The 2010 NFC Forum Global Competition is open for entries

Prize money totalling €15,000 is available for the top entries in this year’s NFC Forum Global Competition, again featuring separate tracks for both innovative research projects and commercial solutions.

<strong>NFC FORUM:</strong> The Global Competition 'promotes the development and deployment of innovative and exemplary NFC services'
NFC FORUM: The competition 'promotes the development and deployment of innovative and exemplary NFC services'

The NFC Forum has opened up entries for the 2010 NFC Forum Global Competition, which aims to find innovative new applications for near field communication technology. The competition has two sections, one for commercial solutions and one for research projects.

The winners in each section will be awarded cash prizes — overall winners in each track win 5000 euros, with the second place in each track winning 1500 euros and the third place winning 1000 euros.

Entries in the competition’s Commercial Track must address a specific market, business or consumer need or want. To enter, teams must submit a business case document of no more than 3,000 words and a prototype or commercial product. Entries will be evaluated on commercial viability and how successfully and innovatively they meet the identified need using near field communication technology.

The Research Track is open to the academic community, including university student teams and research institutions. Research track submissions require an explanatory abstract of no more than 3,000 words that identifies the challenge addressed and outlines the approach taken. Prototypes are preferred and multimedia presentations are welcome; entries must not have been commercially piloted previously. Research entries are judged on quality of design and their creative and innovative use of NFC technology.

A team of reviewers will evaluate each entry and 10 finalists from each track will be announced on March 16 next year. Each team of finalists will then deliver a presentation and live demonstration at the WIMA NFC Developers Summit on April 21, 2010. A judging panel composed of industry professionals and experts from academia and sponsoring companies, will vote to select first, second and third place winners for each track.

The deadline for submitting an entry is February 19, 2010. Fees per entry are 200 euros for NFC Forum members, 350 euros for non-members and 50 euros for students and research institutions. Anyone interested in entering the competition can download entry forms and competition details from the NFC Forum website.

Last year’s competition saw a range of innovative non-payments applications come out on top. First place in the Commercial Track went to Interactive Research & Development of Pakistan, for its Interactive Alerts for Childhood Pneumonia system, a real-time patient tracking and referral system for use in low-resource settings. The system is currently being used for a pneumonia surveillance study for young children in Karachi, Pakistan. First place in the Research Track went to Finland’s VTT Technical Research Centre for Hot in the City, a mobile social media service that uses NFC-enabled mobile phones as a friend connection platform.

“Every year the NFC Forum Global Competition attracts a rich and varied array of entries that exploit the ease and power of NFC technology in new and exciting ways,” says Koichi Tagawa, chairman of the NFC Forum. “We at the NFC Forum are delighted to provide this annual showcase for the world’s most creative and useful NFC solutions.”

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