Launched by Altice Portugal in 2017, the Altice International Innovation Award is aimed at Startups and the Academy and promotes technological innovation and talent in three key areas for the company and for the national economy: Telecom, Media & Content and Data & Advertising . With a monetary value of 75.000 euros, the highest ever awarded in Portugal in the area of innovation, this second edition, which this year has been internationalized, had more than 80 applications, of which only 9 went through to the final phase, 6 in the Startups category and 3 in the Academy.
During the afternoon of the 10th October, each of the 9 finalists had five minutes to convince the Grand Jury that their project was the best. Nine animated presentations that deserved from the jurors the most varied questions. From an app for the city’s playful discovery, an electric vehicle charging solution, another for real-time training for heavy drivers, to an audio transmission from any live or recorded source directly to the smartphone, a speakers and Bluetooth headsets synchronization software or, finally, the ability to broadcast HD video through the smartphone, were some of the selected projects that will be defended before the Grand Jury in the final stretch of the Altice International Innovation Award.
In the Academy category, the winner was Vanessa Duarte, a doctoral student who, with a project that focuses on the development of a new generation of telecommunications systems for satellites, won a monetary prize of 25.000 euros. This portuguese doctoral student was also chosen by the National Innovation Agency (ANI), which from the beginning joined the Altice International Innovation Award, for the distinction attribution of the Born from Knowledge Awards, which translates into a 5000 euros prize.
Vanessa Duarte’s project, Towards 5G: Tb/s speed Telecom Payloads, responds to the fact that satellite communications will play a key role in overcoming the digital gap, since it is not possible to reach the Internet by fiber optics at all the places of the world. Massive adoption of satellite services will require fiber-like Internet performance and cost. To achieve this ambitious goal, it is necessary to develop a new generation of telecommunications satellites based on very powerful processors, that can achieve total capacity of more than 1 Tb/s.
In the category Startups, the first place, awarded with 50.000 euros and the possibility to implement a pilot (proof of concept) with the Altice Group, was attributed to Fuel Save, another portuguese project.
The Fuel Save mobile application, unique on the market, uses real-time data and machine learning algorithms, enabling real-time instructions, similar to those of a navigation application, to be made to truck drivers to improve their driving and thus save up to 20% fuel. Aimed at transport companies, its technology uses telemetry, enabling the best driving recommendations, given the conditions at all times.
According to Patrícia Monteiro, from Altice Labs, working in the area of Innovation Management and Dynamics: “This is a very important award for Altice Portugal and for the entire innovation ecosystem, as it supports startups and helps identify the best technological talents that we have in Portugal and also, in the case of this year’s edition, in France”.
Innovation is a strategic priority of Altice Portugal and the Altice International Innovation Award is a proof of this. The promise of a 3rd edition is already a reality and, now that it has been internationalized, it is only a matter of defining in which geography and when it will happen. “The Altice Group will promote the 3rd edition of this award, I just don’t know if it will be in Portugal, France or the Dominican Republic … It will certainly be anywhere in the world where Altice is present. And I hope that portuguese engineering and entrepreneurship will continue to lead the way and represent our country and our economy as best as possible, as has happened so far”, said the Executive President of Altice Portugal.