Frequently Asked Questions
KeY Questions
The T-Challenge is our stage for awarding digital innovators with the opportunity to turn their ideas into reality together with Telekom and T-Mobile USA, leveraging our network of experts and an attractive prize money. To grow and develop ideas, we strive to create long-term collaborations. For this year’s challenge, we are looking for the best possible ways to use AI for telecommunications.
12 nominees will be invited to pitch their solutions at the award ceremony in Bonn (Germany) and get the opportunity to meet with high-level executives and decision-makers of Deutsche Telekom/T-Mobile US and explore various cooperation opportunities with one of the world’s largest telecommunication companies.
Additional benefits for the nominees:
- Access to top management, experts and mentorship from Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile USA
- Travel expenses to the award ceremony
Prize money for the best teams in the following top award categories:
- 1st prize: € 150,000
- 2nd prize: € 75,000
- 3rd prize: € 35,000
Additional prize money for the best teams in the following special award categories:
- Most engaging presentation: € 25,000
- Most sustainable solution: € 25,000
- Most ethical solution: € 25,000
T Challenge is a worldwide invitation for developers, experts, creatives and researchers from academia, R&D institutes, startups, agencies, and from the industry to provide innovative solutions for specific challenge fields.
Employees of Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile USA and their affiliated companies are not allowed to apply for the T Challenge.
For detailed information please have a look on our “Rules” document.
Make us curious about your idea and describe what you will achieve during the following development phase. The contest language is English. Only ideas submitted in English will be considered.
Those selected will then be notified via email by end of February 2024.
EXPECTATIONS FOR WINNERS
The “special awards” honor the best contributions in the following categories:
- Most engaging presentation:
This award goes out to the team which delivers an outstanding presentation (pitch and booth) during the demo days at Deutsche Telekom headquarters in Bonn, Germany. - Most sustainable solution:
We are keen to harness the diverse opportunities that cutting edge technologies offer to achieve greater sustainability. This is why we award pioneering solutions that excel in the fields of sustainability and digital ethics. - Most ethical solution:
This award is presented to the team that develops the most ethically responsible artificial intelligence solution. The AI solution underscores integrity, fairness, and significant respect for ethical considerations with a clear focus on customer needs and preferences..
All nominees in the development phase (up to 12 teams) are eligible to be (additionally) awarded with any of these special awards. This means that you could win in all special award categories in addition to your top award nomination.
AI for telecommunication – re-imagine networks and services: deliver a tangible prototype or solution (at least an MVP) customized to “Telekom”/T-Mobile USA during the “development phase”.
At the end of the development phase, you will pitch your ideas in front of a grand jury in Bonn (Germany). You will need to prepare a pitch deck in the preparation phase (template will be provided). You will also need to demonstrate your tangible solution.
Each eligible submitted idea shall be evaluated by expert evaluators from DTAG, TMUS or selected partners. The main selection criteria are a clearly expressed concept, which in the view of the evaluators holds the most promise to have significant impact on the customer experience and has the best fit with Deutsche Telekom’s and T-Mobile USA’s strategic goals.
After the idea submission phase, a qualification jury will nominate up to 12 teams for the “Top awards”. During the development phase, each team should focus on further developing/adapting the idea to be able to present a tangible solution during the final pitch- and demo day. A grand jury will select the three winners for the “top awards”. Additionally, we would like to honor the best performing teams with our three “special awards”.
All nominees in the development phase (up to 12 teams) are eligible to be (additionally) awarded with any of these special awards. This means that you could win in all special award categories in addition to your top award nomination.
SUBMISSION & SELECTION
Yes, it will be possible to save your application, edit and delete it until the end of the respective submission phase. Once the submission deadline arrives, your application will be automatically submitted, and it will be locked from editing. Please note that we will only consider applications that include all required information before January 26, 2024, 23:59 CEST.
In the development phase from March until May 2024, we are expecting you to work on the development of a prototype or solution.
The pitch session and award ceremony will be held on June 10-11, 2024 in Bonn, Germany. Please mark in your calendar the dates from June 07, 2024 until June 12, 2024. These are the dates you should plan to be in Bonn for organizational reasons (e.g., installing your solution, technical readiness, dry run of the pitch session).
Each eligible submitted idea shall be evaluated by expert evaluators from DTAG, TMUS or selected partners. The main selection criteria are a clearly expressed concept, which in the view of the evaluators holds the most promise to have significant impact on the customer experience and has the best fit with Deutsche Telekom’s and T-Mobile USA’s strategic goals.
After the idea submission phase, a qualification jury will nominate up to 12 teams to enter the “development phase”. During the development phase, each team should focus on further developing/adapting the idea to be able to present a tangible solution during the final pitch- and demo day. A grand jury will select one winner for each “top award category”. Additionally, we would like to honor the best performing teams with our three “special awards”.
All nominees in the development phase (up to 12 teams) are eligible to be (additionally) awarded with any of these special awards. This means that you could win in all special award categories in addition to your nomination.
This list is not limited. If you have questions, write us at challenge@telekom.de.
