Frequently Asked Questions
KeY Questions
We are especially looking for ideas and solutions on how to use Web3 technology for the following categories:
- Customer Engagement & Loyalty
- Wallet & ID Management
- Network & Infrastructure
- Entertainment, Media & Experiential
- Sustainability
However, we are interested in any idea that uses Web3 to help us create stronger bonds with our customers. If your idea or solution does not fit into one of the categories mentioned above, don’t worry – please apply anyway and make us curious. You can find more information about our different categories under “Challenge Focus”.
Generally, all ideas should follow ethical and sustainability values.
18 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 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:
Best research or concept: € 100,000
Best innovation: € 100,000
Best solution: € 100,000
Prize money for the best teams in the following special award categories:
Most engaging presentation: € 50,000
Most ethical/sustainable solution: € 50,000
Most customer centric solution: € 50,000
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.
Furthermore, employees from Deutsche Telekom AG and affiliated companies in the Group and governmental organizations are not allowed to apply for or participate in the T Challenge Program.
By submitting your proposal to the T Challenge Program, you represent that your Principal Investigator:
(a) does not participate in his role as an employee of a government entity (other than an accredited academic or research institution);
(b) has not been a director, officer, employee, intern or contractor of Deutsche Telekom AG or its affiliates within the 12 months preceding application to the T Challenge Program (“Ineligible Personnel”);
(c) is not a member of the immediate family or household of ineligible personnel.
Submitters must be at least 18 years of age. As an exception, Telekom is free to allow a submitter who is less than 18 years of age to participate in the T Challenge, provided that the submitter’s legal guardian/s has/have declared his/her/their consent in writing prior to the filing of submissions by the submitter.
You can submit your applications online by filling out our submission page (apply.telekom-challenge.com) until January 20, 2023 at 23:59 CEST.
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 February 3, 2023 and will have the time to submit their final work until May 7, 2023.
EXPECTATIONS FOR WINNERS
- Best research or concept:
This award goes out to early-stage ideas, concepts, visions or first prototypes that deliver highly innovative and promising potential to re-shape the customer interaction through Web3 technology. - Best innovation:
We are looking for advanced solutions that are highly innovative and can be implemented within a timeframe of max. 2 years. It can be any form of technology innovation (incremental, radical or disruptive). - Best solution:
In this top award category we are looking for the best mature solutions that are fully scalable and can be integrated in Deutsche Telekom/T-Mobile USA environment within a short time frame.
- 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 ethical/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 customer centric solution:
Our Magenta mission is to deliver outstanding customer experiences. Therefore, we are awarding this special award to the best solution that focusses on our customer base and improves customer experiences significantly.
We want to give each member of the nominees the greatest possible flexibility to work on their final solution. Nevertheless, the final results should meet the following core guideline:
Web3 for telecommunication - creating a human centered internet: 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.
- Design prototype: deliver something tangible, like a film, collage, click-dummy, 3D Model, etc.
- Technical prototype: you should deliver a functional and tangible technical prototype of your idea.
SUBMISSION & SELECTION
The challenge application will take place in two phases. In the submission phase you should make us curious about your idea and describe what you will achieve in the development phase. The applications will be accepted from October 31, 2022 until January 20, 2023, 23:59 CEST. The selected ideas will be notified via email by February 3, 2023 and admitted to the development phase.
In the development phase from February 6, 2023 until May 7, 2023, 23:59 CEST we are expecting you to work on the development of a prototype or solution.
The pitch session and award ceremony will be held on May 23-24, 2023 in Bonn, Germany. Please mark in your calendar the dates from May 22, 2023 until May 24, 2023. 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).
The evaluation and selection process of the T Challenge is designed to create an open, accountable, multi-step selection process based solely on the merit of the submitted ideas. All submissions shall receive the same opportunity.
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 assign all idea proposals to one of the three “top award categories”. Per “top award category” up to 6 teams will be nominated and 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 18 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.
This list is not limited. If you have questions, write us at challenge@telekom.de.
