The Smart Water Innovation Contest is a nationwide competition in response to the most pressing water related challenges that Vietnam is facing today and in the future. The contest aims at inspiring young, local students in higher education to take on sustainable development and climate change issues and innovate water related solutions that will make a real change.

Who can join?

This contest is open for 1-5 year university students nationwide. Contestants will need to form a team of 2-4 members and work together on the ideas and possible proposals. All team members must be Vietnamese nationals enrolled at a Vietnamese University and have good English language skills.

What kind of innovations?
Entries may comprise anything from completely new ideas that have not been developed to new and innovative ways of using existing solutions. The contest is designed to generate ideas and/or possible products, services and solutions that contribute to the sustainable use of water. They can be technical solutions, but they can also be ideas relating to agricultural, economic and social issues. The innovations may fall within, but are not limited to, fields such as the following:

• Reduction in the consumption of water
• Managing water pollution as a result of industrialization and chemical usage (industry activities, agricultural chemicals/application of pesticides and fertilizers and improper disposal of waste/waste handling)
• Managing water resources under drought conditions
• Impact on water flows and storage due to the construction of hydropower plants
• Acid rain caused by ashes from fossil fuel dependent industries
• Crop failure from drought or reduced water quality
• Water recycling and efficient waste water treatment and management
• New approaches to urban drainage and combined storm water/sanitary sewers
• Green infrastructure as a means to reduce urban flooding
• Combatting increasing salinity and saline intrusion

What to submit?
Entries should consist of a written description of an idea, possible product, service or solution illustrating how the innovation would work in practice and what benefits it would bring. All entries must be in English, with a length of 3 to 5 written pages. You will find a template for the entries here.

Please note that proposed ideas are the property of the contestants at all times. It is the responsibility of the contestant to ensure that no other person may claim any right to the entry or to any of its components. The organizer accepts no responsibility for any encroachment on the intellectual property right of any other party, attributable to the entry or to its use in the contest. The entry must not have been submitted to a similar contest before.

Please send your entries via e-mail to [email protected]with “Smart Water Innovation Contest” as the subject of the mail.

Deadline for submission: Sunday 17 April 2016.

Criteria
When deciding on which team has presented the best innovation in the contest, the jury will focus on whether the entries are innovative, creative, feasible, sustainable, and commercially viable, and what kind of lasting impact they are likely to have. You will find the detailed list of criteria here.

The Jury
The following experts will judge the presented proposals: