A team from Alness Academy scooped the top prize in an innovation competition this weekend (Saturday 5 July) with their invention for an E-top up card for mobile phones, which gives mobile phone users the ability to top-up their credit using bank cashline machines.

They were taking part in the ICT Youth Challenge Programme 2003, a competition designed to stimulate and nurture information and communications technology-based innovation in young people as well as helping them to acquire project management and business skills.

The five pupils from Alness Academy beat off stiff competition from 50 other entries from all over the Highlands and Islands to win an all expenses paid trip to the Media Lab in Dublin to learn about the 'blue-sky' innovation research and development that is taking place throughout Europe.

The BT Award for Commercial Viability went to a team from Plockton High School who impressed the judges with their idea for a mountain rescue GPS satellite mobile phone.  They will visit BTexact Technology's headquarters in Ipswich.  And all teams, regardless of the stage they reached in the competition, will be entitled to apply to a special ICT Youth Challenge Fund, which has been set up to allow them to progress their ideas further.

The competition was delivered on behalf of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) by PICT Innovation Ltd - HIE's partnership company established to foster information and communications technology-based ideas and turn them into business ventures by supporting research and commercialisation - and the teams have been developing their ideas since October last year.

The students were presented with their prizes by Ewan McFarlane, chief executive of PICT Innovation Ltd.  Speaking at the ceremony, Mr McFarlane said:  "When we first started to develop the Youth Challenge we had no idea of the high standard of ideas and enthusiasm that the young teams would have brought to this competition.  Each of the finalists have products with real commercial potential and the winners have the opportunity visit Media Lab Europe to work with some of the world's leading players in the ICT field to develop their own product."

The Highlands and Islands ICT Youth Challenge Programme was supported by a host of sponsors including BT's world renowned research and technology business, BTexact Technologies, Sony, Media Lab Europe, BusinessLab, Michael Fraser Associates, Omnitech Ltd, PICT Innovation and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.