Dell, University of Texas Invite College Students Worldwide to Help Change the World
ROUND ROCK, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Dell (NASDAQ: DELL):
-- Students Invited to Propose Ideas for Solving Social Challenges
-- Global Community to Vote on Merit of Ideas
-- Winner to Receive up to $50,000 to Create and Launch Social Venture
Dell and the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service at The University of Texas are seeking undergraduate and graduate students from universities and colleges around the world to share their ideas for making the world a better place. Students winning the grand prize in the 2009 Dell Social Innovation Competition, now accepting submissions, will receive $50,000 to help turn their ideas into a reality.
The News:
-- Students are invited to brainstorm and submit a creative, innovative
idea to tackle a pressing social issue and enter it at
www.dellsocialinnovationcompetition.com. Along with students, citizens
worldwide are invited to comment on, vote for and discuss the ideas in
an online community forum. The community's preferences will factor into
the selection of the grand prize winner.
-- Teams selected as semifinalists by judges and the community will be
asked to write a business plan and submit a three-minute video for
consideration. Of the semifinalists, three teams will be invited to
Austin, Texas, on May 7, 2009, where they'll present to a panel of
judges for the chance to win the $50,000 grand prize.
-- Submissions will be judged on overall concept; demonstration of the
opportunity; assessed social impact; financial viability and
sustainability; demonstrated leadership ability; management team;
performance benchmarks; assessed risk and contingency plans.
-- The contest Web site represents a new iteration of IdeaStorm, a site
established by Dell to let people share their ideas, vote on those
having the most merit and discuss them in an online forum. Dell launched
the site in 2007 with the support of salesforce.com.
-- Separately, Dell also called today for entries for its global 2009 Dell
Small Business Excellence Award (www.dell.com/ceaward). In its sixth
year in the United States and second year globally, the award gives
small businesses applying technology in innovative ways to better serve
customers a chance at up to US$50,000 in Dell solutions and a meeting
with Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell.
Quotes:
-- "The young minds in our colleges and universities are bursting with
ideas for making the world a better place - they often just lack
resources to make them a reality," said Gil Casellas, vice president of
Corporate Responsibility at Dell. "The Dell Social Innovation
Competition will harness those ideas, feed them with the energy of the
online community, and then empower them with the funds to make them a
reality."
-- "This competition is designed to throw a match to the powder keg of
enthusiasm and idealism that exists across college and university
campuses," said Dr. Peter Frumkin, director of the RGK Center for
Philanthropy and Community Service at The University of Texas at Austin.
"By channeling young people's impulses to change the world in a positive direction, we think this project can generate a large number of innovative solutions to longstanding public problems."
Additional Information:
Is Your Idea Good Enough to Win $50,000?
Social Innovation Competition on Facebook
Dell University & College Relations on Facebook
About Dell
Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) customers have offered more than 11,000 ideas on IdeaStorm and over 260 ideas have been implemented to date. Visit www.dell.com or www.ideastorm.com for more information.
Source: Dell
Released February 2, 2009