The annual Microsoft Imagine Cup is now open for entries. The software company is calling for SA's aspiring student computer programmers to showcase their projects in the global student technology competition.
According to Microsoft, this competition is open to any student at a tertiary institution. “Students can submit their existing or new projects into the various categories; game design, development and software design.” Entries close on 30 October.
Now in its ninth year, the competition gives students the chance to gain international exposure and turn their ideas into businesses, Microsoft says. The students will demonstrate how to use technology to tackle the world's toughest problems by aligning their projects to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, the company adds.
“The projects should encompass universally accepted human rights such as freedom from hunger, the right to basic education, the right to health, and a responsibility to future generations.”
Academic developer advisor at Microsoft SA, Nyaladzi Mpofu, says Imagine Cup is a way for students to apply their creativity, intellect and brainpower to start thinking like entrepreneurs.
She adds that previous winners have gone on to turn their ideas into businesses. For example, last year's winners, Kieron Ekron and Jacobus Bijker, from Johannesburg designed a program that can predict crowd behaviour in stadiums, which has real safety and efficiency uses for events like the Fifa Soccer World Cup.
“2007 Imagine Cup winner Devin de Vries and his colleagues built a company around 'Where is my transport' - a solution that gives Cape commuters up-to-the-minute information on taxis and buses directly to their cellphones,” she says.
These students are proof that South Africans can innovate with the best in the world, and that technology is key to the future of our country, she adds.
“Time and again, we've seen students lead technology shifts,” says Mpofu. “Sure, R&D often starts with commercial companies and educational institutions, but students are the ones who get to engage with technology and make it real for us.”
The South African finals will take place in early December, and the local winners will get to pit their wits against the world's best student programmers in New York next year.
The global Imagine Cup 2010 attracted more than 325 000 students, and the winners battled it out at the Worldwide Finals in Warsaw, Poland.
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