The Interoperability Award Contest that I told you about on the Channel 8 interview back in December is now (finally) accepting entries on the Imagine Cup Website. Because it took longer than we anticipated to get the submission rules approved and posted to the site, submissions for the Interoperability Award will be accepted all the way until May 15, 2008.

Why participate in the Interoperability Award? It is a great way to practice and demonstrate your real-world technical agility. In addition to your own professional development, we will be sending the top 3 teams (as determined by the judges) to Paris for the Imagine Cup finals where the grand prize winner will be announced. The grand prize includes $10,000 and some other goodies. Please see the official rules for specific details.

On the Imagine Cup website, we have also created a forum specifically for interoperability discussions. I will be checking into this forum on an almost daily basis and participating in the discussion. I will also be showcasing on this blog demos and other things that demonstrate cool, real-world interoperability. Hopefully, these will serve as idea "sparks" to get your interop juices flowing.

For those of you who have been waiting since you saw this in December to start your projects, now is the time! I am really looking forward to seeing the submissions that showcase great interoperability scenarios that leverage Microsoft and non-Microsoft products and technologies together!