• Best apps win RM25,000 each, across 5 idea categories
• One developer to represent Malaysia at Telenor Digital Winners Awards, can potentially win RM112,000 cash grant
SHAH ALAM, 3 March 2014 – DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (DiGi) kicked off the App Development phase of the DiGi Challenge for Change 5 (DiGiCFC5) with a 36-hour Hackathon, which took place from 28 February to 2 March, 2014.
200 mobile developers participated in this year’s hackathon, which was aimed at helping developers fast track their mobile app development across the five winning ideas of the Ideation Phase of the challenge. Together with DiGiCFC5 partners, this year’s hackathon was packed with engaging and valuable content and activities such as:
• Insightful speakers from Google, Microsoft, Telenor Digital and Xamarin;
• Inspire sessions with popular and emerging Malaysian app developers like MyTeksi, Kehmistry and InstaB;
• A talent hunt session where partners were invited to engage with potential technical hires.
Joachim Rajaram, Head of Communications and Corporate Responsibility said this concerted effort with both programme and event partners was aimed at driving the production of mobile applications that are mature, socially relevant and commercially viable. “We are pleased to see the high numbers of talented young developers participating in this year’s hackathon, and we have high hopes that the resulting apps will be those that enable relevant and meaningful usage of the Internet. It was also very exciting to see the high level of excitement and zest among these developers as they worked with one another to bring the winning ideas to life.”
This year, Telenor Group will select one developer/team to participate in Digital Winners Conference in Oslo, Norway. This developer/team will also represent Malaysia at Telenor’s Digital Winners Global App Developer Challenge, and be in line to potentially win a cash grant of €25,000 (RM112,000) to build their business, work closely with Telenor Digital as a commercial partner, and have access to a global customer base through Telenor Group.
Other prizes that are up for grabs this year include:
• RM25,000 for each winning app in the respective categories .
• Participation in Digital Malaysia’s MSC Start-Up Accelerator Lite programme, including the Green Lane for the top developer/team, allowing them to enhance their mobile apps into a start-up complete with a mentor, funds and market opportunities.
• Participation in Google Malaysia and Microsoft Malaysia’s short ‘insight’ stints for top Android and Windows app developers/teams respectively at their organisations, enabling the sharing of experience and knowledge from experts within their organisation.
DiGi will continue to support the winning apps by actively promoting the winning applications to its own base of more than 4.2 million smartphone users, as well as on DiGi’s online app stores, retail outlets and over their social media properties.
Besides the coding marathon, HACK!@DGCFC participants also enjoyed 3 fun-filled days of activities such as movie screenings, gym sessions, and more. There were also three ‘Mini Challenge’ awards that were given out to deserving teams for their efforts over the weekend, for the best use of User Interface (UI), best use of application programming interface (API), and for the most user-friendly app.
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 the DiGi Challenge for Change 5, please visit www.digicfc.my
New and returning participants, programme partners and speakers at HACK!@DiGiCFC were pleased to share their excitement, such as:
"We're back this year for HACK!@DiGiCFC for a repeat of the excitement we experienced last year and to make more friends. On top of that, we're here to challenge ourselves. Our team is competing by creating apps for the idea Jalan-Jalan and Running Paws in the Discovering Culture, and Health & Wellness categories respectively, on both the Android and iOS platforms."
- Muhammad Muhaimin Juhairi, Founder and CEO, WiredIn Sdn Bhd, who won the Telenor Group Award for best developer team at last year’s hackathon
"This is my first time participating in HACK@DiGiCFC, and I’m here in a team of three girls. This has been an amazing experience for us because of the fun environment and I’m really learning about the values of good teamwork. We’re gaining so much knowledge from the more experienced and successful developers and industry experts. It’s also very special for us as we had the privilege of witnessing the evolution of female app developers, with the participation of 10 female app developers in this year’s event, compared to only two last year."
- Yham Yih Jiun, 22, Student from Monash University Malaysia
"HACK@DiGiCFC has an interesting and special concept compared to other Hackathon events. This is more relaxed and fun and entertaining for the app developers. The atmosphere here is good, with the cool programme, partner representatives and participants, and definitely, the developers’ challenge of not getting enough sleep. I'm interested to see how the finished apps turn out."
- Jan Jongboom, Firefox OS Contributor and Evangelist from Telenor Digital
“I met a great group of enthusiastic participants at this year’s Hack@DiGiCFC. The talks organised were impactful and well thought out. I believe that DiGi Challenge for Change has instilled enthusiasm in participants to be their own entrepreneur. From the conversations I had with them, the mobile developers felt that the 5 winning ideas that were chosen this year were really good and will bring value to the community.”
- Efny Johan, Brand Management Group Director from iM4U
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