Verizon to Launch $10 Million Competition at CES Seeking Innovative Solutions
In his keynote speech at CES in Las Vegas on Jan. 8, 2013, Lowell McAdam, Verizon chairman and CEO, announced a $10 million competition called the ‘Powerful Answers Award’ to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges in education, health care and sustainability.
Commenting on the award, David Small, chief platform officer for Verizon Enterprise Solutions, stated, “We know the challenges faced in the private and public sector, because we help our customers solve real problems every day. Whether advancing new healthcare and energy solutions or creating new educational opportunities, we want to unite the brightest minds with cutting-edge, connected technology to have a profound impact on our global society. As Lowell said, we can do so much more to change the world by nurturing this spirit and harnessing our collective effort.”
Working with key partners in the ecosystem, Verizon Enterprise Solutions already has developed powerful answers to key problems. For example, the Golden i display used by firefighters helps command centers monitor biometrics of firefighters, firefighters see streaming video and even see in smoke-filled environments.
Other powerful solutions leveraging Verizon technology include the use of machine-to-machine (M2M) technology as part of a sustainability initiative in Charlotte, N.C., called Envision Charlotte. The M2M connectivity over Verizon’s 4G LTE network helps gather energy and water usage data from a network of devices to provide near real-time information to kiosks that allow building occupants to track the city’s conservation efforts.
The Powerful Answers Awards mission is to generate more innovations like these to change the world for the better. The competition will end with the winner announced at next year’s CES show in Las Vegas.
For updates and news about the awards, register online at PowerfulAnswersAward.com. Full rules and details of the competition will be provided at this site when the challenge launches later this year.
