PHILADELPHIA, PA – September 30, 2010 – Technology leaders representing the City of Philadelphia have announced the winners of the $10,000 Gigabit Genius Grant.

The grant was created and funded by Philadelphia’s startup and technology communities to encourage gigabit innovation worldwide. It was awarded by a panel of expert judges selected by the city government’s Division of Technology. The judges were instructed to choose the most promising projects from anywhere in the world.

Most of the prize, $7,500, was awarded to a team from Baltimore who will develop teleradiology technology that will enable specialists to transmit and review radiology scans in real-time, making the experience identical whether the specialists are in the next room or the next continent.

The remainder of the prize, $2,500, was awarded to Israeli entrepreneur Daniel Dobroszklanka for a remote education project that would enable students anywhere in the world to participate in a world-class live classroom experience.

The winning projects were chosen from among 20 finalists by a panel of expert judges drawn from Philadelphia’s technology, civic, academic and entrepreneurial leadership.

The projects were chosen for their potential to transform lives using ultra-high speed Internet connectivity known as gigabit. Gigabit technology would make the Internet up to 100 times faster than it is today, a difference in speed similar to the transition from dial-up modems to broadband Internet connections.

The Gigabit Genius Grant was created with a $5,000 donation from Philly Startup Leaders and matching donations from dozens of Philadelphia organizations and individuals.

The grant was inspired by Google’s Fiber for Communities project, in which the Internet giant promised to install an experiment gigabit network in one U.S. city. Philadelphia nicknamed this network Gigabit City and campaigned to become Google’s test city.

Google has yet to name its gigabit city and Philadelphia’s leadership remains determined to be a gigabit leader.

“The Gigabit Genius Grant is just one example of Philadelphia’s commitment to gigabit innovation and our determination to work with talented people around the world to foster gigabit adoption,” said Allan Frank, the City of Philadelphia’s Chief Technology Officer.

“Philadelphia has the strongest grassroots technology and startup community in the U.S. and maybe in the world,” said Bill Green, a Philadelphia City Councilman involved with the project. “Communities like ours are where innovation really happens. It just takes the right tools – in this case, a gigabit network – so that these brilliant technologists can put their imaginations and ingenuity to work.”

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For more information:

Blake Jennelle
Founder, Philly Startup Leaders
215-703-8557
info@phillystartupleaders.org

All finalists must submit a Finalist Application before August 15, 2010 in order to be entered to win the $10,000 Gigabit Genius Grant.

Please read the finalist instructions before submitting your application.

The winner of the $10,000 grant will be announced by September 30, 2010 on this website.

And without further ado…

The 20 Finalists for the Gigabit Genius Grant

1. Bmore Fiber – 709 votes – Telesurgery
2. Matt T – 227 votes – Patient video in hospitals
3. Bmore Fiber – 181 votes – City as supercomputer
4. TedC – 170 votes – Network for outsourced workforce
5. Kasey Clark – 143 votes – Thin client computing
6. Bmore Fiber – 140 votes – Teleradiology
7. Joe – 106 votes – Civic social networking
8. RIRedinPA – 95 votes – RFID in the home
9. Dobnik – 75 votes – Elderly welfare and connectivity
10. K. Freese – 69 votes – Government alert and info system
11. Ankur – 68 votes – Transportation audio system
12. Ms. Hungry Heart – 55 votes – Meal sharing to fight hunger
13. Mjumbewu – 54 votes – Cloud-based netbook rental
14. De – 46 votes – Remote daycare monitoring
15. Sam E – 42 votes – Local sustainable agriculture technologies
16. Dobnik – 42 votes – Remote interactive schooling
17. Wifimaxfanatic47- 37 votes – Gigabit as job creation
18. Cliff Stevens – 30 votes – Medical interfaces
19. dobnik – 29 votes – City services online
20. Neal Voron – 27 votes – SuperFast Philly Initiative

Thank you so much to everyone who submitted their ideas and voted! Stay tuned to this website for the announcement of the grant winner on or before September 30.

It looks like around 100 votes could make your idea a finalist (it needs to end up in the top 10). And every finalist has an equal chance of wining the $10,000 prize once your idea goes to the judges.

So add your gigabit tech ideas now and rally the votes you need to become a finalist:

> Learn more or ENTER THE CONTEST

As winners of this grant, they become automatic finalists for the $10,000 Gigabit Genius Grant, still open for submissions until June 30, 2010.

Here’s Baltimore’s winning idea:

“Enable continued advances in telesurgery – the use of telecommunications to remotely conduct surgical procedures. Telesurgery makes world-class surgical care widely available, and enhanced connectivity will enable doctors to save lives remotely.”

We were extremely impressed with the quality of ideas we received throughout the contest. Over 5,000 votes were cast for 147 ideas. To our knowledge, the contest website is now the largest collection of gigabit technology ideas in the world.

To see the diversity and originality of the submissions, take a look at the five ideas that received the most votes.

Top 5 Ideas in the Popular Genius Grant Contest

1. Bmore Fiber – 600 votes – “Enable continued advances in telesurgery – the use of telecommunications to remotely conduct surgical procedures. Telesurgery makes world-class surgical care widely available, and enhanced connectivity will enable doctors to save lives remotely.”
2. TedC – 156 votes – “Create a facilitated network of sheltered workshops for individuals with asperger syndrome/high functioning autism that provide outsourced information technology and other support services creating a competitive workplace for typically off-shore tasks”
3. Matt T – 121 votes – “Allow for free high quality video chat between families and their relatives in the hospital. An average chemotherapy session is 8 hours, patients often only have their cell phone. Would allow people to see their loved ones rather than just hear them.”
4. Kasey Clark – 104 votes – “Utilize thin client computing on a residential level to give low income housing an affordable solution for PC’s. Operating System processing and graphics rendering would happen in the cloud, negating a need for the latest and greatest hardware.”
5. RIRedinPA – 93 votes – “Creating small rfid tags with gps capability and adhesive backing which allows the customer to place them on items within their homes, remote controls, cells, keys, what not that always get lost. A local web site can then be used to locate them.”

Enter to win the $10,000 Gigabit Genius Grant

 
Our largest grant is still up for grabs. Submit your ideas now on our contest website to enter to win the $10,000 Gigabit Genius Grant.

The ideas with the most votes will become finalists and the winner will be chosen from the finalists by a panel of expert judges. See the official rules for more information.

The deadline is June 30, 2010 at midnight Eastern Standard Time.

> Learn more or ENTER THE CONTEST

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