Bengaluru : – NTT DATA, a leading IT services provider, today announced CPC Analytics as the India finalist for its 10th International Open Innovation Contest. CPC Analytics is a management consulting firm focused on scientific and technical relationship management that enable people to share knowledge, innovate and operate more efficiently. This start-up was chosen for its best fit to the goals of the Open Innovation Contest, and its team’s ability to effectively address the contest’s posted challenges. KlearStack was presented with the Judges’ Choice Award for their intelligent document processing solution using AI and ML.

One of the goals of the contest is to promote companies using technologies that helps support society in a positive way. All entry categories must align with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, which promote progressive approaches to solving hunger, poverty and inequality. Specific recognition for outstanding alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals was given to boomNbuzz, a company that uses technology to provide affordable healthcare and education to people who do not have access to the same.

The competition, that was held at NTT DATA’s Whitefield campus in Bengaluru, saw a total of 11 shortlisted start-ups and early-stage companies compete for the position.

Innovation leaders and chief technology officers from NTT DATA will provide business development and mentorship to prepare CPC Analytics and KlearStack for the 2020 grand finale in Tokyo on January 24th, where all finalists from across the globe will compete. The 2020 grand finale contest winner will receive up to $100,000 to develop a proof of concept or pilot with NTT DATA clients and the support of a dedicated team of consultants, technologists and business experts.

NTT DATA’s Open Innovation Contest, an annual competition, operates as a reverse pitch, where entrepreneurs around the globe are invited to help solve some of NTT DATA’s challenges and apply new technologies that can help make the world a better place. The company has been hosting this annual contest for a decade to identify innovators whose unique ideas, combined with NTT DATA’s guidance can make a positive impact on society.

NTT DATA is conducting worldwide regional contests in 16 cities across the world, wherein they select 1-2 winner(s) in different business challenges. Following the selection of winner(s) at each regional contest, NTT DATA experts work with their respective winner(s) to determine where the winning company’s product or service could be used in NTT DATA’s client ecosystem and will help hone their presentation for the grand finale.

“The quality of applications and depth of innovation that the start-ups showcased during the pitch day were world class,“ said Kris Fitzgerald, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, NTT DATA Services. “NTT DATA is inspired by the tough competition here and we are excited to welcome CPC Analytics and KlearStack to join us in Tokyo for the grand finale in January 2020. Our culture at NTT DATA is to foster innovation, helping our clients bring improvements in the countries they work and we hope our thought leadership and continuous interactions with innovators benefit the Indian tech community.”

In this year’s contest NTT DATA posted business challenges in the following fields: Healthcare and Life Sciences; Finance, Insurance & Payments; Automation & Mobility as a Service; Telecom & IoT; Physical Stores & Marketing; Smart Automation; Data Distribution and Disruptive Social Innovation. 11 Companies were selected to pitch their potential solutions to specific challenges at the Bengaluru event

Last year’s global contest champion was Pune, India-based FlytBase;  a company focused on developing the world’s first Internet of Drones platform for easily deploying intelligent drones connected with cloud-based business applications.

In addition to FlytBase and other regional winners, NTT DATA is currently working with several of last year’s contestants on various commercial opportunities.