Do you have an idea or even a project that will improve life in the metropolis? The Prague City Council together with the city's company Operátor ICT, a.s. (OICT) will, not only, financially support teams that have the desire to improve and develop Prague with an idea based on modern technologies and innovative solutions. All they have to do is to register their idea or project by the end of January in the Nakopni Prahu competition.
Nakopni Prahu is a competition in the format of an innovation marathon, which has produced many successful projects during its three-year history. This is also thanks to a series of workshops and lectures, especially from experts in urban innovation, who have helped the teams with the implementation of their project and advised them on how to turn an idea into a successful project. Last year, the expert jury was won over by the Zavaděči team, whose project Řadička will help solve the problem of tram transport. The tram system, especially in the city centre, is teetering on the edge of capacity. Řadička can thus become an assistant to tram drivers by transmitting the necessary information in a clear and comprehensible way directly to the on-board computer in the driver's cab, enabling them to operate more smoothly at busy tram intersections. The Zavaděči team continues to work directly with the Prague City Transport Company on its development, which is ready to test the principle of the innovative tool Řadička in real operation. Furthermore, the jury awarded second place to the reKáva project, which provides the participating cafés, companies and other institutions with the transport of the coffee grounds for further use, e.g. to oyster mushroom farms. The coffee grounds are stored in "smart baskets" with an integrated chip that monitors the basket's fullness and sends the data to an app so that the driver of the electric cargo bike can see in real time where the coffee grounds basket is full and take it to the farm. In the third place, there was the Gamifit project, which is a gamified fitness app for kids inspired by sports trackers and workouts. It is designed so that kids can easily, and happily, use it at home. Of course, the app can also be used by schools to motivate children to exercise outside of PE lessons or lockdowns. Last year's winners received a total of 100,000 CZK in prize money and a further 420,000 CZK to help implement the idea.
Financial reward for a good idea
The teams that will be awarded by the jury this summer will receive a "cheque" for a total of 100,000 CZK, with 50,000 CZK going to the winning team. The second-placed team will receive 30,000 CZK, and the third-placed team will receive 20,000 CZK. For support related to the actual implementation of the ideas into working prototypes, the award-winning teams have the opportunity to receive up to 600,000 CZK, i.e. 200,000 CZK for each of the top three teams.
"Prague is an important centre for the birth of many smart ideas and start-up projects. That's why three years ago we decided to enable their involvement in the better functioning of the city and its companies through the innovation hackathon. This year's edition of Nakopni Prahu will undoubtedly bring new projects and enrich the development of our city," says Zdeněk Hřib, Mayor of Prague Capital City.
"This is a unique event that is a great opportunity for people who are willing to contribute to the improvement of life in Prague with their innovative ideas. As a municipal company that introduces innovative projects within the metropolis, we believe that we can participate in creating a new, friendly and efficient Prague, especially together with people who live, work or spend their time in the metropolis, whether it is connected with entertainment or study. The Nakopni Prahu competition also opens up the opportunity for them to try to develop a product or service from idea to implementation, including drawing up a business plan, with substantial support from experts and mentors from Prague's municipal organisations and the private sector, as well as representatives of the Prague City Hall," says Tomáš Barczi, CEO of OICT, the organiser of the competition.
"Project managers and experts in implementing innovative solutions are ready to provide the selected projects with maximum support and help to turn a good idea into a working prototype. Enthusiasts, innovators who decide to go with their idea to one of the Nakopni Prahu project challenges just need to put together a team of two to four members and apply. At OICT, we are looking forward to seeing interesting projects that will contribute to improving the quality of life of Prague residents in a concrete way," adds Petr Suška, Director of Smart City, Innovation and Project Management, who regularly participates in Nakopni Prahu as a mentor and juror.
Where and how to apply
Registration for the competition is open for teams of two to four people until January 31, 2023, via a simple online form: registration.nakopniprahu.cz. On February 23, 2023, the 4th edition of the Nakopni Prahu competition will kick off at Prague CAMP with the kick-off event "Nakopni Workshop", where registered teams will learn all the necessary information about the individual challenges, the competition schedule and meet the mentors.
Briefly about Nakopni Prahu:
· the financial reward for the winning team is 50,000 CZK, for the second place team 30,000 CZK, and for the third place team 20,000 CZK;
· all three winning teams also receive the possibility of a 6-month project support from OICT and project development funding of 200,000 CZK per project;
· the competition runs over 4 months from December 2022 to May 2023 (December = announcement of the challenges, February-May = actual work on the projects), during this period the pilot projects aimed at improving the quality of life of Prague residents will be developed;
· two to four-person teams can apply and will choose one of the project challenges and develop it further;
· the aim is to present a working prototype of a new service or product to an expert jury composed of representatives of the city and independent experts, and subsequently to the general public;
· the evaluators of the "concept" of the new service or product are experts in technology, innovation, project implementation;
· the semi-final will take place in the form of a presentation of the entire prototype including the business plan to an expert jury (February-April 2023);
· the final projects will be evaluated in detail and the expert jury will select the 3 best projects, which will also receive a financial reward (May 2023).
More information, including competition rules at: www.nakopniprahu.cz
