Starting May 1 Galileo will once again put ideas in motion

The beginning of the merry month of May will mark the fifth time that the largest international competition for satellite navigation applications will take place. A panel of experts at the Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen has selected the most innovative and best-performing companies from the navigation, logistics and process optimization sector. More than 15 regions and over 600 companies have participated in the competition over the last four years. This year Taiwan and Australia will also take part, marking the first time that non-European countries are participating.

T-Systems and DHL will mutually award a special prize to one of the contestants: both companies will be on the lookout for the best idea in order to optimize the freight capacity of the over 130,000 delivery vehicles of the international logistics service provider depending on the vehicle location at the Deutsche Post World Net corporation, thereby decreasing CO2 emissions, among other things. The winner of the special prize will get the opportunity to implement their innovation project together with T-Systems and DHL.

Started in 2004 in Bavaria, the competition has since developed into a global network for high-tech regions and international technology experts. The number of partner regions has consequently grown from three to thirteen. "The introduction of the special prize by T-Systems and DHL last year has resulted in the event developing into a think tank for the industry," according to the organizers. "The contestants have the opportunity to actively participate in the creation of the dynamic growth market for navigation applications." The winners will be announced on October 21, 2008 at a public official reception at the Munich Residenz palace. The first prize, the Galileo Master, pays out 20,000 euros in start-up capital. The winner will also receive six months of intensive support by a partner region selected by the winner for implementation of their project. The regional kick-off in the partner region Hessen will take place on May 7, for example.

The contest is open to companies, research institutes, universities and individuals. You can submit your ideas for the competition between May 1 and July 31 in the online database at www.galileo-masters.com.

Coming soon: The French company NODBOX, winner of the 2007 special prize, is implementing a localization application for traffic safety together with T-Systems.