MTS holds a youth telecom innovation contest

Yerevan/Mediamax/. “Mobile TeleSystems” OJSC), announces the start of the “Telecom Idea” second youth telecom innovations contest. The contest is organized by MTS Group with the support of the Russian Ministry of Communications and the Higher School of Economics National Research University.

The “Telecom Idea” takes place from March till June. Residents of regions in Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Belarus and Uzbekistan, under 35, particularly, students, including doctoral students, employees of higher educational institutions and research organizations are eligible to the contest. Individuals, as well as creativity teams and organizations are welcomed for application, VivaCell-MTS reported.

Submissions can include innovative projects on any stage of elaboration – from an idea all the way to its introduction and exploitation, including the technical solutions and software for systems of communication, new services, mobile and web-services, digital content (including products/services for kids and youth), marketing and managerial solutions.

This year’s program of the contest includes specialized trainings and master classes on organization and development of innovative businesses to provide the participants opportunity to better prepare for the presentation and the defense of their projects before the Experts Council, as well as to get necessary skills and to increase their professional competences. Besides, the participants of the “Telecom Idea” can share their initiatives on start-up blogs.

The projects will be evaluated by the Experts Council which will include representatives of MTS, the Ministry of Communications of the Russian Federation, telecom, innovations and venture market researchers and experts. The independent expertise is organized by the Institute of Innovations Management of the Higher School of Economics National Research University.

The winners will be awarded valuable prizes by the organizers and the partners of the contest and will have opportunity to submit their projects to the management of the MTS Group as well as the venture investors for consideration. The winners will also be granted an opportunity of an educational tour abroad which will include familiarizing with the latest achievements of the world telecom industry as well as sharing experience of working on innovative projects with colleagues abroad.

“The opportunities of growth by offering basic services in the telecommunication market are almost exhausted, and the further growth of the market will be provided by value-added services and applications. We are truly interested in introducing the best offers, received in ‘open innovation’ regime. That is why the preference will be given to the projects, which provide well-grounded proofs of practical applicability of the presented ideas in the telecom business,” mentioned President of MTS Andrei Dubovskov.

The first “Telecom Idea” industry-related contest was held in 2011 and was aimed at identifying and supporting promising ideas in information and communication technologies, which can be on demand in businesses and innovative start-ups, in social and state spheres, and equally education and academics.