NAVTEQ Teams With Berkeley Mobile International Collaborative (BMIC) to Launch First University Mobile Challenge

BMIC student competition part of ongoing collaboration with NAVTEQ University Program

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Feb 14, 2011, 03:00 ET

BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- NAVTEQ, the leading global provider of maps, traffic and location data enabling navigation, location-based services and mobile advertising around the world, has announced its sponsorship of the Berkeley Mobile International Collaborative's (BMIC's) first annual University Mobile Challenge. The University Mobile Challenge is a competition among teams of engineering and business students who are studying entrepreneurship at universities in North America, Europe and Asia. NAVTEQ's sponsorship of the University Mobile Challenge is part of an ongoing collaboration between BMIC and the recently launched NAVTEQ University Program.

The inaugural challenge kicked-off during the 2010 fall school semester. During the semester, a local "Mobile App Challenge" competition took place at eleven participating universities where the best mobile application built by a student team was selected. Finalists of these local university challenges were then invited to the Mobile World Congress industry event in Barcelona, Spain to compete in the University Mobile Challenge to be held later today. Participating schools include: Bipsly, Ecole Centrale de Paris; University of California, Berkeley; Essec Paris; Florida State University; Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur; King Saud University; Politecnico di Torino; Stanford University; Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich; University of Michigan and Tsinghua University.

All eleven finalist teams created their own unique mobile app idea or an innovative advancement on an existing app. The teams worked as start-up companies and completed three major tasks in time for the competition judging:

Identify, design and develop their startup's app
Survey their company's competition in the market and develop a workable business case
Prepare and deliver a pitch for financial support to enable them to complete the app's development and take it to marketplace

NAVTEQ is a founding sponsor of the University Mobile Challenge and is serving as a judge of the competition, along with additional founding sponsors. NAVTEQ's sponsorship is part of an ongoing collaboration between BMIC and the recently launched NAVTEQ University Program, an academic outreach initiative which aims to drive innovation in location-enabled technologies at the university level. Qualified universities can also work directly with NAVTEQ to support classroom initiatives as well as pursue advanced research projects relating to location technologies.

"NAVTEQ's participation in the University Mobile Challenge is enormously important to BMIC as we're a non-profit committed to advancing entrepreneurship education for college students from all over the globe," said Bill Washburn, executive director, Berkeley Mobile International Collaborative. "It is clear that students have an intrinsic appreciation for the power of mobile location, and we believe students will benefit enormously by gaining awareness of and direct access to NAVTEQ's global developer community, resources and tools."

"Programs such as BMIC's University Mobile Challenge tap into college students' creativity and entrepreneurial spirit, and in turn, drive increased innovation in mobile technology," said Marc Naddell, vice president, partner and developer programs, NAVTEQ. "NAVTEQ looks to support these types of efforts by providing the academic audience with the most sophisticated and accurate map products and services. We are pleased to sponsor the University Mobile Challenge and to collaborate with BMIC to identify and support new and innovative uses of location in app development."

The University Mobile Challenge's panel of judges will consist of venture capital partners and competition sponsors, including NAVTEQ. The winning team will be announced today at an awards ceremony at Mobile World Congress and will officially present its app to the public during a dinner for developers, entrepreneurs and venture capital partners.

The NAVTEQ University Program, a part of the NAVTEQ Network for Developers™, provides students and faculty with expanded and complimentary access to the most sophisticated and powerful geospatial tools, APIs and educational resources related to using map products and services. The program aims to better educate tomorrow's technology professionals, support research and drive innovation. The NAVTEQ University Program also partners directly with institutions of higher learning to create curricula and programs to stimulate innovation and leverage opportunities with industry.

For more information on the NAVTEQ University Program, visit www.nn4d.com/university. For more information on the BMIC University Mobile Challenge, visit http://bmic.org/.

About NAVTEQ

NAVTEQ is the leading global provider of maps, traffic and location data (digital location content) enabling navigation, location-based services and mobile advertising around the world. NAVTEQ supplies comprehensive digital location content to power automotive navigation systems, portable and wireless devices, Internet-based mapping applications and government and business solutions. The Chicago-based company was founded in 1985 and has over 5400 employees located in 214 offices in 49 countries.

About NAVTEQ Network for Developers™

NAVTEQ Network for Developers (www.NN4D.com) provides developers with the technical and business support needed to build, showcase and launch innovative location-enabled web and mobile solutions for individuals and enterprises. NN4D includes mapping APIs, LBS content, point of interest data and routing information as well as geospatial platforms and tools from NAVTEQ and its partners. Developers new to the site can register at www.NN4D.com/joindevelopers.

About Berkeley Mobile International Collaborative

Berkeley Mobile International Collaborative (BMIC) is a nonprofit organization founded at the University of California, Berkeley in 2010 to create strategic relationships between mobile companies, innovative universities and entrepreneurial students. Headquartered in San Francisco, BMIC runs global university and intercollegiate startup competitions among teams of students studying entrepreneurial technology. In collaboration with its university partners and commercial sponsors, BMIC brings innovation challenges as well as world-class tools, resources and materials to college students – the next generation of innovative mobile professionals. For more information about the organization and its programs, visit www.bmic.org.

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