The University Mobile Challenge is an annual competition organized by BMIC. It is designed as a learning experience for the students who participate. Each participating university will conduct a local “Mobile App Challenge” competition to choose the best mobile application built by a student team. Teams are judged on the business model and the innovative utility of the mobile app as well as the effectiveness of their presentation about everything they built. Each university winning team will go forward to compete at the next level. In the final round of competition, winning teams will be invited to compete at the annual international finals held at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Well, the truth is we live in an emerging era where clearly everyone is on own and responsible to work and create their own entrepreneurial opportunities; their own start-up teams, their own reputations for vision and innovative, leading edge work. Creativity and career self management are becoming undeniable requirements – especially for individuals who have any desire to dream, to create, to do some things that galvanize the attention in their marketplace of choice. Being spoon fed and handed life-long jobs with a guaranteed career path isn’t likely or plausible in the 21st century workplace. Students have to get prepared to compete, to organize, to create their own opportunities. The time to get an entrepreneurial experience is now and the timing is great.
Mobile technology in general and mobile apps in particular are growing in importance, value, and variety faster than anyone predicted and as a result the opportunities in the mobile app arena are astounding. The market for mobile apps is taking off on every front, in every category, and in directions – such as augmented reality, for example – that were unknown just a short time ago. The cost of competing in the mobile app marketplace is not exorbitant and the opportunity to enjoy real, material success is relatively unlimited, dependent only on a team’s innovation, execution, and ability to gain at least a modest amount of attention.
Any student team sponsored by a University will be free to compete. Universities who do not have course materials to help students will be able to take advantage of materials that will be published by BMIC. Further, BMIC will work with the local Universities to help identify local sponsors who will help subsidize the program in the local University.
We can provide materials and a starter kit for each University. But each University will be free to mold their own local program as they see fit including the adapting of an existing mobile application program.
The BMIC will compile a local judging panel made up of Industry experts and Venture Capitalists to for the judging panel. Judges will be given a scorecard that will allow them to judge each presentation and prototype application. Judges will then meet to compare their scores and select a winner.
Local judges will be recruited by BMIC and will consist of local industry experts and venture capitalists.
If the University comes from a country which has more than one University participating, they will compete to determine the National Winner through a National event organized by BMIC. National Winners will then be invited to compete at the International competition.
The first International Final event was held at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona during February 2011. We will be running the second International Final event at Mobile World Congress which is again in Barcelona at the end of February 2012.
Contact BMIC and we will put you in contact with your local University faculty member who is coordinating with BMIC.
Not without getting your University involved as well. If you have a professor or other faculty member that you know, contact them and ask them to go to the challenge by contacting BMIC [bill.washburn at bmic.org.]. In the meantime, you can join the web site and participate in the networking.
No. The University Mobile Challenge does not charge any entrance fees. It is up to each university participating in the challenge to determine any local campus fees necessary for their students to participate in the local teams.
No. BMIC will work with each participating university and various supporters to sponsor airfare and housing for two students from each team finalist. In addition, all finalists will be provided a free EVP exhibitor pass, valued at 650 euros, to attend the Mobile World Conference.
The GSMA Mobile Health Challenge is an new annual competition organized by BMIC in partnership with the GSM Association. It is designed as a learning experience for the students who participate. Each participating university will conduct a local “Mobile App Challenge” competition to choose the best mobile HEALTH application built by a student team. Teams are judged on the business model and the innovative utility of the mobile app as well as the effectiveness of their presentation about everything they built. Each university winning team will go forward to compete at the next level. In the final round of competition, winning teams will be invited to compete at the annual international finals held at Mobile Health Summit in Cape Town, South Africa.
Yes, this has happened in the past in in some cases we encourage it. One of the keys to a sucessfull startup is diversity. Many Universities specialize in engineering, business, medicine, or some other topic. In these cases, we recommend that the student team seek out students from nearby universities to assist them to complete their team. The team will need to decide under which university that they will compete under.
