Application Deadline: July 12th 2018
The ITU Telecom World 2018 will be hosted on African soil for the first time on 10-13 September 2018 in Durban, South Africa.
The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services in collaboration with Standard Bank and Ericsson are seeking to identify and develop technology entrepreneurs / SME’s (Small to Medium Enterprises) that have built technology relevant to the 4th Industrial Revolution, to showcase at the prestigious international exhibition.
The purpose of the Industry 4.0 challenge is to identify technology entrepreneurs to showcase at the Annual ITU World Telecom 2018.
Benefits for the tech entrepreneurs include:
- Rapid acceleration, development support and master classes provided by domain experts, covering topics such as UX and interface design, intellectual property rights, marketing, legal structure and pitching and presentation best practice
- Full access to a vibrant community of entrepreneurs, start-ups and high growth companies through Standard Bank’s Entrepreneurship Development and Incubator.
- Selected SME’s will receive a chance to participate in the final pitching event and showcase their solutions to an audience of venture capitalists, private equity firms, industry experts and senior executives within the Financial Services, public sector and technology communities
- On-going mentoring from senior executives and senior members from the technology community, to help shape the products and technologies being developed
- Selected SME winners of the Industry 4.0 Challenge will be invited to showcase their products or services at the international exhibition in Durban on 10-13 September 2018. *(Flights and accommodation included for one member of the company).
- Selected SME’s will stand the chance to participate in further development programmes, exposure trips, funding and access to market opportunities, through Standard Bank Entrepreneur Development post the September event.
Beyond the exhibition, the selected entrepreneurs will get the opportunity to be nominated in the following categories of the ITU Telecom World 2018 Awards:
- Global SME Award
- Host Country SME Award
- Recognition of Excellence Certificate (best innovator exhibitor within each National Pavilion)
Successful applicants will be contacted via e-mail.
40 finalists will be chosen to participate at the Final Pitching Event on 24 and 25 July in Johannesburg, who then qualifies to showcase at ITU Telecom World 2018 in Durban ICC, 10 – 13 September.
Application Procedure:
- Any ideas outside of the above categories will not be considered and qualified applications will be reviewed and scored by a selection committee.
- Qualifying Selected SMEs will be notified via email of the status of their application and subsequently invited to the competition if meeting all requirements.
For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the ITU World Telecom 2018 Industry 4.0 Challenge