OPTUS ISSUES CALL FOR START-UPS WITH INNOV8 CONNECT
First global call attracted over 120 start-up entries worldwide with an Australian start-up among the shortlisted ones.
Optus, in conjunction with Singtel Innov8, the corporate venture capital and innovation arm of parent company Singtel, today launched the second instalment of Innov8 Connect, a worldwide call which brings start-ups and Optus together to create innovative solutions for business challenges identified by Optus and the Singtel Group. The new challenges span a range of areas such as, Internet of Things, augmented reality solutions, and artificial intelligence. Selected start-ups will receive up to S$75,000 to test and validate the solutions with Optus and the Singtel Group. The second round of Innov8 Connect follows the successful initial call in January 2016, which attracted over 120 submissions from start-ups across the world, and focused on challenges around enterprise cloud, smart and safe city and customer experience. 14 start-ups were short-listed during the first instalment of the programme including the Australian start-up Opmantek who are now engaged in proof of concept discussions with Optus. Mr Edgar Hardless, CEO of Singtel Innov8, said the success of the first round had inspired the move to broaden the scope of the challenges. “We were so impressed with the quality of submissions, and the work of the Australian team at Opmantek in their development of smart detection solutions for impending major incidents, that we were inspired to collaborate with Optus to find some really great challenges that would resonate with the Australian start-up community.” Mr Maher, CEO of Opmantek, said, "Opmantek’s highly scalable network management system has been exceptionally popular with telcos in both Latin America and the US and we are thrilled that our engagement with Innov8 Connect has provided the opportunity for us to tap into another a large global business such as the Singtel Group. Through the proof of concept we are embarking on, we will have the opportunity to demonstrate our advanced technology in the areas of event management, network automation and multi-tenancy and our ability to deliver a consolidated and cost effective solution to our clients in the Singtel Group.” Innov8 Connect allows start-ups to demonstrate their value through business applicable solutions. It’s a fantastic opportunity for a start-up to develop something that can be implemented if it is successful, potentially benefit the 600 million plus customers in 21 countries across the Singtel Group worldwide as they will gain access to an extensive customer base that includes both enterprises and over 600 million mobile subscribers across Asia, Australia and Africa. Interested start-ups can submit their proposals to Innov8 Connect from today until 31 October 2016. Applicants for the second instalment of this exciting programme should visit www.innov8connect.com for more information.
Media contact:
Gabrielle Crittenden
(02) 8082 7850
Annex A: Innov8 Connect Briefs for Second Installment starting from 13 September 2016 onwards
| Brief Title | Short Description of Briefs |
| 1. Enhancing customer experience with a voice-based digital interface | Solutions that provide voice control on existing devices and technology to enhance the customers’ digital experience. |
| 2. Network security for the connected home | Solutions that protect the next generation of connected homes with a diverse mix of smart devices from emerging digital threats. |
| 3. New consumer IoT application and services | Smart Solutions that utilise the next generation of IoT technologies to enhance our daily lives. |
| 4. Revolutionising the driving experience | Smartphone solutions to provide smart concierge services to enhance the driving experience |
| 5. Using augmented reality to empower customers | Smartphone solutions to provide augmented reality support to enhance user engagement of existing customer self-service activities. |
| 6. Artificial intelligence and automation in network operations | Solutions covering networking optimization, monitoring and troubleshooting to transform network operation centres into service operation centres. |
| 7. Innovative video compression technologies | Next generation solutions to enhance video delivery for 3G/4G mobile infrastructure through advance techniques of compression. |
| 8. Next generation workflow management platform | Workflow management solutions that support multiple mobile devices with a seamless dashboard offering reporting capabilities, central data repository, notification and alerts. |
| 9. Automating in-store retail operations | Solutions to introduce and deploy automation within a retail environment to enhance in-store staff efficiency and customer satisfaction. |
| 10. Next generation supply chain management platform | Solutions which utilise data-analytics and deep learning to optimise supply chain and inventory management. |
| 11. Personalising the customer experience across different devices | Solutions that identify and recognise users uniquely across multiple devices to provide a consistent experience for them. |
| 12. Transforming the contact centre experience | Solutions to integrate multiple applications and information sources on a single and easy to access platform to enhance the customer self-service and customer agent experience. |
| 13. Family cloud service | Community-based solutions to provide cloud services that facilitates communal sharing of personal content and information. |
| 14. Intelligent entertainment discovery | Personalisation solutions that intelligently aggregate and recommend content that are tailored to your personal preference and behavior across multiple sources. |
Detailed briefs are available on http://innov8connect.com.
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