MOTOFWRD Competition

Imagine your car contacting the mechanic directly to schedule its next oil change or downloading a music video from your car stereo to watch on a conference call with a friend across the globe.

Is this the future of communications? You tell us.

To help visualise the next generation of seamless mobility, Motorola today launched MOTOFWRD, a nationwide competition challenging emerging innovators to depict, either through words or images, how tomorrow’s society will answer consumer demands to live life, wherever, whenever and however. Seamless mobility provides easy, uninterrupted access to the communication, information and entertainment you want anytime, regardless of the device, service, network or location.

"Through the MOTOFWRD competition we are inspiring rising innovators to inspire us," said Ed Zander, chairman and CEO, Motorola Inc. "The ability to dream, to imagine the possibilities is one of the greatest assets of today’s youth and this programme allows the next generation of scientists, inventors and designers to show us their best."

Whether using wearable wireless technology to listen to music or arming employees for on-the-go office productivity, Motorola’s vision of seamless mobility provides fluid connections between people, things and information – at home, at work, in the car and anywhere in-between. Leveraging this information, MOTOFWRD entrants will redefine wireless communications for the future.

"The emerging communication environment will be designed and defined by today’s young people who will mould and shape the available technologies in innovative ways," says Shiv Bakhshi, director for wireless research at IDC. "It has always been the prerogative of youth to challenge established orders and today’s youth, more than any technology company or regulator, is likely to drive the need for seamless mobility."

Entries will be judged by a panel of today’s most creative and forward thinking minds including futures director of the Future Laboratory, Martin Raymond, academic and member of the Global Future Forum, Liselotte Lyngsø, and editor-in-chief of top-selling gadget magazine, Stuff, Tom Dunmore. The judges have been commissioned to write white papers, offering their unique points of view on the ways society will communicate and interact in the future.

University students focusing on science, technology, engineering, writing, film and other arts and science disciplines can submit written or visual entries, including essays, white papers, short stories, short films, comic strips or digital art to express their view of seamless mobility and bring the next wave of connectivity to life.

"Motorola has a long-standing commitment to supporting education initiatives all over the world, including the Lego League in Germany, the Sci-Fun Technology Road Show in the UK and the US MATHCOUNTS® Foundation," said Zander. "MOTOFWRD is the latest extension of the ways our company supports the best and brightest."

There will be one grand prize awarded, which includes a Bluetooth equipped car, a scholarship cheque for £5,000, a suite of the company’s most advanced seamless mobility products and a six-week summer internship at one of Motorola’s UK locations, depending on the winning student’s areas of interest. There is a stipend of £1,500 paid to the winner if they take up the internship.

Three runners up will receive Motorola seamless mobility product prize packages.

Submissions will be accepted from 02 November 2005. Closing date is February 17 2006 and the winners will be announced in March 2006.

MOTOFWRD is open to UK students, aged 18 or over, in full or part-time higher education in the United Kingdom. All MOTOFWRD rules and requirements can be found at www.motorola.com/uk/motofwrd