The 2022 Huawei Global Mobile Innovation & Development Competition officially started for registration last Friday. This competition comprises two contests — the Huawei Global App Innovation Contest (Apps UP) and Global AI Challenge. Apps UP, which has now entered its third consecutive year, has received nearly 10,000 submissions from almost 10,000 developers. Under the theme of “Together We Innovate”, Apps UP has set aside over US$1 million as prize money this year. Launched on the same day as Apps UP, the Global AI Challenge aims to rally global campus talent to explore new AI frontiers.
“Huawei hopes to gather global developers to bring a seamless AI experience to more consumers worldwide, for a digital future,” said Wang Yue, President of Huawei Consumer Cloud Service Application Ecosystem BU, at the competition’s launch event.
Apps UP: Enticing prizes and upgraded rules
Apps UP launched in Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East & Africa, and China simultaneously.
New awards have been set up for specific competition regions to localise the HMS ecosystem, including the Best Arabic App in Middle East & Africa, the Best Game Innovation Award in Latin America, and the AppGallery Rising Star App in Asia Pacific.
In China Competition Region, along with the Best App, Best Game, Best Social Impact App, All-Scenario Coverage Award, and Tech Women’s Award, two new awards have been set up this year: the Best Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) Innovation Award to encourage innovative apps with new HMS capabilities and services, and the Student Innovation Award to recognise outstanding student developers showcasing innovative works that enrich the seamless AI experience.
A range of incentives are provided for this year’s contestants, including the serverless service vouchers from AppGallery Connect.
The Global AI Challenge: Exploring new AI frontiers
The Global AI Challenge has invited acclaimed international AI experts to provide contestants with advice and mentorships. Experts includes Zhi-Hua Zhou, Professor and Head of the Department of Computer Science and Technology at Nanjing University and a foreign member of the Academy of Europe; Pascal Van Hentenryck, AAAI Fellow, A. Russell Chandler III Chair, and Professor at the H. Milton Stewart School; and Giuseppe De Giacomo, AAAI Fellow, ACM Fellow, and Full Professor at Sapienza University of Rome.
Experts assessed potential contest proposals from technical innovation, practical value, risk estimation, popularity, and difficulty, and ultimately settled on three proposals — “knowledge-driven spoken dialogue”, “intelligent quality inspection of lane rendering data”, and “CTR prediction through cross-domain data from ads and news feeds”.
The contest will include two stages — preliminary and elite final. Following the preliminary stage, seven teams will be selected from each proposal to enter the elite final, where a total of 21 teams will compete for cash prizes via an online competition and presentation. Huawei’s Shining Star Program, a long-term developer engagement program, has set aside US$210,000 as prize money for the contest. The champion will be awarded US$35,000, the first runner-up US$15,000, and the second runner-up US$10,000. In addition, four teams will earn an honorary mention, with each winning US$2,500.
Huawei has been passionately pursuing its seamless AI life strategy, of which the HMS ecosystem is supported across multiple devices worldwide. The 2022 competition aims to stimulate innovations and continue to provide seamless AI experiences for users.