While the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week was all about the gadgets and gizmos we expect to see in the near future, Verizon took the opportunity to announce a year-long challenge called the Powerful Answers Award to seek wireless, wireline, or cloud-based solutions addressing issues in education, health care, and sustainability.
The competition is open to U.S.-based companies, entrepreneurs, and individuals. There will be prizes of various amounts awarded which total $10 million. The winners will be announced next year at CES.
“The reach and power of our converged mobile, video and cloud networks make them an unparalleled platform for delivering social innovations on a big, big scale,” said Chairman and CEO Lowell McAdam in a keynote address at the CES held January 8-11.
“What we need now is for the best minds in the technology industry to figure out how to tap their capabilities to change the world for the better.”
Submissions will include a summary of the idea or product, an explanation of the problem being solved, a high-level business plan, a sense of the potential global impact of the solution, and how the idea uses Verizon’s wireless and wireline network capabilities.
According to the website, the competition will launch March 31.
Source: Verizon