Bangalore: Unisys announced today that entries are open for the fourth annual Cloud 20/20 competition, which recognises innovative thinking among students across India in addressing the technical challenges of cloud computing. In an evolution of the contest, this year participants are being asked to put theory into practice by working in teams of four, supported by two project guides, to showcase live cloud computing projects.
 
The topics for this year focus on the real-world challenges of implementing successful cloud computing solutions. This year’s contest topics include: Automation for Cloud Computing; Virtualization; Application Development for the Cloud; Security Issues in the Cloud; Moving Workloads from Datacenters to the Cloud; Consumerization of IT; Potential Future Technologies, Open Source Technologies and Disruptive Technologies. Registration for the contest closes on September 5, 2012.
 
LNV Samy, Vice President, Technology and Services - India, China and Australia, said, “Cloud computing offers great potential for speeding innovation, lowering costs and making businesses more agile, but it also comes with its own challenges. With this year’s contest, students will be given hands-on exposure to move beyond theory in developing real-world cloud solutions. The high caliber of entries that we have received in the past three years of the contest is indicative of the tremendous talent pool of skilful and analytical young people in India, who will become tomorrow’s IT leaders.”
 
Unisys Cloud 20/20 Version 4.0 is open to research students and post-graduates as well as to pre-final and final year engineering students in Computer Science, Information Technology and other related areas of specialization. The contest will culminate in an event in Bangalore on February 22, 2013, in which five finalists will have the opportunity to demonstrate their technical project to a panel of distinguished judges from the industry and academia.
 
The contest has four stages – submission of abstracts, technical project submission, preliminary demonstration round and the final technical demonstration. Contest winners stand to win cash prizes of up to one lakh and merit certificates. They will also be given the opportunity to participate in internship projects and explore career options with Unisys.
 
Launched in October 2009, the contest has drawn large and growing participation from universities across India. The number of participating institutes grew to 2,400 in 2011, with more than 80 percent of institutes from non-metropolitan cities.
 
For further information on Cloud 20/20 and registration details, log on to: http://utfi.co.in/ or http://www.app3.unisys.com/common/about__unisys/Cloud20_20V4/index.html