NTT DATA, an IT service provider, announced today that it will host preliminary contests in 10 locations worldwide with its fourth stop in Singapore on the 22nd of February, to attract ideas for venture-business collaborations. Any startup is welcomed to submit a proposal for a venture business in a field such as FinTech, IoT, energy, InsurTech, Big Data, digital marketing, Blockchain, API, personal data, AI, Cyber-Security, Virtual/Augmented Reality, or Robotics. The winner of Singapore’s preliminary contest will be invited to the Grand Finale contest in Tokyo in March 2017, with NTT DATA covering the travel and related expenses for one presenter from each winner to attend. The Grand Finale winner will receive a three-month in-kind contribution worth 30,000 USD to support the development of their proposed new business.
NTT DATA will provide the teams in Singapore with an orientation for interested parties on the 21st of November BASH (Singapore’s Startup hub). Application deadline to be considered for the regional pitch day will be the 19th of December. On the 22nd of February 2017, NTT DATA will hold the Regional Pitch Day for the selected 10 teams – With the winner being invited (all expenses paid) to the Grand Final in Tokyo.
NTT DATA envisions the winning venture business as a triple-win proposition for the startup, NTT DATA’s clients (major companies, banks and public institutions) and the NTT DATA group itself. As the result of previous contests, for example, Money Forward, Inc., Freee, Inc. and NTT DATA developed a FinTech service for internet banking that was commercialized in February 2016. Also, Sassor, Inc. and NTT DATA are working toward an energy-management initiative that is expected to provide energy-consumption analysis as an IoT service.
According to Koutaro Zanma, Head of Open Innovation and Business Incubation Business Strategy Department at NTT DATA, “Our biannual contest to promote collaborations with startup companies worldwide is one of many initiatives on which NTT DATA will capitalize in hopes of surpassing 10 billion yen (about 100 million USD) in annual business by 2020. We want to help solve key issues in global society by combining knowledge, technologies and networks both inside and outside of our company.”
Joining forces for the first time, Startupbootcamp FinTech Singapore and NTT DATA will work to attract the best talent in Singapore and surrounding nations. In the midst of launching their applications for their third cohort in Singapore, Startupbootcamp FinTech, the world’s leading accelerator program focused on Financial Innovation, will provide access to exceptional startups, connections and expertise ecosystem knowledge.
NTT DATA, a Japan’s systems integrator, is playing a vital role in building out IT infrastructure in Japan and also is engaged in IT business in more than 40 countries worldwide. The company believes that IT and Open Innovation are the keys to solving pressing economic problems, such as decreasing population, aging societies, environmental destruction, energy depletion, rising costs of healthcare, reduced self-sufficiency in food, and economic disparities. To help address such problems, NTT DATA has hosted four venture-business contests in Japan, and now the company has decided to expand the host cities globally. By sharing ideas and collaborating innovatively, NTT DATA aims to create new businesses that will help to solve global problems.
On the 18th of November, NTT Data invites press to meet with key representatives of the NTT Data to discuss The Open Innovation Business Contest.
Representatives from NTT Data include:
Mr. Kaz Okada, a Senior Expert in Open Innovation and Business Incubation section of NTT DATA Corporation, which is Japan’s largest systems integrator, and he is responsible for globalizing NTT DATA’s open innovation program.
Mr. Kotaro ZAMMA, The head of Open Innovation and Business Incubation, he directs biannual contests and monthly forums to find and introduce promising startups to business units and customers of NTT DATA, and runs programs that put the partner startups on the fast track to proof-of-concept and new business.
Open Innovation Business Contest
Application period
Opens October 26, and closes 5 PM, December 19, 2016
Venues
Tokyo, San Francisco, London, Tel Aviv, Toronto, Madrid, Barcelona, Singapore, Beijing and Sao Paulo
Qualified entrants
Legally incorporated startup companies
Venture themes
FinTech, IoT, energy, insurance tech, big data, digital marketing, blockchain, API, personal data, AI, cyber security, virtual/augmented reality, or robotics
Schedule
- Application deadline – Thursday, December 19
- Singapore Regional Finals- 22nd February 2017
- Grand Finale in Tokyo – Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Application documents
Must be written in Japanese or EnglisApplications may be submitted online at http://oi.nttdata.com/en/contest
