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BT is a provider of communications solutions serving customers throughout the world. Currently a Project Director in BT’s Concept to Market IT organization, Steve Konya is looking to innovate with various technologies in order to reduce the cycle time of taking a product, service or application to the market.
Konya spoke to Pragati Simlote of CyberMedia News on the sidelines of Microsoft Imagine Cup in Agra. Excerpts from the interview where he shares BT’s plans of turning the dreams of the young developers into reality through the Microsoft BT Innovation Accelerator program.
What is the importance of software designing as a concept for BT?
BT is in the process of moving from traditional network to a world class MPLS based network across the globe. Traditional voice calls will not remain revenue generators for long, hence telecom companies need to look at other services, which in turn make software design a focus area for BT.
Could you throw some light on the Accelerator program?We are very keen and have a long track record in R&D. We have a big R&D center in UK and invested £727million in R&D in 2005-06. The Innovation Accelerator is a joint scheme from Microsoft and BT designed to spur on the world’s brightest and best young developers to create the technology and communications applications of the future. Microsoft and BT are investing over half a million pounds in the Innovation Accelerator to drive student innovation and help the next generation of software developers.
BT and Microsoft offer technical and business expertise, with facilitation support and carrier grade software service creation capabilities during this two-week intensive program.
What are you looking for in the teams while choosing them for the Accelerator program?
We are looking for teams with good idea, showing lots of innovation, things, which we could help them commercialize and take to market. We are also doing some project inside BT looking for applications that we can put on top of this for instance this new IP network we are implementing in the UK. We are putting in .5 million pounds this year also in the Accelerator program and plan to do that as a permanent feature for the Imagine Cup. This year we are selecting six teams for this program as opposed to three teams last year.
How have you helped the last year winners in giving shape to their dreams?
During the accelerator workshop last year the teams received technical and business advice from BT to help them develop and extend their Imagine Cup software applications into innovative and commercially viable solutions.
BT is working closely with last year’s winners – the Russian Team and the Slovenian team. Both these teams have already set up their own companies. We are also in close talks with the captain of the BrazEnglish team from last year to recruit him in the company.During the Accelerator Programme in January 2006 the students were introduced to some new technologies of BT and Microsoft. During the program some MBAs also worked together with the participants to introduce them to a business approach for the solutions that they have created.
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