Recently, the final round and award ceremony of the 13th Neoway Cup IoT and Smart City Technology and Creative Design Competition concluded at Xidian University in Xi'an. Fifty teams from four universities—Xidian University, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Northwest University and Xi’an University of Posts and Telecommunications—participated in the event, with nine teams ultimately taking home prizes. Through the theme “promote learning and innovation through competition”, this year’s Neoway Cup has played a major role in popularizing IoT technology and knowledge, while strengthening students’ ability to combine theory and practice. It also achieved resource integration and complementary advantages between universities and enterprises.

This year’s competition centered on the theme “Application Innovation and Practice of AIoT Technology in the ‘Digital Qinling’.” The event brought together the wisdom of universities and the power of enterprises, inspiring students to develop innovative solutions through the use of IoT communications, cloud platforms and AI to contribute to monitoring and protecting the Qinling ecological system. Under the national strategic backdrop of building ecological civilization, the Qinling Mountains, as an important ecological barrier in China, have garnered great government attention. The construction of a “Digital Qinling” aims to establish an intelligent management system for monitoring, early warning, decision-making and command. By relying on IoT cloud platforms and comprehensive sensing equipment, it enables the collection, transmission and processing of full-range sensing data, providing decision support for environmental monitoring and disaster prevention.

The competition entries focused closely on the ecological protection mission of “Digital Qinling”, using technologies like sensors, IoT, cloud computing and AI to propose innovative solutions to real-world problems and needs. Some projects targeted public safety areas, such as forest fire monitoring and flash flood early warning, offering real-time monitoring, intelligent recognition and early warning message delivery to support the protection of the Qinling ecosystem and safeguard biodiversity. Others focused on environmental protection fields like mountain and water environment monitoring, delivering high-precision, real-time environmental data to inform ecological protection decisions and ensure the long-term sustainability of the Qinling ecosystem. These outstanding works showcased students’ abilities to translate IoT and AI technologies into practical, smart applications while also highlighting the mission-driven spirit of contemporary young people to contribute to the nation through science and technology.

Over 13 years of persistent effort, the Neoway Cup has achieved fruitful results. It is not just a competition but also an exploration and practice of the “education-talent-industry” model. The event has attracted tens of thousands of students to participate, providing a platform for aspiring, innovative students to demonstrate their talents and transform ideas into reality. Hundreds of outstanding innovations have emerged from this platform, winning accolades at provincial and national innovation competitions and fully demonstrating the event’s significant impact on cultivating innovative talent.

Neoway Technology firmly believes that innovation is the core driving force behind technological development and that young students are the main drivers of such innovation. Through the Neoway Cup, Neoway Technology will continue to support young people’s growth in IoT, AI and related fields, continuously injecting new vitality into industry development and collectively writing a bright future for technological innovation.