By Emeka Aginam, in Sydney, Australia

Barely few days  to end the voting process for the people’s choice award in the ongoing Microsoft Imagine Cup 2012 worldwide finals holding  in Sydney, Australia, Egypt is leading other African countries in people’s choice award followed by Uganda which is ranked 18^th position.

The people’s  choice award sponsored by Bing which  provides people  with   the opportunity to vote for their  favourite Imagine Cup Worldwide Finalist team  had started at 14:00 Greenwich Mean Time (“GMT”) on May 23, 2012, and   will end at 14:00 GMT on July 9, 2012 .

Meanwhile, Czech Republic is ranked first globally followed by India which is ranked 2^nd in the people choice  which  is attracting votes  from all parts of the world.

Okoya Timileyin and Oludayo Alli are currently flying Nigerian flag at the ongoing Microsoft Imagine Cup software competition holding in Sydney, Australia doing their presentation before panle of judges; Photo by Emeka Aginam.

By the latest checklist, Senegal is also ranked 30^th position while Nigeria is ranked 53th position even with their innovative solution that is expected to make a change in health sector through quick emergency response.

Team GRAVITY from Nigeria   comprises of Alli Oludayo of Psychology department and Okoya Timileyin of Elect/Elect Engineering of Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU-Ile Ife respectively.

It would be recalled that Nigerian solution had been ranked 23 at the early beginning when voting process started.

Although this is far from the rating of the  team from the Federal University of Technology Akure, (FUTA) which was ranked 5^th position globally  during last year Imagine Cup, it is believed that with more votes  from Nigeria and across the globe, Nigerian team  currently flying Nigerian flag in Sydney where Microsoft has brought together students from all over the world for the global contest could still be rated high.

According to keen observers, Nigerian solution has possibility of ranking among the first five solutions globally as a result of its innovation,

The Teams were given the opportunity to submit a video to show  their project. Your votes will determine which team takes home the $10,000 USD prize.

Meanwhile,  61 teams submitted videos  packed with innovative ideas that will make the world a better place. The winning team will be announced on-stage at the Worldwide Finals in Sydney, Australia on 10 July.

However, only four African countries including Nigeria, Uganda and Egypt and Senegal had submitted their applications for the people’s choice award in the ongoing Microsoft Imagine Cup software competition.

Reacting to the current ranking of Nigerian solution, SwiftER, the team leader  of the Nigerian team, Oludayo Alli, a final psychology department of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State told Vanguard Hi-Tech after their presentation that there was still hope that their solution can still be ranked among the first five.

“We were ranked 26^th and later dropped to the current position.  I believe that if Nigerians can vote for our solution, we can still be ranked before the end of the voting process on Monday next week” he explained.

Also speaking,   Shina Oyetosho, Developer & Platform Evangelism Lead , Microsoft Anglophone West Africa who led the Nigerian team to Australia noted that if 10% of Nigerian will vote, there was no reason the their solution cannot be ranked first in the people’s choice award.

“The team had brilliant ideas. They have innovative solution. I believe that they will go for second round having done well during their presentation before panel of judges.” He added.

Overview of the award:

Each year, Microsoft ask the world to vote for the Imagine Cup entry that they think provides the best solution to the world’s toughest problems. The People’s Choice Award is the only Award in the Imagine Cup where the winning team is chosen by the general public. The People’s Choice Award is a great opportunity for all Imagine Cup 2012 Finalists to share their work with a truly global audience.

Eligibilty:

Team is eligible to enter this award if their solution has been selected to advance to compete in the Worldwide Finals in one of the following Competitions or Challenges: Software Design, Game Design: Phone, Game Design: Xbox/Windows, IT Challenge, Kinect Fun Labs Challenge, Windows Metro Style App Challenge, Windows Azure Challenge, Windows Phone Challenge.

How entries are judged:

Viewers will be able to watch the video and vote for the video using a “like” feature on imaginecup.com/PCA. Limit one (1) “like” per video per user per day.

At the conclusion of the voting period on July 9, 2012 at 14:00 GMT, the Team with the highest number of “likes” will be determined the winner. In the event of a tie, the entry who received the most votes during the last 24 hours of the voting period will be the winner.

Price:

The prize, Microsoft said  will be awarded onsite at the Worldwide Finals in Sydney, Australia on July 10, 2012. The prize is to be divided equally among each officially registered member of the Team.

It would be recalled that 106 teams are currently representing their countries in Sydney, Australia  in the ongoing  Microsoft Imagine Cup , the world’s premier student technology competition.

It would be recalled that  yesterday marked  the beginning of the Imagine Cup 2012 Worldwide Finals.

After competing in their local Imagine Cup competitions, more than 350 students successfully earned the chance to represent their countries at the Worldwide Finals. These elite students have travelled from all around the world to Sydney, Australia to showcase their innovative ideas for solving some of the world’s toughest problems.