Université Laval takes top prize at GBC

Published 02/10/2018

A system to reward public services usage while providing data back to local governments; an event management and emergency services platform; and a transport and freight logistics system to reduce fuel consumption have been recognised at the 2018 Global Business Challenge in Brisbane.

The competition attracted entries from 134 teams and 52 universities, and challenged students to come up with innovative and novel solutions for improving public safety, culminating in a four-day competition in Queensland.

“It means that now we’re officially recognised by the industry and also the government”

“This has been a long process,” said GBC founder and director of industry projects at the Queensland University Technology Peter Beven.

“It’s a really intensive week of stress, of lack of sleep, of grumpiness, of being presented with a lot of information that teams have to make sense of, applying their solutions into context they’re not familiar with,” he explained.

Among the winners, the ‘Living technology together’ platform, created by R-Evolution from Université Laval in Quebec, took the top prize.

The service seeks to improve health and reduce waste through a rewards program for citizens while also providing governments with data for allocating resources.

Team member Andreea Milasan said they were shocked to win.

“We invested a lot of time and a thorough, thoughtful process,” she told The PIE News.

“We wanted to think more in terms of how do we encourage citizens to actually participate in these programs and also relay information… back to the government so in turn they can better cater to their needs.”

Gauntlet, comprised of international students from Germany’s European School of Management and Technology, came in second and won the industry prize for their smart wristband, which doubles as an entry ticket and emergency services tool in case of evacuation at festivals and concerts.

“For our team, it’s fantastic recognition,” said team leader Lawrence Jyh-Yeu Chen.

“It means that now we’re officially recognised by the industry and also the government; that Gauntlet really, really will be helpful and people need it. Those kinds of things that can really encourage us to move on to the section stage in the future.”

Created in 2014 as part of the G20 Summit held in Brisbane, the GBC is a competition held in collaboration between the Queensland University of Technology, the University of Queensland, and Griffith University.

Last year’s winners, Smart Blox, are currently in the development stages of their project.

2018 Global Business Challenge Winners

• First Place – R-Evolution, Université Laval, Canada
• Second Place – Gauntlet, European School of Management and Technology, Germany
• Third Place – Feros, University of Oregon and Carnegie Mellon University, US
• Industry Prize – Gauntlet, European School of Management and Technology, Germany
• Queensland Government Prize – FRED, University of Pittsburgh, US

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