Alfa, the first Lebanese mobile network managed by Orascom TMT and Ericsson, a world leader in communications technology and services announce launching jointly for the first time in Lebanon the “Alfa & Ericsson IoT Award”, a competition targeting Telecom, Computer and Electrical engineering final years’ students of Universities in Lebanon under the Internet of Things (IoT) theme.
The competition will run for eight-weeks through which the students will be invited to present ideas related to the IoT world which shall demonstrate the potentials of the Lebanese youth in the areas of smart technologies and connected things and devices. The initiative is supported by the Young Professionals Affinity Group, part of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in Lebanon Section.
Jury teams from Alfa, Ericsson and IEEE Lebanon Section will be evaluating the projects and selecting the winning teams.
Alfa Chairman and CEO, Marwan Hayek commented: “Alfa is leading the transition towards the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G in Lebanon stemming from our leading position in technology innovation as a digital telecom service provider. In that context, we are currently in the process of launching a series of initiatives that encourage entrepreneurship and innovation”. Hayek added: “This initiative aims to actively involve talented Lebanese youth in the evolution towards a networked society, which is an opportunity that will allow students to unleash their potential in the IoT domain and which presents a prelude to a fruitful cooperation between us and Lebanese developers and engineers, a cooperation which shall revolutionize our lifestyles, where Alfa will place at their disposal the full potential of its network and Internet speeds of up to 200 Mbits/sec.” Hayek also pointed out that: “we look forward to this competition and to all the innovations that will be presented by the students which shall promote the knowledge about the life-changing IoT revolution, through which we will create a fundamental change in Lebanon starting from the telecommunications sector.”
Mohammad Dergham, Head of Global Customer Unit Ooredoo & Customer Unit North Middle East at Ericsson said on this occasion,” The Internet of things (IoT) is a rapidly growing segment. At Ericsson, we expect that by 2021 there will be 28 billion connected devices. This initiative will enable the Lebanese youth to share their technology innovations and act as a channel to enable Ericsson’s vision in establishing a Networked Society where every person and every industry is empowered to reach its full potential.”
Ericsson Country Manager, Tony Abboud has also commented on this occasion, “This Award is a sequel to the long cooperation between Alfa and Ericsson in supporting Lebanese students to sustain their innovative potentials in the Technology and Telecom fields.”
The winning teams will be announced at the “Alfa & Ericsson IoT Award” closing ceremony which shall feature the final round of the competition. The top 3 winning teams will be awarded monetary prizes in addition to internship opportunities and recognition certificates.
This collaboration is a continuation of the series of initiatives launched between Alfa and Ericsson in supporting the Lebanese society. Other fruitful initiatives were done through the signature of the first of its kind Memorandum of Understanding between Alfa and Ericsson to start exploring 5G capabilities on the Alfa network as part of the operator’s plans to launch the first 5G site in Lebanon in 2018.
Alfa and Ericsson launch the IoT Award for University students in Lebanon
