Round 2 of IoT SA University Challenge kicks off

“We developed this initiative in partnership with Sigfox as we believe that young people have a very different view of the world. They approach challenges differently and because they have grown up with technology at their fingertips, they find alternative ways of applying it to do so,” says Chetan Goshalia, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at SqwidNet.

SqwidNet will offer the winning team a cash prize (for participants as well as for the tertiary institution), and the chance for the team leader to pitch their solution in front of industry and technology experts at the Sigfox headquarters in France.

“We saw incredibly creative solutions emerge during the first round of the challenge,” says Goshalia. “These included solutions for animal tracking, reducing the number of cash-in-transit heists, and the monitoring of climatic conditions such as temperature, humidity, pressure and gasses.”

“Students are encouraged to form teams with other students from other faculties as it supports the “multiple perspectives” principles of design thinking. Once they have a team in place and have come up with an idea for a specific solution, they can enter the challenge by visiting www.sqwidnet.com/iotsachallenge from the 25 March 2019, entering their team members’ details and an outline of the project they are embarking on,” he says. Entries close on the 24 May 2019.

“The first round of judging will then take place and the finalists selected will receive a development kit from SqwidNet together with ongoing support while developing their solution. The finalists will then have the opportunity to present their solutions to a panel of judges after which a winner will be selected.”

Goshalia concludes with these tips for students wanting to participate: “Identify a problem that is close to your heart and serves to solve real problems society is battling with. The UN’s 22 Sustainability Development Goals best encapsulating our most pressing problems. Once you know what the problem is, then you can start looking at how technology can be applied to solve that problem, using the Internet of Things (IoT). If you proceed to the second round, ensure that you tap into the resources and assistance we make available to you. Finally, don’t limit your thinking. At SqwidNet, we drive innovation through IoT by eliminating creative boundaries.”

* Editor's note: www.sqwidnet.com/iotsachallenge goes live on Monday, 25 March 2019.