Fifth edition of DiGi Challenge for Change kicks off

• The public and app developers asked to come up with ideas and to build community-centric apps
• New public services category, and additional platforms for idea and app development

DIGI Telecommunications Sdn Bhd has launched the fifth edition of its annual DiGi Challenge for Change programme, inviting Malaysians and app developers to come up with ideas for, or to build, community-centric mobile apps.
 
Malaysians can submit ideas and apps for four categories: Learning & Edutainment; Health & Wellness; Discovering Culture; and a new category called Connected Citizens for mobile app ideas that facilitate the delivery of public services, the company said in a statement.
 
“[The] mobile Internet and mobile apps remain a relevant and effective platform to inspire and bring about change,” said DiGi chief strategy and corporate affairs officer Christian Thrane.
 
“This is very much aligned to our business and mission of enabling the ‘Internet For All.’ Through Challenge for Change, we believe we have created a strong foundation on how we engage the public, the local mobile developer community, and industry colleagues to help build relevant local content.
 
“Mobile apps remain the central premise of the Challenge, built on the theme of ‘Bringing Malaysians Together, One App at a Time.’
 
“To take it further this year, we have strengthened the Challenge by putting added emphasis on generating ideas and apps that are of greater quality, depth, and relevance through new categories, focused development sessions, partnerships, and incentives for our local developers,” Thrane added.
 
In last year’s Challenge for Change, a total of 2,000 ideas for mobile apps were received in the ideation phase, of which seven were chosen.
 
During the app development phase, more than 50 mobile apps were developed, from which seven were selected as winners in their respective categories, with each developer or team winning RM25,000 each.
 
[RM1 = US$0.31]
 
Three of the winning apps from Season 4 have made great progress since winning the Challenge For Change, DiGi claimed.
 
For instance, Team Yo! is now a fully established mobile app startup, building its business on its winning mobile greetings card app. The team also recently concluded its experiential trip to the Digital Winners Conference in Oslo as part of its Telenor Group Award for developing the best mobile app.
 
DiGi said it has also facilitated the collaboration of Redy (social blood drive app) and My Tradisi (traditional Malaysian games app) with the National Blood Bank (NBB) and National Museum respectively.
 
To help maximise the quality and potential of each idea and mobile app for the fifth edition of DGCFC, DiGi has established two development events as part of the programme, namely #IDEAJAM, an ‘idea hackathon;’ and #HACK!@DiGiCFC, a ‘mobile app hackathon.’
 
These events will serve as checkpoints for participants to refine their ideas and apps respectively, with input and insights from industry experts and partners, the company said.
               
DiGi has also formed a partnership with 1Malaysia for Youth (iM4U) to reach and encourage greater participation from Malaysian youth.
 
In addition to iM4U, partners who continue to support DGCFC include the Performance Management & Delivery Unit (Pemandu) of the Prime Minister's Department which drives the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP); the Multimedia Development which oversees the Digital Malaysia programme; Google Malaysia and Microsoft Malaysia.
 
Two phases
 
Challenge for Change is open to all Malaysians aged 12 years and above, and will be carried out through two main phases.
 
The Ideation Challenge (Nov 27 2013 to Jan 18 2014) calls for member of the public to submit their ideas to http://www.digicfc.my/ across the four Challenge categories. This phase also includes ideation workshops at universities across the country and #IDEAJAM, the two-day ‘idea hackathon’ where 20 shortlisted ‘ideators’ will be invited to meet and engage with various industry experts to get input and further refine their ideas.
 
The best four ideas will be developed into mobile apps in the next phase.
 
The App Development Challenge (Jan 26 to April 24 2014) invites Malaysian developers to build mobile apps of the four winning ideas from the ideation challenge, on any mobile operating platform.
 
To accelerate the app development process, developers will be invited to participate in HACK!@DiGiCFC, a 36-hour non-stop mobile app hackathon weekend.
 
Each app will then be made available for download and review by the public. The most popular and feasible apps for the four ideas will win the challenge and DiGi will support these apps by promoting them to its customer base, including its 6.8 million mobile Internet subscribers across its various customer touch points.
 
More than RM200,000 in cash and experiential prizes are up for grabs this year, including:

• RM5,000 and a smartphone for each of the top four idea finalists;

• RM25,000 for each winning app in the respective categories;

• RM25,000 for the best overall idea winner of the DiGi Innovation Award;

• Telenor Group Award for the best developer/ team; and

• A host of promotions and go-to-market support from DiGi. 

For more information on DiGi Challenge for Change and how to participate, visit: www.digicfc.my.
 
Related Stories:
 
Helping yourself by helping others: DiGi’s take
 
DiGi’s Internet for All: From ad campaign to corporate mission
 
Social-driven blood drive app idea wows ‘em in DiGi challenge
 
Two Malaysian youth off to Telenor summit, chance to hobnob at Nobel event
 
 
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