This story is from August 17, 2006

Grooming talent: Microsoft and BT lead the way

R Raghavendra / TNN / Aug 17, 2006, 00:22 IST

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If Microsoft does it by encouraging students to come up with the best idea, BT then takes over by turning them into reality.

Grooming talent: Microsoft and BT lead the way

BANGALORE: Necessity is the mother of invention. Tu Nguyen (pronounced To Win) created a software solution called iPod in 2003.
iPod (now called Hotpad) was a programme that enabled translation of orders from English to Vietnamese. Design was to help Vietnamese chefs communicate better with American waiters in his parents'restaurant in Omaha, Nebraska.
Today, he is the V-P of technology at DocCentre.Over the last three years, he has raised $1 million in self-funding from successful sales contracts and consulting. The local TV station ran a story on his solution and seven other restaurants hired him to employ similar solutions.
"I wasn't a developer. But I turned to Microsoft's .NET framework for web services because my parents needed a better way for American-born-waiters in their restaurant to communicate with the Vietnamese chefs in the kitchen,"says Tu.

Interestingly, it all began in 2003 when Tu competed in Microsoft's Imagine Cup and was adjudged winner. The world's largest software manufacturer and the leading UK-based communications player BT have joined hands to back some brightest ideas among students.
If Microsoft does it by encouraging students to come up with the best idea in a competition called Imagine Cup, BT then takes over by actually working on some of these ideas and turning them into reality.

This year too was no exception. India played host to the Imagine Cup finals and the theme was healthcare. And some of the solutions on display included one where healthcare not only becomes accessible but also technology driven; where a doctor is aware of your illness even before you actually reach him; where you actually play a videogame as part of your daily workout.
While the Indians made it to the finals, Italy, Brazil and Norway were adjudged as the top three teams. A total of 12 teams made it to the finals, showcasing 12 new ways to solve some important healthcare problems in the world.
"About 10 months ago, I had lobbied for the event to be held in India because I felt that it was time to tell the India story. We made a fairly strong bid. We are stunned and humbled by the innovation that we have seen here.
Similarly, we have even showcased India to these people," says Ravi Venkatesan, chairman, Microsoft Corporation India.
BT joined hands with Microsoft only last year to start the Accelerator Programme to nurture certain top ideas and progress towards converting them into full-fledged, commercially viable products of the future.
"Utility of this technology has no limit. We are currently constructing the website for pop singer Robbie Williams. We have discussed with his manager on utilising this software to go ahead with it," says Steve Konya, project director, BT Exact-concept to market.

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