GIT on VOIZE

Let the tournament begin!

By Voize on 17 Oct 2009 at 10:40am

Students from Malaysian universities will for the first time be participating in the prestigious Stanford Global Innovation Tournament that is being held in conjunction with the Global Entrepreneurship Week (16-22 November). The Stanford Global Innovation Tournament was founded by Stanford Technology Ventures Program in 2008 in conjunction with GEW. It is a fast-paced competition that will challenge student teams to solve a common, world problem in about eight days, creating as much value as possible. In Malaysia, Bank Rakyat has come forward as a principal sponsor for the Global innovation Tournament (GIT) in Malaysia.

“GIT in Malaysia has taken a new twist as it comes in TWO different packages; the national level and the global level,” explained Dash, CEO of Warisan Global, the Malaysia host of GEW. Alpha Catalyst Consulting, a boutique Innovation consulting company doing regional work, based in Malaysia is the lead organization that is spearheading GIT here. Azim Pawanchik, the founder of Alpha Catalyst Consulting, also the Innovation Catalyst for GEW added, “becoming successful in the 21st century economy requires more than just resourceful management. Innovation is the key to success. As such, partaking in creative activity is a pre-requisite in spurring ingenious ideas that will in turn lead to innovation and this is what GIT intends to do; to provide the platform for idea generation.”

Since the inception of GEW last year, Malaysia has been leading the way with out-of-the box activities in igniting GEW locally as well as in the global arena. Again, Malaysia has chartered another milestone by introducing the Malaysian version of GIT known as GIT Malaysian Challenge (GIT MC) as a prelude to the Global tournament.

Datuk Kamaruzaman Che Mat, Managing Director of Bank Rakyat, the Principal Sponsor of the GIT MC emphasized the importance of innovation in today’s thriving economy. He strongly pointed out that, “as a financial institution, Bank Rakyat has to be creative in finding the best solutions for our customers. Therefore, we value innovation greatly as that’s what makes us different from our peers. In fact, we were the first to establish an Innovation and Technology Department within the local financial circle. GIT MC is indeed in line with our passion in driving innovation amongst all walks of Malaysians, especially the youth.”
He further added, “the GIT MC will challenge participants to create solutions within 10 days to a set of Malaysian problems that will be announced on 16th October 2009 whilst the global challenge will be released on the 4th November by Stanford University.”

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