Madrid, 1 september 2015.- China Unicom, THTI, the Tsinghua University innovation platform and Telefónica Open Future_ (Telefónica's global entrepreneurship and investment network) have selected eight innovative projects developed in the field of the Internet of Things (IoT) as the winners of the global joint call for project submissions, which was launched in March during the Mobile World Congress, MWC2015, held in Barcelona.

The Spanish startups Ubikwa and Zolertia, Chilean firm WiseConn and the Chinese enterprises Yaoyao, Mugeda, Vigo, Amesante and LoveLive were the prize winners in this competition. This was out of 1000 startups projects from 16 different countries focusing on all types of economic sectors.

Smart Silo is a pioneering low-cost/no-maintenance solution developed by Ubikwa Systems for remote control of farm silos. This solution uses a 3D scanner to measure volume and stocks with precision, thereby making it easier to gain a better understanding of consumption of feed, re-stocking needs and improved general management of the stock, in addition to connecting farms with feed distributors by facilitating and optimising supply and logistics. Installing this system reduces CO2 emissions by 25%.

WiseConn has created a platform that integrates hardware and software to manage water and energy efficiently, with low monitoring costs and a central data platform. Its capacity for monitoring weather and soil conditions and for controlling water levels in reservoirs, wells and canals allow, among other things, watering requirements to be adapted completely and efficiently.

Zolertia resolves the problems of collecting, connecting and transmitting data remotely while requiring hardly any energy consumption. Zolertia's new hardware, Re-Mote, is user-friendly and allows the user to connect projects and products more quickly and efficiently, while managing to do this with an energy requirement that is 60 times lower than usual.

Yaoyao has developed a powerful tool for car insurance agents in a market like the Chinese market, where 40% of car insurance policies are taken out through agents who have close relationships with their customers. Yaoyao allows agents to integrate all relevant information for them and helps them to manage their customer portfolio and their ongoing customer relations, thus strengthening their bonds and loyalty and reinforcing their strategic positioning.

Mugeda enriches emotional communication in social networks by creating and distributing micro-cards with personalised interactive animations in a natural evolution, through mobile telephones, from traditional greetings cards, thank-you cards and so on. These micro-cards have a greater emotional connection than videos, voice messages or written messages. Mugeda is compatible with all social media and has been functioning for nearly two years on WeChat. During this time it has distributed around 500 million cards to some 140 million users.

Vigo is a whole digital ecosystem specialising in the transport sector which detects workplace fatigue. It sends an alert in the case of danger and conducts a complete analysis of drivers to detect cases of fatigue, thus minimising the risk of accidents. Vigo's solution boasts an innovative intelligent wire-free earpiece, an app and a cloud-based monitoring system; it incorporates tools to manage transport, such as the capacity to speak with the driver, optimised route management, working hour monitoring and management of merchandise delivery information, delivery note signing, barcode scanning and receipt of merchandise.

Amé Santé connects medical technology and Internet technology through mobiles and using app and wearables in order to monitor and analyse the state of health and wellbeing of patients with chronic conditions and pregnant women. Amé Santé also offers nutritional and medical recommendations and alerts, as well as remote access to medical professionals, pharmacists and nutritionists.

The LoveLive platform enables complete interactive participation in live events, covering the event's entire lifecycle and facilitating close-range social interactivity with an app and a wrist-worn wearable. LoveLive provides an active community and a real-time platform to interact directly with hosts, musicians and the audience, transforming each live event into a complete and unmatchable experience for everyone involved, including organisers, musicians and the audience.

The winning projects will have a specific plan tailored to them to accelerate their venture. The programme includes a space devoted to offices, developing pilot plans in the R&D units of the three companies, privileged access to sources of investment and considerable commercial and networking opportunities arising out of the extensive commercial base of the three companies.

They will also be able to access the incubator and accelerator network of the three companies in 17 countries, as well as the crowdworking space reserved especially for this competition in Madrid, Beijing and Shanghai.

According to Cristobal Rivas, CEO of Wiseconn, “This call for project submissions has enabled us to see the interest of Telefónica and its partners in developing joint solutions, as well as being able to discuss the Internet of Things with high-level professionals, something which always contributes a great deal of value to us”.

As Jaume Gelada, CEO of Ubikwa Systems, said, “To have been selected in this call for submissions has been really satisfying. We decided to submit an entry because it seemed an interesting challenge which would allow us to measure ourselves against the most innovative projects in the area of the Internet of Things. It is an excellent opportunity for us to open a commercial relationship with Telefónica Open Future_, China Unicom and THTI, accessing the markets where these great companies are present and accessing the necessary funding to accelerate our business project”.

In the words of Ana Segurado, director of Telefónica Open Future_, “The Internet of Things is one of the fields of technological endeavour with the greatest development potential due to its multiple applications, the innovations it will bring to our lives and the efficiency it contributes to existing processes. The alliance between Telefónica Open Future_, China Unicom and THTI comprises a powerful global platform for global development and growth of innovative projects in this field.”

Telefónica, China Unicom and THTI have been collaborating with each other since June 2014, when they signed an agreement to promote a global platform for open innovation by sharing their resources and sources of innovation.