BUDAPEST — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced that it will sponsor the Young Innovators Competition, an annual ITU Telecom initiative that targets talented young social entrepreneurs using technology in innovative and creative ways to tackle real-world challenges.
The sponsorship acts on the mandate of the SAP University Alliances program to develop the talents of the next generation, prepare them for the digital enterprise and drive innovation at the student level.
The Young Innovators Competition brings together young people, fresh thinking and great technology to provide solutions to international development problems. Competitors propose new ideas or start-ups in response to a series of challenges based on the United Nations Development Agenda. Winning innovations are showcased on an international stage at the annual ITU Telecom World event. Young innovators receive a range of benefits to expand their enterprise, including corporate mentorship, executive networking, workshops and the opportunity to win seed funding.
“SAP is pleased to work with ITU Telecom to present the Young Innovators Competition,” said Lise Tcheng, senior vice president and global head of Strategic Engagements, Telecommunications Industry, SAP. “The competition aligns with SAP’s ongoing commitment to uncover and nurture young talent, including programs that enable bright young minds to contribute great ideas via SAP HANA Cloud Platform. Based on the brilliant contributions from previous winners, I am eager to see what world-changing solutions this year’s competition will uncover.”
Previous winning projects in the Young Innovators Competition have demonstrated original thinking, business potential and propositions that represented clear social value. Leading ideas included:
- A single board-powered smartphone with a new type of braille typing–capability connected through cellular Wi-Fi and Internet
- Solar power systems with zero up-front financing to provide cheaper, reliable and cleaner electricity in Nigeria
- A software platform that allows users in conflict regions to use SMS and interactive voice response (IVR) to communicate critical information – such as location, food supply, and medical supplies – to international aid organizations and private-sector parties
“On behalf of ITU Telecom, I am delighted to welcome SAP to the young innovators challenge team,” said Xin Liu, acting executive manager of ITU Telecom. “SAP is leading the digital innovation charge and understands that in today’s hyper connected world, digital business models are disruptive. That mind-set is a perfect fit for the grassroots, fresh-thinking innovation that our competition promotes.”
SAP University Alliances introduces students to the exciting technologies shaping business today, including the game-changing, in-memory computing platform SAP HANA. The program is designed to inspire and connect students from around the world. These students have a great interest in common: exploring how SAP solutions create opportunities for careers, research, classroom sessions, app development, networking and events such as SAP InnoJam, the virtual coding contest for students.
ITU Telecom World 2015, currently taking place in Budapest, Hungary, from October 12–15, is the global innovation platform for governments, corporations and small and midsize enterprises (SMEs).
SAP University Alliances is a global initiative that builds the next generation of talent for the digital enterprise and drives innovation from universities to the SAP ecosystem. At more than 2,400 institutions in 90 countries, SAP University Alliances works with faculty to develop highly qualified graduates with critical skills for the 21st century workforce.
From October 10-18, 2015 SAP is supporting EU Code Week launched by the European Commission. SAP will drive more than 120 youth coding events to support spreading coding and digital literacy among young people across Europe.
For more information, visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews and @SAP_Telco.
Media Contacts:
Angela Schwecke, +1 (416) 791-2692, angela.schwecke@sap.com, ET
Regina Sipos, +41 22 730 5452, regina.sipos@itu.int, CET
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