Verizon has announced a competition with $10 million in prizes, including a $1 million top prize, for applications in healthcare, education, and sustainability that make use of Verizon’s platforms.

The competition was announced by Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. McAdam used his keynote speech to talk about the big challenges facing the world, and how the technology industry can change the world for better. Describing how Verizon works with product developers to embed LTE into new devices and machines, he said,

“At Verizon, we know that, to really move the industry forward, the whole ecosystem needs to be involved in the innovation process. We’re convinced we can use this collaborative model to create billions of dollars of social benefits … and grow the market at the same time. What we need is for the best minds in the technology industry to figure out how to tap the network’s capabilities to change the world for the better.”

The Verizon Powerful Answers Award, which is open to US based companies and individuals, will be given to innovative applications, devices and solutions that take advantage of our Verizon’s converged mobile, video and cloud platforms to drive positive social change. 

The company will award a total of $10 million in grand prizes, runner-up prizes qand honorable mention prizes, to innovations in the fields of health care, education and sustainability. Verizon is appointing an independent panel of experts to judge the entries, and will work with the winners to help them bring their ideas to market.

The panel of judges will include the Consumer Electronics Association Chairman Gary Shapiro. More details of the year long competition will be announced before its official launch on March 31. In the meantime Verizon has launched a website where you can find our about the award and register to get updates.