Global IT service provider NTT DATA is on the hunt for start-ups with ideas for venture business collaborations in the fields of finch, Internet of Things (IoT), energy, insurance technology, big data, digital marketing, blockchain, API, personal data, AI, cybersecurity, virtual/augmented reality, or robotics.
What’s at stake for the winner is a three-month in-kind contribution worth US$30,000 to support the development of their proposed new business.
Preliminary contests will be held at 10 locations in nine countries – Tokyo, San Francisco, London, Tel Aviv, Toronto, Madrid, Barcelona, Singapore, Beijing and Sao Paulo – with the winners invited to the Grand Finale in Tokyo.
“Our biannual contest to promote collaborations with startup companies worldwide is one of many initiatives on which NTT DATA will capitalise in hopes of surpassing 10 billion yen in annual business by 2020,” said Koutaro Zanma, head of open innovation and business incubation business strategy department, NTT DATA. “We want to help solve key issues in global society by combining knowledge, technologies and networks both inside and outside of our company.”
NTT DATA has previously held its Open Innovation Business Contest in Japan, and has now decided to expand the competition to other host cities globally. As the result of previous competitions, Money Forward, Freee and NTT DATA developed a fintech service for internet banking that was commercialised in February 2016, while Sassor and NTT are working towards an energy management initiative that is expected to provide energy consumption analysis as an IoT service.
The Open Innovation Business Contest is open to any startup firm worldwide until 19 December 2016, with applications open online at http://oi.nttdata.com/en/contest.
