Following on the success of Malaysia Developers’ Day during the the past few years, AT&T, A Space Manila, Golden Gate Ventures and the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA) recently feted the first “Philippine Mobile App Developers’ Day” competition.
Held on the grounds of A Space Manila,a popular local community of innovators, about 60 contestants formed 11 teams to participate in the challenge. As a part of the challenge themed “Smart City and Community Involvement”, they were to create a mobile app within 24 hours.
About $9,000 of seed funds were awarded to all the winning teams, which also got a six-month mentorship from the Singapore-based venture capital firm Golden Gate Ventures.
The team that won the grand prize of $6,000 created an app called “TollPass” which enables smarter road tolls for reduced traffic jams and delays.
The team with second prize of $2,000 completed app “E-Jeep Tracker”, which helps passengers to know the distance of the next e-jeep (a battery-powered jeeponey used as public utility vehicle in Manila and has have specific routes).
The third prize of $1,000 went to the creators of “What Are You Craving For?” app which eliminates ques by identifying restaurants suitable for a particular choice of food, which also have shorter wait-times when ordering for takeaway or dining in.
To guide the teams in building innovative apps within a very tight time-frame, they received access to tools as well as expert mentorship.
Jake Jennings, executive director of international external and regulatory affairs of AT&T, as quoted by A Space Manila, said: “Encouraged by great enthusiasm and talent we saw in the ASEAN region this year, we decided to take the idea to the Philippines, where we believe there’s talent, creativity and interest. We seek to promote innovation and creativity to build a richer, more connected digital ecosystem across the region.”
