Details of the Qualcomm Vietnam Innovation Challenge are available on the US company’s website. — VNS Photo

US semi-conductor giant Qualcomm has brought its Qualcomm Innovation Challenge to Viet Nam.

Dr An Mei Chen, senior director, engineering, Qualcomm Incorporated, said the competition aims to promote technological creativity among start-ups in Viet Nam and back innovative ideas that would transform the country and enable it to become a regional technology leader.

With total prizes of US$375,000, the competition is open to companies and individuals creating new products in important technology areas such as 5G, internet of things, machine learning/AI, smart cities, wearables, and virtual reality.

“It is purely a competition of skill that involves product design and development using QTI and its affiliates’ chipset platforms,” Chen said.

Ten finalists will be selected between May and June and receive grants of $10,000 each to move to the incubation stage which will also involve business training, engineering support, and intellectual property coaching.

At the conclusion of the incubation period in December, the top three finalists will get additional prize money of $100,000, $75,000 and $50,000 respectively.

According to Qualcomm, 2020 is the year of 5G, and this revolutionary technology will change entire industries from mobile phones to smart factories to connected vehicles.

“Qualcomm’s inventions over the past 35 years have changed the way the world connects, computes and communicates, and we continue to change the world today as the leader in 5G technology,” Chen said.

“We are excited to enable innovation built on 5G and other cutting-edge technologies in Viet Nam with the Qualcomm Vietnam Innovation Challenge.”

Qualcomm Incorporated, through its subsidiary Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., on March 12 organised a webinar to share details about the competition. More information is available on its portal. — VNS