What is the Deutsche Telekom Interactive TV Award?

The Deutsche Telekom Interactive TV Award is the opportunity of the year for developers and visionaries to turn their ideas into reality. Through this unique competition, Deutsche Telekom invites all international pros involved in interactive television to help design the television of tomorrow. In the competition, entrants get the opportunity to develop new ideas and viable concepts in the area of interactive television, and also gain implementation experience based on the Microsoft Mediaroom Presentation Framework (MPF).

Why did Deutsche Telekom launch the Deutsche Telekom Interactive TV Award?

Interactive television has enormous potential, which Deutsche Telekom can only realize together with highly skilled and creative developers. As the market development of interactive television has only just started, the industry is still in its infancy. Through this competition, Deutsche Telekom wants to incentivize developers and companies to develop applications for interactive television.

What ideas can win?

The competition aim is to develop new ideas and concepts for applications which can be used within the scope of interactive television. "Television in tune with our lives" is the motto of the Interactive TV Award 2011. With it, the innovation competition puts television in a context that extends beyond entertainment in our living rooms. After all, modern TV over the data network - in short IPTV - fits in with our everyday lives and work, and enriches it. At the same time, the focus is on new forms of digital entertainment just as much as it is on communication and services which make our lives easier. The competition aim has been intentionally left open in order to offer entrants the greatest possible leeway for new ideas.

Who can enter?

Private individuals, companies and institutions who share our passion for the opportunities presented by interactive television and who enjoy developing and implementing innovative ideas and creative concepts for the IPTV market are invited to enter. Employees of Deutsche Telekom AG and companies associated with Deutsche Telekom AG as defined in Section 15 of the German Companies Act (Aktiengesetz/AktG) may not, for reasons of equality of opportunity, enter for the Deutsche Telekom Interactive TV Award. 

Is the Award only for programmers?

Nope! To appeal to a large group of entrants, once again, the Award will be awarded in two prize categories in 2011:

• the "Developer" category"
• and the "Freestyle" category

The categories differ in terms of the depth of development that is required. While the "Freestyle" category focuses solely on the creative idea and its visualization, in the "Developer" category, the possibility of realizing the idea must also be highlighted in addition to the idea itself. Here, the Microsoft Mediaroom Presentation Framework (MPF) forms the technical basis of the concept that is submitted.

Entrants are free to choose how many contributions they submit in either category.

What are the prizes?

Deutsche Telekom AG is providing cash prizes totaling 135,000 Euro for the competition. This sum will be shared out among the different competition phases as follows:

• The three winners of the "Freestyle" preliminary round: 5,000 Euro each.
• The five winners of the "Developer" preliminary round: 10,000 Euro each.
• The winner of the "Freestyle" finals: 20,000 Euro (plus preliminary round prize money).
• The cash prizes for "Developer" winners will be shared out as follows: 1st place 30,000 Euro, 2nd place 15,000 Euro, 3rd place 5,000 Euro (plus preliminary round prize money).

The cash prizes listed include any applicable sales tax.

What form will the competition take in detail?

The competition officially starts on August 2, 2010, and comprises two rounds: In the first competition phase (preliminary round), entrants develop new ideas for applications in the field of interactive TV for the German market that must be described in detail in meaningful concept outlines. Documents must be uploaded by October 15, 2010, at the latest to Deutsche Telekom AG's Open Development Portal (the "Developer Garden"). An entry form is provided for uploading the documents. Furthermore, a 2-page template is also provided for entrants in the specialist forum set up for the Interactive TV Award 2011. This is intended to help entrants keep their concept ideas brief and present them in a uniformly structured way.

Once the application period for the preliminary round has expired, all applications will be reviewed and assessed by an in-house panel of Deutsche Telekom AG experts. The most impressive concepts will be selected from among the entries to take part in the second competition phase (final round). The mode of assessment will be at the discretion of the in-house panel.

Three "Freestyle" category entries and five "Developer" category entries will be selected as finalists who may take part in the respective final round.

The three "Freestyle" entrants have to visualize and present their concepts as part of the "Freestyle" finals. Entrants are free to choose a suitable medium (e.g. video, PowerPoint, images, Flash, etc.).

The five "Developer" category preliminary round winners will be given the opportunity to develop and present their ideas as part of the finals using the Microsoft Mediaroom Presentation Framework (MPF). 

The Mediaroom Presentation Framework is a key component of today's IPTV system, and is used by Deutsche Telekom AG. By using MPF, new applications can be rolled out very easily into the television environment. The MPF's functions are described in the document "MPF Guide" which is freely available from the Developer Garden in the specialist Interactive TV Award forum.

Is a guide available for the Microsoft Mediaroom Presentation Framework?

