Received a tip about an interesting VoIP/SIP/IMS developer's challenge. Relatedly, I would be remiss if I didn't mention TMC's Communications Developer show in L.A. California September 16-18th, which is co-located with ITEXPO - one of, if not the best attended communications/telecom show. The Communications Developer show targets developers and focuses on VoIP development, IMS, open source, security, and more. It also includes a SIP Development Workshop.

Now onto the challenge... A1 launched an international developer challenge Mobile communication will be more and more embedded in an overall communication experience which is device-independent and without network borders: services are being introduced daily that connect mobile communication possibilities with the Internet. The international developer challenge "A1 InnovationDays" now invites creative developers addressing the guiding theme "Open Communication by Open Standards" by submitting their ideas that create better communication services.

A1 InnovationDays are sponsored by the Austrian mobile network operator mobilkom austria. The sponsor will reward prizes for the best open source software applications making use of standardised interfaces and protocols such as IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) und SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) ? for instance, a week of powder snow skiiing in the Austrian alps. The sponsor will also announce the possibility to 'deploy to market' interesting services together with mobilkom austria. Imagine seeing your SIP/IMS idea deployed on millions of mobile phones. Sweet!

Moreover, A1 InnovationDays are not only targeting software developers but also generally interested user who may participate in the discussion about future services through their voting and comments. During a period of 7 weeks, all registered users on the website may promote or demote submitted ideas. On August 15, 2008, the best ranked ideas will be judged by a jury. Five ideas will then be selected and invited to the prototyping event, taking place from August 29 ? September 1, 2008 at the monastery Und (Austria, near Vienna). There, each team will develop/enhance/finalise its prototype and present it to the audience and jury.

So what sort of applications are they looking for?

We welcome all types of applications that are novel, benefit possible users and leverage A1 technology enablers and building blocks to deliver a better communication experience. Since at the current stage, the A1 IMS infrastructure is not fully exploited, we are also welcoming ideas that suggest functionalities that yet have to be implemented. The technological focus for this first challenge is SIP and IMS, but nevertheless you can submit ideas that are not dealing with SIP or IMS. Bear in mind that one of the criteria for idea selection is referring to these two technologies.

We expect client-side applications implemented with different SIP interpretations (SIP-stacks) as well as server-side applications. The development of server applications will be supported by a dedicated IMS-framework, named "IMS-in-a-Bottle", since we understand that IMS server-side applications are complex.

We strongly believe that IP-based communication will be even more dominant in a few years. The basis for all applications, whether it's plain telephony or the fancy remote control of your fridge at home, is a direct, peer-to-peer IP connection. That's exactly the essence of IMS, the IP Multimedia Subsystem. IMS is the standardized, vendor-, operator- and even network-independent technological platform to realize peer-to-peer communication. SIP, the Session Initiation Protocol is the communication protocol of choice in an IMS infrastructure. Therefore SIP is often called the "http" of IP-based communication.

Detailed information about the developer challenge can be found at: http://www.a1innovations.at/en/static/a1innovationdays

Most if not all of the website is in English, but alas, when I tried to register, it was in Austrian -- I assume, since I don't read Austrian. Might have to use BabelFish or Google Translate if you want to register.