During the last year, FIWARE has organized different challenges for developers to encourage and foster the creation of new ideas which could spread FIWARE’s reach. Remember FoodLoop, the app that warns you about discounts at the supermarket? They are precisely one of the apps that won one of these competitions, the Smart & Business Industry Challenge. As them, many others have climbed to the top of FIWARE apps. And the ones that obtained a mark superior to 7 in the evaluation of previous challenges have been directly selected for the FIWARE Excellence Challenge. Which are then these new competitions? What are they about? How will the teams be awarded? Keep on reading and see!

FIWARE is now rewarding developers with two new challenges: one for the creation of Internet applications that improve societal issues and another one that awards the excellent use of FIWARE technologies. Do you want to see how teams present their projects and work on them? Come and see how FIWARE rewards work and innovation!

Find more information on the two challenges and their awards ceremonies:

Smart Society Challenge

This challenge will award a total of 200,000 € to find the most innovative projects that pursue societal benefits using FIWARE Lab. Internet applications that are focused on education, health, social inclusion are just a few examples of themes that can  participate in this category. Do you want to know which teams have been selected for the final round? Among them, you can find names such as Magicbox, EruditFriend or ProHealth, find them all here!

And who will be in charge of selecting the winners? They jury is formed by:

• Carlos Ralli (Telefonica Research & Development – Spain) (President)
• Daniel Moral (Telefonica R&D – Spain)
• Aitor Magán (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid – Spain)
• Álvaro Arranz (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid – Spain)
• Thomas M. Bonhert (ZHAW – Germany)
• Pasquale Vitale (Engineering – Italy)
• Sami Jylkkä (Cyberlightning – Finland)
• André Driever (Jeremie Fund – Germany)
• Marco Núñez Farfán (Soprea – Peru)

FIWARE Excellence Challenge

FIWARE Excellence will award Internet applications that truly make the most out of FIWARE technology, and is open to any kind of application. Amongst the selected teams you will find several of the teams that participated in the Smart Cities and Smart Business Challenges, since, as we have already said, those who received an evaluation above 7 were automatically admitted into the selection. If you want to know a bit more about the challenge and discover the new teams that have been selected, you can find more information here.

And, in this case, who will be in the jury?

• Fermín Galán (Telefonica R&D – Spain) (President)
• Juanjo Hierro (Telefonica R&D – Spain)
• Fernando López (Telefonica R&D – Spain)
• Thomas M. Bohnert (ZHAW – Germany)
• Pasquale Vitale (Engineering – Italy)
• Sami Jylkkä (Cyberlightning – Finland)
• Gabriel de Blasio (University of Las Palmas – Italy)
• Sebastián Müller (ISDI – Argentina) 

When will teams get their prizes?

In the course of the Multi-Site Event that will take place next week, from the 15^th to the 17^th of October 2014, in different Spanish cities (Valencia, Seville, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), there will be different award ceremonies for each of the challenges (in Seville and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria). Participants will show their projects and take part in workshops to improve them. Then, on Friday 17^th, the jury will consider the different projects and will announce the awards.

If you want to know a bit more about how teams will present their projects, here you can find the agenda of the event:

FIWARE congratulates winners and all participants in advance!