They are looking for ideas to boost automotive, broadcasting, government, healthcare, manufacturing and the energy industry
Deutsche Telekom, its US subsidiary T-Mobile and hubraum, Deutsche Telekom’s tech incubator, are to jointly launch their first global API competition. Developers and innovators from around the world are invited “to create exciting new business opportunities and solutions for customers leveraging APIs”.
Deutsche Telekom Group has been doubling down on network API over the last couple of years since becoming a founding member of CAMARA. It launched a commercial API service in September 2023 on Ericsson’s Vonage platform with three APIs. It appointed Peter Arbitter SVP of its new Magenta API Cap Exposure (MACE) at DT in January 2024 (see report on his presentation at the Ericsson event in London in February here. In July, the operator group chose LotusFlare for its underpinning MACE Platform.
The plan regarding the competition to bring “innovation” to five areas in which APIs could have an immediate impact in telecoms. They are:
- Automotive for use cases like connected cars or autonomous vehicles.
- Broadcasting where APIs could make streaming more efficient for production teams, for example.
- Government – public institutions rely on the secure sharing of data, which complies with regulation. They need more automated processes to deliver efficient, transparent and responsive services to citizens.
- Healthcare where the aim is to create more connected, secure and responsive healthcare ecosystems for patients, providers and other stakeholders.
- Industry because, for instance, manufacture requires reliable, consistent connectivity to transform production processes. Also energy providers that operate increasingly smart grids need real-time data, automated processes and to integrate advanced technologies.
Submissions are open from now until 18 October 2024. The information about how to apply, terms and conditions is here.
The competition has serveral phases. In Phase 1, North America applicants will be reviewed by T-Mobile US and applicants in the European Union (EU) will be reviewed by Deutsche Telekom.
In Phase 2 in November, up to 50 selected applicants from both the US and EU will be invited to pitch their innovation ideas to judges in an online session. The 20 teams (10 from US and 10 from EU) chosen at this stage shall be included in a Best Use Case report published by T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom after the competition.
In Phase 3 in December, a total of 10 teams (five from each region) will be invited to demonstrate their solutions on-site at T-Mobile’s 5G Hub in Bellevue, Washington in the US or at bv Deutsche Telekom’s hubraum lab in Krakow.
Information about the winners’ prizes is sketch, apparently the US victors will get a 5G Developer Bundle Kit, the chance of a business consultation and “other prizes and rewards”. It is not clear what the EU winner or winners’ prizes will be.