Nokia Bell Labs Prize 2023 – Call for Entries

Nokia Bell Labs Prize 2023: We welcome applications from innovators from participating countries around the globe. If you have a 10x game-changing idea and are interested in developing it with leading Bell Labs researchers, you have come to the right place.

Application Deadline: 21st April 2023.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries in Africa: South Africa

About Nokia Bell Labs Prize: A prestigious competition that aims to provide a unique opportunity for innovators to change the world with big ideas, following in the great tradition of Bell Labs.

The Bell Labs Prize is a competition for innovators from participating countries around the globe that seeks to recognize proposals that ‘change the game’ in the field of information and communications technologies by a factor of 10, and provides selected innovators the unique opportunity to collaborate with Bell Labs researchers to help realize their vision.

Categories: Web Applications, Cloud Services, Information Theory, Coding Theory, Computational Sciences, Cryptography, Distributed Systems, Data Privacy, Mathematics of Networks, Modulation Schemes, Optical Systems or Components, Communications Systems, Network Protocols, Security, Network Architecture, RF design, Sustainability, Wireless, Fixed Network technologies, Software-Defined Networks, Virtualization Technologies, Real-time Analytics, Search algorithms, Self-Optimizing Networks, Inference systems.

Type: Contest

Eligibility: Ideas will be evaluated by Nokia Bell Labs researchers based on the following 3 criteria:

• 10x Innovation Potential – How is your proposal novel – what has not been done before, what is the “out of the box” thinking that could result in a 10x change in performance (e.g., speed/throughput, distance, latency, cost, energy efficiency or simplicity)?
• Technical Merit – How technically sound is your proposal? On what current principles and capabilities does it depend versus further/future advancements and innovations?
• Feasibility – Can a proof of concept, simulation or demonstration be built in the course of the competition? What is required to do so? In order to build a commercially viable (revenue and profit-generating) solution, what more would be required?

The finalists who present to the Judging Panel will also be evaluated on a 4th criterion, which focuses on the commercial value proposition:

• Business Impact – What is the magnitude of the new ICT-related business created by the proposal? How soon could it be brought to market and how differentiated/unique is the proposition?

Number of Awardees: Three

Value of Nokia Bell Labs Prize:

• Bell Labs will be awarding a 1^st prize of $100K, 2^nd Prize of $50K and 3^rd prize of $25K.
• All three winners will also be considered for the unique opportunity to work within the world-renowned Bell Labs to further explore their ideas, following the end of the competition.

APPLY TO THE BELL LABS PRIZE

Visit Program Webpage for details