DiGi issues Hackathon challenge to developers

DiGi issues Hackathon challenge to developersCELLULAR services provider DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd is inviting mobile application developers and designers to participate in its HACK!@DGCFC event to be held from April 5-7 at the company’s headquarters in Shah Alam.
 
Joachim Rajaram (pic), DiGi’s head of Communications and Corporate Responsibility, said: “We have been very encouraged by the participation in the Ideation phase of the challenge, and are now eager to see these ideas being developed into mobile apps.

"We are working closely with our partners to bring close to 200 of the most talented Malaysian mobile developers and designers together to collaborate on these ideas,” he said.
 
Organized as part of the second phase of DiGi Challenge for Change (DGCFC), the event is touted as the “the only hackathon in town that is platform agnostic,” allowing developers to develop on Android, Window 8, HTML5, BlackBerry 10 or iOS platforms.

Joachim said that the program offers a cash prize of RM25,000 (US$8,060) per winning developer and offers an opportunity to connect with the mobile app development ecosystem, for future app development opportunities.
 
“At our recent CEO roundtable, we talked about a key element in igniting Internet innovation is the need to activate all segments of the mobile internet industry and HACK!@DGCFC is a great representation of that,” he claimed.
 
The three-day hackathon will see the seven winning ideas from the earlier 'Ideation' phase now being transformed into mobile applications. The seven winning ideas were announced on Feb 28, from a pool of close to 2,000 ideas submitted by students, app developers, NGOs (non-governmental organizations and the general public.
 
DiGi issues Hackathon challenge to developersEntrants were asked to submit ideas that can be turned into community-centric mobile apps, in keeping with the theme of the competition: “Bringing Malaysians Together, One App At A Time.”
 
The hackathon will include sessions by program partners and experts to provide insights on a variety of mobile app-related topics, including:

  • Google Malaysia on the latest trends, investments and focus of the Android ecosystem;
  • Multimedia Development Corporation’s ICON programme on spurring entrepreneurship within the mobile developer community;
  • UX Malaysia on designing user experiences that matter;
  • App clinics on Android, Windows Phone 8, HTML5, and iOS, with experts from Apptivity Lab and WiredIn;
  • Sessions with the seven Ideation winners to gain more insight into their ideas. 

Apps developed from HACK!@DGCFC will be available for download and review by the public until the Application Development phase closes on April 30, after which a panel of judges comprising DiGi’s main program partners will select seven apps -- one from each idea -- that best captures the theme of the challenge.
 
These winners will be announced at the Challenge For Change finale at the end of May, and will each walk away with RM25,000 in prize money.
 
“DiGi will support the further development of these apps by promoting them to our 5.7 million mobile Internet customers through various customer touch points, and through our partnerships with Microsoft Malaysia and Google Malaysia, the ICONApps platform, and through the support of Pemandu (the Performance Management & Delivery Unit of the Prime Minister's Department) and platforms under the Economic Transformation Program,” Joachim said.
 
The HACK!@DGCFC is sponsored by official broadband partner TIME dotCom and supporting event sponsors Nokia, Game Axis, Apptivity Lab, 1337 Ventures, WiredIn, Doof Beanbags and Mountain Dew.
 
It will be held at DiGi’s headquarters in Shah Alam and is also open for interested participants to walk-in and sign-up on April 5 from 4.30pm onwards.
 
For more information, click here.
 

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