PLDT‘s wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) has released the shortlist for the final selection round of Smart Prepaid Innovation Generation (InnoGen) 2.0. From the previous pool of 40 teams, Smart has advanced the top 25 teams to Phase 3 of the program.
“Phase 2 gave our innovators a ‘mega’ experience with lectures aimed at firming up their innovative solutions. What awaits next is a ‘giga’ experience that will scale up their ideas into working prototypes,” said Stephanie Orlino, Head of Stakeholder Management at PLDT and Smart.
Dubbed the ‘Giga 25’, the lucky innovators will receive the first tranche of the financial grant, as well as technology support from Smart, to help turn their proposed digital innovation into a minimum viable solution. The ‘Giga 25’ will also receive valuable guidance from the country’s youth innovators in the mentorship sessions to further refine their projects.
The teams will be working to come up with a prototype of their project which they will present on Demo Day scheduled in May. The top teams will also receive additional awards from Smart. But the greatest reward for the ‘Giga 25’ is the opportunity to pitch their digital innovation to Smart executives, the Philippine startup community including venture capitalists, and to their fellow youth innovators.
This year’s Innovation Generation features projects from student-participants that tap wireless or digital technology to create opportunities for community development in the areas of disaster preparedness, education, environment, governance, inclusion, livelihood, sports, and tourism.
Smart Prepaid InnoGen 2.0 demonstrates the application of ICT for development, in support of the Group-wide advocacy of PLDT and Smart to promote digital inclusion. The initiative also aims to contribute to the achievement of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), particularly UN SDG No. 4 on providing quality education.