A new competition aimed at stimulating entrepreneurship and creativity in the field of ICT based innovative and well-research ideas was launched today.  MITA launched the competition in collaboration with the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Business Incubation (CEBI), the University of Malta Incubator (TAKEOFF), and the Faculty of ICT at the University of Malta.    The competition is targeting final year students reading for their Undergraduate degree, Master degree or PhD at the Faculty of ICT interested in developing a startup venture based on a concept developed as part of their dissertation or final year project.

Interested participants must submit their entry by Tuesday 1st July at 12pm.  The competition is divided into two parts.  The first part is where participants together with their supervisor will submit their proposals which will then be evaluated by judges, who will short-list a number of students in accordance with pre-set judging criteria.  The second part of the competition kick-starts when the short-listed participants will deliver a 10-minute sales pitch as part of the evaluation process.  The winner will then be announced during the Final Year Project Ceremony held yearly by the Faculty of ICT on the 10th July.

The winner will receive a total of €7,420 worth of prizes; where MITA will award €5,000 to be spent on the development of the Startup venture at TAKEOFF, including technological support and mentorship.  CEBI will award free tuition for the first two Modules of the Intensive Training Programme in Technology Entrepreneurship offered by the Centre and mentoring hours worth €2,000.  TAKEOFF will award free membership at the business incubator for one year following the award – a value of €420.

Faculty of ICT students who submitted their Undergraduate Final Year Projects, Master Dissertations and PhD Dissertations between July 2013 and June 2014 are eligible to apply.  To register students can follow the below link and submit their entry by Tuesday 1st July at 12pm.