Bosch Vietnam and Quang Trung Software City have kicked off their annual contest that seeks to encourage youths to design innovative solutions to improve outdoor air quality, manage traffic flow effectively to reduce congestion and reduce emissions.

Participants in the ‘Greenovator Hackathon 2021’ contest, this year with the theme ‘Technologies for a Blue Sky,’ will go through a qualifying round, centralised solution development (hacking) and final presentation.

They can submit entries either as individuals or teams (maximum three people) until September 15 based on guidelines in the competition website.

The top 10 teams will enter the next round, where they will undergo a technology bootcamp with industry experts from both Bosch and QTSC on October 14 and 15.

All 10 teams will be provided with the knowledge needed to develop their initial ideas, including air quality data collected by Bosch’s immission monitoring box and about the traffic situation at the Quang Trung Software City area recorded by Bosch’s AI-powered intelligent CCTV system.

Participants will also be trained in design thinking and viable business models.

The competition will end with a 48-hour hackathon on October 29 and 30, where the teams will deploy and present their finest work.

The top three teams will receive cash prizes of VND50 million (US$2,186), VND30 million ($1,310) and VND15 million, and also have the opportunity to join Bosch, one of Viet Nam’s leading technical enterprises, as interns.

Guru Mallikarjuna, managing director of Bosch Vietnam, said: “The Greenovator Hackathon tackles real and current challenges in order to increase public awareness and encourage sustainable innovations for a greener and better Viet Nam. It is a privilege for Bosch to actively involve the local youth to contribute to the mission of improving quality of life.

“Year after year we have witnessed incredible ideas and talent from passionate young Vietnamese innovators for the hackathons; hence I am looking forward to this year’s submissions and helping scale their ideas to market.”

Lam Nguyen Hai Long, QTSC CEO, said: “The theme technologies for a Blue Sky resonates strongly with QTSC’s vision of contributing to smart, green and sustainable cities. We always want to create a platform for young innovators to express themselves and gradually mature through competitions like this, thereby building a quality future-ready workforce for the country.” — VNS