  



https://digi.com.my/media/articleURLhereWhichCanbeReallyLong

Digi Challenge For Change supports three social entrepreneurs with RM150,000
Teams will have the opportunity to secure an additional seed grant totaling up to RM150,000

DAMANSARA, 14 December 2016 - Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd ("Digi") announced EDDY, a mobile app gamifying learning of sign-language for those with speech and hearing impairment, as the grand prize winner of its seventh edition of Digi Challenge for Change (DigiCFC7) programme. The team, walked away with RM70,000 in cash to further develop their solution. The other two teams, Good People Today and Food Ninja Innovation, each won RM30,000 in cash. All three teams will also have the opportunity to earn an additional seed grant of up to RM50,000 each from Agensi Innovasi Malaysia, on top of the cash prize over the next six months.

According to Praveen Rajan, Digi's Chief Digital Officer, "The idea of gamifying learning of sign language with localised content helps make learning fun while addressing a need in the community. Their ability to enable meaningful engagements with a scalable solution underscores our vision to leverage on digital connectivity for good."

The three finalist teams competing today are:

IdeaIdeatorDeveloper(s)EDDY

An edutainment app that gamifies the sign-language learning experience for those with speech and hearing impairment

Mohd Zuhairi b. Zulkiflee

Mohd Zuhairi b. Zulkiflee

EDDY

An app that can help to reduce food waste by outsourcing unconsumed food to relevant beneficial parties and businesses

Yong Wei Shian

Chia Chee Siang
Tan Chai Guan
Hee Chee Kiat
Lee Wei Ming

EDDY

A crowd-funding app to cater to medical needs of those whose families is not able to afford the high cost of medical procedures and recovery expenses

Mazlan Alam Malik

Lo Jun Ting
Sim Ping Ping

Under the theme "Digital Connectivity for Good", these changemakers have gone through an exciting journey from the ideation phase, to the development of the mobile applications followed by the Proof of Concept (PoC) stage, testing out the viability and scalability of their respective solutions. All three developer teams are required to present their challenges and key learnings obtained from mobilising their digital solutions within their targeted beneficiaries to a panel of judges today.

The finalists will be assessed for the positive impacts of their proposed solution towards their intended beneficiaries. Additionally, the teams will also need to demonstrate their ability to execute and sustain their mobile solution in the long run.

"The key distinctive aspect in this season's DigiCFC Challenge is the introduction of the Proof of Concept phase. Validating a solution is a vital step as it gives an opportunity for the teams to test out their proposed ideas and solutions with their beneficiaries for feedback and improvements. This PoC stage allowed teams to review and pivot for better effectiveness and higher probability in creating positive societal impact," added Praveen.

Launched in June 2016, DigiCFC7 received more than 250 ideas from the public, out of which three (3) winning ideas became the basis of 38 mobile solutions registered in the app development phase. Over RM70,000 in prizes will be awarded to the winning developer team this evening.

Among the panel of judges for the Finale are Datuk Mark Rozario, CEO of Agensi Inovasi Malaysia, Amir Amha, Programme Coordinator of Google Education Malaysia, Raj Ridvan Singh, CEO of SOLS 24/7, Amjad Rabi, Deputy Representative and Senior Social Policy Specialist of Unicef Malaysia, and led by Praveen Rajan, Digi's Chief Digital Officer as the Chief Judge.

DigiCFC is one of the flagship programmes for Digi Empower Societies, a commitment to enable the internet for all communities to inspire a better Malaysia. DigiCFC7 is supported by Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM), FB Start, Google Malaysia, MaGIC, MDEC, Microsoft Malaysia and UNICEF.

For more information, please visit Digi's Challenge for Change website via www.digicfc.my