DiGi Challenge for Change 5 announces top mobile app ideas

DiGi Challenge for Change 5 announces top mobile app ideas
Four winning ideas, alongside a surprise DiGizens’ Choice idea move to app development phase

SHAH ALAM, 19 February 2014 - DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (DiGi) announced the four winners of the ideation phase of its fifth DiGi Challenge for Change programme (DiGiCFC5) today, with a surprise DiGizen’s Choice idea joining other top ideas in each of the four subject categories. All five ideas will now be the subject of the next phase of the challenge, where DiGi and partners will engage with mobile applications developers to turn these ideas into full-fledged mobile apps.

This year, more than 2,500 mobile app ideas were submitted online, across the four categories. A rigorous filtering process was then carried out to select the best four, including an #IdeaJam session with the top 60 ideas, and a subsequent face-to-face Judging Session to select the final four.

The four winning ideas stood out from the rest for having real potential for commercialisation, adoption and relevance to Malaysians’ use of mobile apps.

Category Application IdeaCategory WinnerConnected CitizensTag A Price - enables consumers to contribute and compare grocery prices across selected shopping outlets and locations. Alex Wong Kek Liang, 27Learning & Edutainment1Auto - enables the sharing of tips for easy car maintenance, allows users to identify and offer solutions to troubleshoot car problems, and track mileage and car service reminders. Asharudin Abdul Buhari, 23Discovering CultureJalan Jalan - an interactive travel app idea that enables the sharing of relevant information to simplify and enrich travel experiences in local cities across Malaysia. Lim Fern Yit, 27Health & WellnessRunning Paws - a gamification app idea that makes running more enjoyable with virtual running buddies, allowing users to improve their own running performance, and compete against others. Kum Peng Han, 27*More information in the factsheet appended.

The fifth idea was a special “DiGizens’ Choice” selection: MyBanjir aims to help better prepare communities and ease the effects of floods across the country. The app will push early flood alerts to Malaysians in high risk areas, help connect stranded victims to nearby evacuation centres, and provide a collaborative platform for volunteers and relief organisations to mobilise aid speedily to affected communities.

Henrik Clausen, DiGi’s Chief Executive Officer said the winning ideas reflected the goals of the Challenge to enable new and inspiring ways of using internet. “Challenge for Change has always been a key initiative in DiGi’s mission to deliver Internet For All. More than ensuring that Malaysians in all parts of the country have access to a quality internet experience, we also aspire to enable relevant and meaningful usage of the internet. Challenge for Change plays an important role in achieving this, through the development and promotion of quality local content and applications.”

“This year, we received a broad variety of high quality ideas, coming from Malaysians between 13 to 60 years-old. Interestingly, it was the newly introduced Connected Citizen category that received the highest entries across the four categories, an indication that Malaysians want easy access to services that connect them to everyday needs, on mobile apps,” he added.

Moving into the App Development Challenge
With the Ideation phase completed, DiGiCFC officially moves into the App Development phase, where top local app developers can now begin translating these five ideas into actual mobile apps. The apps will be made available for download and review by the public before the Challenge closes on 23 April 2014. Winning apps from each idea will be selected based on the judges’ decision as well as the quantity of downloads. DiGi will further support the winning apps through active promotion to its base of 4.2 million smartphones as well as on DiGi’s online app stores, retail stores, and social media properties.

DiGi will also be hosting its flagship #HACK!@DiGiCFC, a 36-hour non-stop mobile app hackathon from 28 February to 2 March 2014, to accelerate the app development process with support and input from experts in the mobile app development industry.

“Together with the expert support of our partners, I have no doubt that the app developers will be able to come up with apps that are mature, socially relevant with strong commercial potential,” added Clausen.

DiGiCFC programme partners include the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), the National Digital Economy Initiative (Digital Malaysia), Google Malaysia, Microsoft Malaysia, 1Malaysia for Youth (iM4U) and the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU).

For more information on DiGi Challenge for Change and how to participate in Hackathon, please visit www.digicfc.my