DigiCFC7 community challenge sees emphasis on children

• Two of 3 winning app ideas focus on health and education for children
• Winning ideas have potential to be developed into full-fledged solutions: Digi

TWO of the three winning ideas of the seventh Digi Challenge for Change (DigiCFC7) programme, organised by Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd, revolved around children – one for seeing to the medical needs of financially-disadvantaged children, and the other for an edutainment app.
 
The three winning ideas winners of the Ideation phase of DigiCFC7 were announced at the DigiCFC #IdeaJam event in Kuala Lumpur recently, and each winner went home with RM5,000 (about US$1,250) in cash.
 
All three winning ideas will now be the subject of the next phase of the challenge, where app developers will be invited to participate and to build on those ideas into full-fledged mobile apps, Digi said in a statement.
 
The DigiCFC7 programme focuses on unearthing mobile apps that promote social good for three beneficiary groups – children, youth and women – by addressing some of the most pressing issues faced by these groups, the company added.
 
“Digi Challenge for Change is a platform that brings Malaysians together in promoting inclusivity and social good to enable sustainable development,” said Quah Yean Nie, Digi head of communications and sustainability.
 
“This year, we are challenging the public and developer community to dream up and develop robust as well as practical mobile apps that addresses real issues affecting women, children and youth,” she added.
 
The winners are:
 

• Mazlan Alam Malik: For his Good People Today, a crowd-funding app to cater to the medical needs of children whose families cannot afford the high cost of medical procedures and recovery;

• Mohd Zuhairi Zulkiflee: For EDDY, an edutainment app that gamifies the sign-language learning experience for children with speech and or hearing impairments; and

• Yong Wei Shian: For FoodNinja Innovation, an app that promotes reduction of wood wastage by channelling unconsumed food to relevant beneficiaries.

At DigiCFC7 #IdeaJam, the 30 shortlisted ideators had the opportunity to engage and interact with mentors comprising of programme partners, community leaders, technical experts, and media members.
 
The ideas were then deliberated by a panel of judges comprising Digi representatives and programme partners.
 
This year, more than 250 Malaysian-inspired mobile application ideas were crowdsourced for the Ideation Phase of the challenge, from which 30 ideas were shortlisted.
 

The next stage
 
Following this, DigiCFC7 will officially move into the Development phase where local developers will be developing mobile applications based on the winning ideas.
 
Relevant engagement sessions will be planned throughout the development phase to engage the developer communities to unearth some of the most innovative solutions that could promote better livelihood for the target beneficiary groups.
 
To this end, three teams will be shortlisted to validate their solutions during a proof-of-concept phase, after which one will emerge the grand prize winner and the two as runner-ups.
 
DiGiCFC7 programme partners include Google Malaysia, Microsoft Malaysia, Facebook, Malaysia Digital Economy Corp (MDEC), Malaysian Global Creativity & Innovation Centre (MaGIC), and Unicef.
 
For more information, visit www.digicfc.my.
 
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