DiGi invites mobile app developers and designers to 36-hour non-stop ‘Hackathon’

HACK!@DGCFC part of Application Development phase of DiGi’s ongoing Challenge for Change programme

SHAH ALAM, 1 April 2013: DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (“DiGi”) is inviting mobile application developers and designers to participate in its HACK!@DGCFC event to be held from 5th to 7th April, at DiGi’s headquarters in Shah Alam this weekend. Organised as part of the second phase of DiGi Challenge for Change (DGCFC), the three-day Hackathon will see the seven winning ideas from the earlier Ideation phase now being transformed into mobile applications (or ‘apps’).

The seven winning ideas were announced on 28th February 2013, from a pool of close to 2,000 ideas submitted by students, app developers, NGOs, and the general public. Entrants were asked to submit ideas that can be turned into community-centric mobile apps, in keeping with the theme of the competition: “Bringing Malaysians Together, One App At A Time.”

Joachim Rajaram, DiGi’s Head of Communications and Corporate Responsibility said, “We have been very encouraged by the participation in the Ideation phase of the challenge, and are now eager to see these ideas being developed into mobile apps. We are working closely with our partners to bring close to 200 of the most talented Malaysian mobile developers and designers together to collaborate on these ideas.”

The hackathon will include sessions by programme partners and experts to provide insights on a variety of mobile app related topics, including:
• Google Malaysia, featuring latest trends, investments and  focus of the Android ecosystem;
• Multimedia Development Corporation’s (MDeC) ICON programme, on spurring entrepreneurship within the mobile developer community;
• UX Malaysia, on designing user experiences that matter;
• App clinics on Android, Windows Phone 8, HTML5, and iOS, with experts from Apptivity Lab and WiredIn;
• Sessions with the 7 Ideation winners to gain more insight into their ideas.

Apps developed from HACK!@DGCFC will be available for download and review by the public until the Application Development phase closes on 30th April 2013. Finally, a panel of judges comprising DiGi’s main programme partners will select seven apps - one from each idea - that best captures the theme of the Challenge in bringing Malaysians together through mobile internet. These winners will be announced at the Challenge For Change finale in end May 2013, and will each walk away with RM25,000 in prize money.

“DiGi will support the further development of these apps by promoting them to our 5.7 million mobile internet customers through various customer touch points, and through our partnerships with Microsoft Malaysia and Google Malaysia, MDeC’s ICONApps platform, and through the support of PEMANDU and platforms under the Economic Transformation Programme,” Joachim added.

The upcoming HACK!@DGCFC is made possible through the support of official broadband partner TIME dotCom, and supporting event sponsors Nokia, Game Axis, Apptivity Lab, 1337 Ventures, WiredIn, Doof Beanbags and Mountain Dew.

HACK!@DGCFC will be held at DiGi’s headquarters at Lot 10, Jalan Delima 1/1, Subang Hi-Tech Industrial Park. To participate, register at www.dgcfc.my or walk-in and sign-up at DiGi HQ on 5th April 2013 from 4.30pm onwards.