Vodacom and RLabs have teamed up to bring you the "Community Information Challenge 2010".




Many people in local communities have mobile phones and use them for voice and text. However, the use of mobile Internet is growing fast and can be used to enhance local communities. The mobile Internet can be used to share many types of information around the globe but there is often difficulty in finding local and relevant information.


The Community Information Challenge is looking for innovative and fresh ideas, on how local and relevant information can be accessed and shared, with the local community.

The solution must be deployable in South Africa but is not restricted to this region. The winning entry will receive a one-off prize of R20,000 cash AND the opportunity to discuss deployment options with the Vodacom Innovation team. The overall winner across the three Vodacom Challenges will scoop up a further R 20,000 cash!

Entry Criteria:

• Entrants must be registered as a developer in the Betavine Community
• Entries need to be submitted in English
• Entries must be designed to be deployable in South Africa (but not restricted to this region)

How to enter:

After signing in you'll be able to click on the "Create a Solution to this Challenge" button at the bottom of this page and start uploading prototypes or application designs to your Solution page.

Once you're logged in, existing Solutions can also be linked to this challenge.

All entries must include the following documentation:

1. Solution description

Which particular issue you are addressing? Why would people use it? What difference will it make to users' lives? What will the user experience be? Include a technical overview or specification.

2. Sustainability plan

How much will the mobile solution cost to develop and operate? How will the mobile solution pay for itself over the long-term? Will it be supported by local governments, businesses or NGOs? Will the end users pay for the service? If this is the case provide budget, cash flow analysis, etc. Will the operational costs of the application be covered in other ways?

3. Pilot testing plan

Where and how do you intend to test the application? How many users will be involved? How long will the pilot run? How will you measure performance?


Who can enter?

You must not be (and none of Your parents, siblings or children can be) a current employee or contractor of Vodafone/Vodacom or RLabs.


Success criteria

The judging panel, made up of representatives from Vodacom and RLabs, will assess the entries based on the following criteria:

• Value to the potential user – how much safer will it make the average user feel?
• Ease of use and deployment – how easy is it for a non-technical user to understand, use and benefit from the application? How easy is it to quickly deploy the solution in a real community context?
• stability and scalability – how easy is it to add increasing amounts of concurrent users to the system?
• Innovation – how does the entry use mobile technology to provide creative solutions to address existing problems?
• Sustainability – how viable is the long-term plan for meeting and/or exceeding operational costs?
• Viable pilot testing plan – what criteria will be used to judge the success of the pilot test?

Prize:
One cash prize R20,000 with the opportunity for meetings with the Vodacom Innovation team to discuss deployment options.
AND the overall winner across the three Vodacom Challenges will scoop a further R 20,000 cash!


Opening and Closing Dates:
Opening: 8th March 2010
Closing: 31st May 2010


If you are concerned about protecting your intellectual property rights, then you are strongly advised to seek independent professional advice as to the possibility of safeguarding any potentially inventive element contained within your entry by means of a patent application or other form of intellectual property right, before submission of your entry.