Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) gathered 16 student teams who will each receive a cash grant and various Smart products and services amounting to Php 100,000 under its Innovation Generation program.
Presented by Smart Prepaid, Innovation Generation tapped college students to develop innovative solutions that utilize wireless technologies to solve community problems in such fields as livelihood, education, and transportation.
Smart SVP and Head of Consumer Wireless Business Jane J. Basasshared her anticipation about the final output at the end of the participant’s 4-month innovations journey, saying the youth’s ideas are needed now more than ever.
“Our country and the world are beset by so many problems – environment, health, peace and order, and many other social issues. However, there will always be hope for a better future for all, for as long as there are people like you who will think, and feel, and act for our country and our countrymen,” she said during the virtual ceremony.
In its pilot run this year, participants in the incubation program were drawn from member colleges and universities of the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP), the company’s industry-academe collaboration program with educational institutions that offer electronics and communications engineering (ECE) and information technology (IT) courses.
“Participants are encouraged to collaborate among other SWEEP schools and apply research to catalyze local simple solutions that produce Giga-impact,” said Smart VP for Community Partnerships Darwin F. Flores.
Innovation Generation projects to be developed by SWEEP partner schools in the next 4 months include:
Shortlisted teams will be trained by Smart mentors who have helped SWEEP schools produce industry-ready graduates or technopreneurs by leveraging on its network, infrastructure and technologies. To-date, SWEEP has trained more than 36,000 students and teachers, with over 1,000 graduates directly hired by Smart.
Validation of projects is slated for the first quarter of 2021.
For more information on Smart Prepaid Innovation Generation, visit facebook.com/sweepschools or facebook.com/smartcommunities, or send an email to LearnSmart@smart.com.ph.
