Dell, University of Texas Invite College Students Worldwide to Help Change the World

Dell and the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service at The University of Texas are seeking undergraduate and graduate students from universities and colleges around the world to share their ideas for making the world a better place. Students winning the grand prize in the 2009 Dell Social Innovation Competition, now accepting submissions, will receive $50,000 to help turn their ideas into a reality.

• Students Invited to Propose Ideas for Solving Social Challenges
• Global Community to Vote on Merit of Ideas
• Winner to Receive up to $50,000 to Create and Launch Social Venture

The News:

Students are invited to brainstorm and submit a creative, innovative idea to tackle a pressing social issue and enter it at www.dellsocialinnovationcompetition.com. Along with students, citizens worldwide are invited to comment on, vote for and discuss the ideas in an online community forum. The community’s preferences will factor into the selection of the grand prize winner.

· Teams selected as semifinalists by judges and the community will be asked to write a business plan and submit a three-minute video for consideration. Of the semifinalists, three teams will be invited to Austin, Texas, on May 7, 2009, where they’ll present to a panel of judges for the chance to win the $50,000 grand prize.

· Submissions will be judged on overall concept; demonstration of the opportunity; assessed social impact; financial viability and sustainability; demonstrated leadership ability; management team; performance benchmarks; assessed risk and contingency plans.

· The contest Web site represents a new iteration of IdeaStorm, a site established by Dell to let people share their ideas, vote on those having the most merit and discuss them in an online forum.

· Separately, Dell also called today for entries for its global 2009 Dell Small Business Excellence Award. In its sixth year in the United States and second year globally, the award gives small businesses applying technology in innovative ways to better serve customers a chance at up to US$50,000 in Dell solutions and a meeting with Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell.

Quotes:

· The young minds in our colleges and universities are bursting with ideas for making the world a better place – they often just lack resources to make them a reality,” said Gil Casellas, vice president of Corporate Responsibility at Dell. “The Dell Social Innovation Competition will harness those ideas, feed them with the energy of the online community, and then empower them with the funds to make them a reality.”

·“This competition is designed to throw a match to the powder keg of enthusiasm and idealism that exists across college and university campuses,” said Dr. Peter Frumkin, director of the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service at The University of Texas at Austin.

“By channeling young people’s impulses to change the world in a positive direction, we think this project can generate a large number of innovative solutions to longstanding public problems."