, Microsoft Lync, United
Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies, and Télécoms Sans Frontières (TSF) working
to improve natural disaster prediction and response
- World Health Organization (WHO), heading
the UN Decade for Road Safety, working to improve road safety
for both drivers and pedestrians
- ITU IMPACT working to protect sensitive
personal data and inspire the creation of local digital content
More on the Competition Entries:
The 600-plus competition entries came from 88 countries as diverse as Chile,
Egypt, France, Lesotho, Nepal, Nigeria, the Philippines, Russia, St Kitts and
Nevis, USA, Vanuatu and Yemen.
For the first time, applications were received from Albania, Algeria,
Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands,
Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uzbekistan and Zambia, marking the truly global scope
and appeal of the competition. The number of young women applying from around
the world reached 20 per cent, including submissions from Afghanistan, China,
Great Britain, Qatar, Venezuela and Zambia.
A detailed overview of the selection process and members of the Selection
Committee can be found at
http://world2013.itu.int/event/selection-process/
For information on ITU Telecom World 2013, please visit
http://world2013.itu.int/
or contact:
Sanjay Acharya
Chief, Media Relations and Public Information
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For more information on the Young Innovators’ Competition, please
visit
http://world2013.itu.int/participate/innovate/or contact
young.innovators@itu.int
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