Kiswe Mobile, Sceenic and TNO have won the 2020 Dutch Eurovision Song Contest Innovation Challenge. On September 30, in VondelCS in Amsterdam, the ten finalists pitched their concept to a jury that included representatives from NPO, AVROTROS and the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 project team. Each winner will receive an amount of up to €35,000 to realize their application. The organization of the Challenge was in the hands of MediaMatters, a project of Media Perspectives.
A total of 209 companies from 39 countries had submitted a solution for the Challenge. Of these, 43 were on the 'long list'. 10 companies from 6 countries were invited to the final.
Winners
The three winners are:
Kiswe Mobile (BE): Traditionally, each country has one TV signal that is made for that country. With Kiswe Mobile, a large number of different target groups can be created custom streams, where different commentators can be chosen, such as social media influencers, who seek interaction with the audience and can show the results in the stream. Kiswe participated in the MediaMatters program in 2018.
Sceenic (UK): Watch Together shows friends and family seeing and hearing each other through live real-time video chat, perfectly synchronized with the live stream of the show so that they can share those indispensable moments together. Sceenic is also an alumnus of MediaMatters and participated in the program in 2017.
TNO (NL): TNO provides UltraWide Viewing. UWV records the show with special cameras and gives a very high resolution view of the entire stage where the performances take place, which can be projected in real size on large screens, for example in cinemas and other event locations, so that the audience can experience the performance there as if they were there.
Innovation
Martijn van Dam, member of the board of NPO and responsible for innovation: "These three selected solutions are a good example of innovative media companies we like to work with to stimulate innovation in media. Together with them, we will investigate how the Eurovision Song Contest can become even more interactive and innovative."
Bert Kok and Rick van Dijk of MediaMatters are also pleased with the result. "We see that tech companies are very eager to show what they're capable of. In this case they have come up with some very creative and innovative solutions. A Challenge like this can be a valuable tool for companies and organizations such as NPO to give innovation an extra boost".
In the coming period, the winners will try to realize their application. The organization will eventually decide whether the developed application will go into production and be linked to the show.
The organization of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 in the Netherlands is a collaboration between NPO, NOS and AVROTROS, in co-production with the EBU. The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 will be held on May 12, 14 and 16 in Rotterdam Ahoy.