The mobile app TimeUP is capable of finding and notifying you of free time that appears during the working week to meet with friends. The organiser for smartphones that targets business people was recognised as the best business idea presented by Georgian students during the TeamLab Georgia 2016 workshop in Tbilisi.

The second place went to the Hidden Georgia project, which combines thematic festivals, workshops and guided tours in the mountains of Georgia and aims to promote the country as a tourist destination. The third place was awarded to the idea of creating the cognitive development toys Toyzi made from environmentally friendly materials for pre-school children with dyslexia.

Rait Arro: Sometimes Utopia Can Become Reality

Other creative business ideas worthy of attention that were proposed by young Georgian people were projects such as:

• the mobile app Parking App, which is able to help online find free parking spots for motorists;
• an online platform for volunteers;
• Actonema, the first large-scale online portal for Georgian films, actors, interviews and reviews;
• the ethno-karaoke programme, which aims to help schoolchildren learn music and the cultures of different countries through the internet;
• the online platform Accoustic Gallery, combining the works of Georgian artists and electronic music composers;
• the idea dubbed HeyU, which expresses the emotions of motorists on the road and, according to its creator, would be able to improve road manners in Georgia.

The ideas, which did not find support, were also presented during the workshop. For example, an idea put forward by Georgyi Meshveliani, a student at the Physics Department, who put forward the idea of selling air from Georgian mountain resorts in cylinders. “I thought of this while on vacation in Bakhmaro. The climate and air there are unique, so why not transport it from there to Tbilisi and other cities. Of course, I was immediately called crazy, are you planning to sell air?! For now, nobody has taken an interest in this project in Georgia. However, I contemplate taking this proposal to the Chinese market.”

Students also proposed developing the Georgian watch industry, creating a museum of Georgian calligraphy, transforming panels for the home, a website for discount sales and entertainment events with personalised data, an online platform with a database of student grants to study abroad, an online app for planning homework and much, much more.

According to moderator Eait Arro, a serial entrepreneur from Estonia, any idea, even the one, which seems crazy at first, can lead to success. “Some ideas may sound like utopia. But even a utopia can sometimes become a reality. In short, do what you want, but do it now!”

Do You Just Want to Be Useful, or to Change the World?

The manager of the WiFisher.com service for online advertising placement, Georgyi Khosroshvili, told participants an inspiring story. “You should understand your personal motivation: why you want to do this. What makes you act in the next five, 10 years or for the rest of your life to dedicate yourself to this activity. Analyse yourself: do you just want to be useful, or do you want to create innovation on a global level and change the world.”

The main idea of the TeamLab workshop was to offer Georgian youth the opportunity of having the unique experience of creative collaboration with colleagues from various spheres, according to Ragnar Siil, EC expert on creative industries. “It is a unique message to your universities, government, that such creative cooperation, the interface between those studying in the business, arts and design departments is a normal practice, and that it can lead to the creation of a unique, useful and successful product.”

All the participants of the TeamLab workshop received certificates. The best team will be awarded for its creative collaboration with a study trip to one of the EU countries in spring 2017.