Do You Have an Innovation that Impacts the Future of Food? If you think you do, enter your proposal to Ericsson Sub-Saharan Africa Innovation Awards and you could win the grand prize of $10 000. Tell your big idea to Ericsson by completing the form at the bottom of this page. You’ll need to provide a 3-page business case and 3-minute video (maximum) as part of your entry.
Your Big Idea: Please share your Future of Food idea with us. We are looking for any idea that you think will contribute to the Future of Food – it can be highly technical or it can be a more social concept but please remember the solution needs to involve ICT.
Application Deadline: Monday 31st October 2016.
Eligible Countries: Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa
About the Award: The theme of the Ericsson sub-Saharan Africa Innovation Awards 2016 is “The Future of Food”. Sub-Saharan Africa faces a rapidly growing population and as a result, food production will need to increase significantly. We encourage young innovators and start-ups to use this opportunity to make a real difference by using technology and ICT to make a positive contribution towards sustainability in the food sector in sub-Saharan Africa. Whether your innovation impacts food production, packaging, information availability or distribution, show us how your idea will change the future of the food industry as we know it.
The Ericsson sub-Saharan Africa Innovation Awards 2016 is a competition looking for the latest innovations in the future of food. Sub-Saharan Africa faces a rapidly growing population and as a result, food production will need to increase significantly. We encourage young innovators and start-ups to use this opportunity to make a real difference by using technology and ICT to make a positive contribution towards sustainability in the food sector in sub-Saharan Africa.
The goal is to find innovations that promote sustainability in the future of food, whether it be in food production, packaging, information availability or distribution – we want to see your innovation and how it will change the future of the food industry as we know it!
The Innovation Awards recognises thought leaders who create innovative technological solutions to empower communities and individuals, while working towards the goal of a fully networked society.
Outstanding ideas are rewarded to foster fresh talent. By competing in these awards, innovators will have the chance to showcase their ideas, grow their networks and reputations, and receive start-up support and guidance from leading African business people.
Type: Contest
Eligibility Requirements: All applications to Ericsson Sub-Saharan Africa Innovation Awards must apply using the follow guidelines:
Team Requirements:
- If you wish to partake in the student category, all team members will need to be a registered student at a tertiary institution on October 1, 2016. Your team must be a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4. Students from all years and all fields of study are eligible to participate, including PhD students. We encourage diversity in our teams and are open to teams of different nationalities, universities and fields of study.
- If you wish to partake in the start-up category, your annual turnover must be less than USD800 000.
Business Case Requirements:
Your business case will need to include: a product description, a problem statement and solution, a financial analysis and a sustainability analysis. It should be no longer than 3 pages.
Selection Criteria: The jury will evaluate submissions based on the follow criteria:
- How well the innovation addresses the theme “The Future of Food”. What specific problem is stated and how does the innovation solve this problem in a unique manner?
- The impact of the innovation on sustainability levels/ how socially responsible is the innovation.
- How well the team members have collaborated – teams with members from different universities, fields of study, backgrounds and nationalities will have an edge in the jury process.
- The level of scalability of the innovation to be deployed in different markets or user segments (consumers and/ or organisations). This includes the reach of the innovation (global, regional, local).
- The financial implication of the innovation. The financial analysis in the business case should verify this. Does the innovation generate revenue or will it be used for cost reduction?
- Ease of development and speed to market. This should be explained in the business case.
- The impact of the innovation: ease for potential customers to deploy (account for time, change of behaviour, money). This should cover the benefits of this innovation (e.g. user benefits, efficiency).
- Demonstration of the innovation and standing by this idea through a lite-prototype or minimum viable product. This needs to be submitted in the 3 minute video.
Selection Process:
- A judging panel will select ten semi-finalists.
- One winner will be chosen from the semi-finalists.
- The semi-finalists will be presented at the awards ceremony in a video that will showcase their innovations.
- The Winner/ing team will be awarded and will present their innovation at the awards ceremony.
Number of Awardees: 1
Value of Contest: Winner takes all $10,000 prize money including an entry into the Global Innovation Awards (only students will be able to enter)
How to Apply:
Visit Contest Webpage for details; http://www.innovationawardssubsahara.com./#inno
Award Provider: Ericsson