Yes. The guide for the Microsoft Mediaroom Presentation Framework is available for download in the Deutsche Telekom Developer Garden, but you need to register first. To do that, visit ITVA on Developer Garden. On top of that, finalists will be given training by Microsoft MPF specialists prior to the start of the final round on a 2-day MPF training course. The Microsoft Presentation Framework will be provided to all finalists free of charge. 

What do I have to submit to enter for the Award?

The documents must be in a state for processing and submitted in German or English in an A4 format. Documents will not be returned.

The submitted documents must follow this content structure:

Required information (template provided):

• A brief description of the concept
• Naming of a project contact as well as, if applicable, a deputy including contact details
• A short personal or company presentation (competences, references and, if appropriate, areas of activity, number of employees, sales figures, form of company, etc.) 
• The advantages of the concept (reasons why)
• A detailed description of the concept (business idea, use cases, business model, etc.)
• Initial screenshots, images, outlines which are useful in describing the concept

Optional information: 

In addition to completing the template provided, all entrants are free to submit documents to describe and explain their concept (maximum 20 A4 pages). These documents must also be uploaded by means of the entry form provided. 

Can I enter more than one idea/concept?

Yes. There is no limit to the number of submissions each entrant can make; however, each entrant may only be awarded one prize per category.

What are the evaluation criteria?

When evaluating and selecting "Freestyle" ideas and concepts, the focus is placed on the following criteria:

• Creativity of the idea and concept
• Creative quality of the visualization
• Form and quality of the presentation
• Overall impression and longevity

Furthermore, the special aspects of the German media market and of German law must be taken into consideration.

• Creativity is assessed based on the following indicators:
• Problem awareness (identifying product deficiencies/identifying where the requirement for innovative solutions may exist)
• Originality in the sense of groundbreaking
• Flexibility (development of new problem-solving strategies)
• Elaboration (adapting the idea to fit reality)
• Conceptual level

When evaluating and selecting "Developer" ideas and concepts, the focus in the first round is on the following evaluation criteria:

• Creativity of the idea and concept
• Form and quality of the presentation
• Overall impression and longevity

Furthermore, the special aspects of the German media market and of German law must be taken into consideration.

Creativity is assessed based on the following indicators:

• Problem awareness (identifying product deficiencies/identifying where the requirement for innovative solutions may exist)
• Originality in the sense of groundbreaking
• Flexibility (development of new problem-solving strategies)
• Elaboration (adapting the idea to fit reality)
• Conceptual level

The focus in the final round of the Award is on the following evaluation criteria:

• Technical implementation based on MPF
• Technical solution
• Usability (e.g. ease of use)
• Customer benefit (e.g. special feature of the concept)

Who evaluates the submissions?

The jury comprises experts from different areas of society (the media industry, the university sector, representatives of the trade press or similar backgrounds) as well as expert decision-makers from Deutsche Telekom and Microsoft. This ensures that the applications and ideas submitted are objectively and competently evaluated. In each phase, the selection process is carried out based on objective considerations determined by the objectives and criteria of the competition.

Jury members employed by a participating company or an associated company as defined by Section 15 AktG may not, for reasons of equality of opportunity, evaluate the idea submitted by that particular company.

Are there any other entry requirements?

Eligibility: Private individuals, companies and institutions who share our passion for the opportunities presented by interactive television and who enjoy developing and implementing innovative ideas and creative concepts for the IPTV market are invited to enter.

Closing date for entries: Entrants must submit their concept outlines electronically to the website www.developergarden.com/itva using the entry form provided on the website. Documents must be fully completed and reach Deutsche Telekom in a state for processing by October 1, 2010 at the latest. Receipt of documents will be acknowledged.

Person in charge: Each participating company must name an authorized person in charge of its entry and a deputy as contacts (natural persons).

Exclusions: Employees of Deutsche Telekom AG and companies associated with Deutsche Telekom AG as defined in Section 15 of the German Companies Act (Aktiengesetz/AktG) may not, for reasons of equality of opportunity, enter for the Deutsche Telekom Interactive TV Award 2011.

Reimbursement of costs: All expenses incurred in connection with the application or entry must be born by the entrants. There is no entitlement to a refund by Deutsche Telekom AG.

What is the Developer Garden?

The Developer Garden is a new Web 2.0 community that revolves around software development. In the Developer Garden, Deutsche Telekom opens its interfaces to inventive programmers, and in doing so is systematically continuing along its path toward open development. The Interactive TV Award utilizes the Developer Garden to provide all entrants with information relevant to the competition. What's more, the Developer Garden offers all entrants the opportunity to exchange ideas about IPTV, the competition, and other questions relating to the television of tomorrow in one community. At the start of the first round, all entrants for the "Developer" award are provided with information on the Microsoft Mediaroom Presentation Framework after registering in the Developer Garden.