The UK-based SITA Air Transport Community Foundation has partnered Wits University and the Tshimologong Precinct to launch an innovation competition to identify tools for first-time air travellers.
The SITA Air Transport Community Foundation Innovation Award 2018 offers a prize valued at US$10,000 and will reward the best response to the challenge.
Itumeleng Dhlamini, partner engagement manager at the Tshimologong Precinct, said Africa is predicted to grow faster than any other region over the next 20 years.
“Taking this growth into account and the increasing penetration of mobile and digital technologies, SITA wanted to offer up the challenge to the people most likely to make up this new generation of air travellers,” she said.
SITA has worked with Wits University since 2015 to support students from Africa who need financial backing to succeed in their studies, and to add much-needed skills and expertise to the aviation industry through support for targeted academic disciplines.
The innovation competition kicks off this month and is open to Wits students and active members of the Tshimologong Precinct. Each team, comprising between two and five members, needs to submit an initial two-minute video after attending a drop-in session on March 27.
The deadline is April 24, after which a shortlist will be announced on May 2. Submissions can include a well-defined proof of concept, data modelling and recommendations based on data analysis, detailed research with recommendations for future activities, and the use of technology to address the issue.
Preliminary judging will take place in early July, after which final presentations and judging will be concluded at an award ceremony on July 20.
