Mobility Business Innovation Contest (M-BIC) 2023 is now set to take place.
This year’s theme is “Automated Mobility” and entries will be accepted from April 1st.
The “Mobility Business Innovation Contest (M-BIC),” which was first held in 2022, will be held again in 2023.
The contest, sponsored by the Mobility Innovation Alliance, is based on the concept of “using automated mobility to improve society and make the future more interesting”. It will feature business plans that utilize automated mobility, such as self-driving cars and drones, as a means to transform society. The contestants will compete with business plans that make use of such mobility.
The unique feature of this competition is that ideas are evaluated not only from the standpoint of profitability, but also from the standpoint of “whether or not they can concretely depict how society and the lives and experiences of customers will be changed.
In addition, this is a unique co-creation and competition-type contest in which participating student teams learn and discuss together with other teams and participants from related companies and ministries in multiple workshops to refine their proposals and aim for the final judging.
Entry for the contest is scheduled to be accepted from April 1st on the official website. Prior to that, pre-entry, in which relevant information is available, began on February 1st.
▼ Information about the contest is available on the official website and SNS.
M-BIC 2023 official website: http://m-bic.jpn.org/2023
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mbic_official
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mbic.official
Concept & Features
The concept of M-BIC 2023 is to “use automated mobility to make society better and the future more interesting. The contest is characterized by the fact that ideas will be evaluated not only from the standpoint of profitability, but also from the standpoint of society, such as “whether or not the idea can concretely depict how the lives and experiences of society and customers will be changed.
Contest theme
The contest theme is to “Propose an innovative business plan that utilizes automated mobility 10 years from now”. “Automated mobility” refers to objects that can move through public space (roadway/sidewalk/air/sea) without being driven or controlled by humans. Typical examples include level 4 or_higher self-driving cars, drones, wheelchairs that move on sidewalks, and delivery robots.
The proposal team is free to make any assumptions about what society will be like 10 years from now. The proposals that cannot be realized within the current legal system are also acceptable. It is expected that the teams will propose new legal systems, changes to existing systems, and issues by backcasting from the ideal future and the future they want to create.
Prizes
The Grand Prize (200,000 yen) and the Prize for Excellence (100,000 yen) will be awarded as the prizes of organizer.
In addition, there will be a special award.
Eligibility
The eligibility requirements for application are as follows;
– University, graduate, and technical college students (up to 30 years old at the time of application)
– Ability to give presentations in Japanese or English
– Applicants must be able to apply with a team of at least 2 students & a faculty advisor
Schedule
– Pre-entry for student teams has begun from February 1, 2023. It will end on March 31, 2023. Once you have made your pre-entry, we will send you information & other information useful for your entry to the address you have registered. Please submit your entry through the official website page*1.
– Entries for student teams will be accepted from April 1 to April 30, 2023.
– Several workshops with participants from student teams, sponsors, and related ministries and agencies will be held thereafter. (Closed to the public)
– The final judging will be held in September 2023. The final review meeting will be available online for all to view.
The schedule is subject to change in light of the new coronavirus situation & other factors. Please check the official website*2 for the latest information.
*1 http://m-bic.jpn.org/2023/entry/ *2 http://m-bic.jpn.org/2023/
Reference: M-BIC 2022 Proposal Ideas
The contest theme for M-BIC 2022 was “Propose an innovative business plan utilizing automated driving technology.” Thirteen student teams from 10 universities, graduate schools, and technical colleges across Japan participated in the contest and presented the results of their discussions with participants from sponsoring companies and related ministries and agencies over a period of about six months at the final judging on December 10, 2022.
The proposals of all teams at the final judging can be viewed on the official M-BIC 2022 website in the form of a video archive.
(https://webpark5061.sakura.ne.jp/2022/category/contestant/)
For more information on the final judging and the winning teams, please see below.
Press Release: Winners of M-BIC2022, a contest for business ideas utilizing automated driving, have been selected! The Grand Prize winner is “V-park Virtual Parking Lot,” the Excellence Award winner is “Mystery Tour by Automated Driving,” and the Digital Agency Mobility Team Special Prize is “Automated Driving Business for Optimization of Logistics Systems”.
(https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000003.000107253.html)
