OPPO’s Inspiration Challenge calls anew for innovative technical solutions

OPPO Research Institute, together with global partners Qualcomm Technologies, GSMA 5G IN, Amazon Web Services and LinkedIn, announced the launch of 2023 OPPO Inspiration Challenge. Based on the brand proposition of “Inspiration Ahead,” OPPO and its global technology ecosystem partners aim to bring new and innovative solutions to life by providing funding, support and partnership opportunities. By working together, OPPO hopes these innovations can create a positive impact, and encourage greater awareness of the issues that affect global communities.

“OPPO believes deeply in the idea of ‘Virtuous Innovation.’ As we continue to explore new technology, we remain dedicated to doing so in a way that puts people first,” OPPO Research Institute said in a statement. “With the global issues like public health, accessible technology and environmental protection being the key concerns, we could not rely on our own efforts to provide solutions. We have therefore initiated the Inspiration Challenge to empower like-minded innovators to tackle these big issues together with us using the power of technology and create a better world for all.”

Applications for the 2023 OPPO Inspiration Challenge will start from May 8 to June 30, with three regional demo events set to take place in Bangkok, Boston and Shenzhen in August. Finalists from each regional demo event will be invited to join the Inspiration Challenge Acceleration Camp and meet with OPPO executives and technical experts to revise their proposals before the global final demo event at the end of August.

All the proposals for OPPO Inspiration Challenge this year will be evaluated based on the four criteria of Feasibility, Technological Innovation, Long-term Potential, and Social Values.

A total of 15 qualified proposals from regional demo events will be selected as global finalists and the top five winning proposals will be selected in the global final demo event, each being awarded a grant of US$50,000.

Further partnership opportunities are open to the top 45 proposals worldwide — made up of the top 15 proposals in each regional challenge — including, but not limited to productization and commercialization opportunities (i.e., incubation fund totaling US$190,000); strategic partnership and investment opportunities to showcase at global technology events; and an opportunity to receive cloud resources and technical support from Amazon Web Services.

During the OPPO Inspiration Challenge last year, 536 proposals were collected from innovators around the world aimed at tackling key challenges in accessible technology and digital health. OPPO has since worked with 18 of these teams to further implement their proposals and has brought some of them to global platforms such as OPPO INNO DAY 2022 and MWC 2023.

For this year, OPPO Inspiration Challenge will focus on the two categories of Inspiration for People and Inspiration for the Planet, supporting technology professionals around the world to develop innovative solutions in these two areas.

The Inspiration for People category is a call for technologies, products and services related to digital health and accessible technology. It includes health algorithms; hardware sensor innovations (i.e. the integration of new and advanced sensors into daily health monitoring devices); innovative products for digital health monitoring; accessibility assistive technologies; and technology designed for the elderly. The primary focus of this category is to make technology accessible and beneficial to everyone.

Aligned with OPPO’s pledge to achieve carbon neutrality in its operations by 2050, the Inspiration for the Planet category calls for innovative solutions related to environmental protection and low-carbon development as applied to consumer electronics. It includes renewable energy; sustainable materials and packaging; green production processes; recycling of electronic products; and carbon emission digital management. The primary focus of this category is to minimize the environmental impact of electronic product manufacturing or usage, and to promote sustainable development through technology.

To learn more about the program or register, please visit the official webpage at https://www.oppo.com/en/proposal/.