OREANDA-NEWS.   Deutsche Telekom is searching worldwide for bright ideas in five categories: Connected Home, Communication Services, Energy, Virtual Platform, Cloud Computing. Individuals, e.g., students, teams, new startups and employees of Deutsche Telekom and its subsidiaries.

Following an extensive review and a personal presentation of the idea, the winners will be chosen by an international jury. The concept will then be made into a product or prototype together with experts from the Telekom Group. Telekom is providing resources valued at EUR 500,000 to develop the idea. This includes hardware and software, access to Telekom's extensive infrastructure, and the opening of global sales and marketing channels. Business coaches will help prepare a specific business plan for the product. Second and third place winners will receive valuable prizes.

The contest was initiated by Telekom Innovation Laboratories in Berlin (T-Labs), T-Mobile Poland and Magyar Telekom, and is now being implemented worldwide with EIT ICT Labs Germany as a partner. "There are so many open minds in Poland, who can bring bright ideas. With the Telekom Innovation Contest, we hope to improve our relationship with the startup scene and students in our country," says Milan Zika, Technology & Innovation Officer of T-Mobile Poland, a member of the jury of the Telekom Innovation Contest. Robert Pataki, Chief Innovation Officer of Magyar Telekom in Hungary, goes one step further: "We want to be the leader in innovation and the Telekom Innovation Contest will help us to do that." Dr. Heinrich Arnold, Head of Telekom Innovation Laboratories (T-Labs), continues: "Unlike many other contests, we aren't just choosing an idea, we're making an investment in the implementation and supporting the winners and their ideas in every stage through to marketable product. I'm already looking forward to Telekom's Innovation Day in Poland in December, when the winners will be able to publicly introduce their product or a promising prototype."

The Telekom Innovation Contest is part of the new Telekom Challenge, a program aimed at promoting the culture of innovation in the global Telekom Group. An internal company competition will be launched at the same time as the "Collaboration Challenge" which will look for employees who are particularly dedicated to working in a small team with new collaborative approaches, focusing on a specific Group business topic. The main emphasis of the 2013 Collaboration Challenge is on Kenya; its focus is "Telemedicine in Africa".