MTN Uganda, in partnership with tech and incubation hub; Outbox Hub and Garage48 has launched the 2017 edition of the MTN App Challenge – an event that brings local innovators from Uganda, both Students and Non Students, together to create innovative mobile apps for the better good of the community.
The MTN App Challenge has over years gathered over 100 innovators and is the birth place of the ‘Yoza app’; a service application that helps users find someone in their area to do for them laundry. Other developers who got their break at the MTN App Challenge include; ‘Run For Your Life’; a 3D mobile game built to create awareness about HIV, other chronic diseases, ‘Common Sense’; a mobile app that challenges you by getting you to answer questions and you win points for all correct answers, ‘MamboPay’; a coupon-based payment solution that enables individuals or organizations to send funds to various beneficiaries in terms of coupons and ‘Dawa’; an app that provides access to patient's medical information on the go while allowing a patient to dial a health professional at any time and from anywhere.
The MTN App Challenge 2017 is the second edition, the first having been held in 2015. The 3 days Hackathon style challenge which will pit talent from all over the country to innovate and create mobile based apps in the categories of; Health, Media & Entertainment, Education, Finance and Agriculture.
Commenting on the challenge, MTN Chief Marketing Officer, Mapula Bodibe said, “Digital innovations are at the heart of true transformation around the world and through programs like this challenge, we are able to create entrepreneurship opportunities especially for the young brilliant minds behind the digital revolution.”
She further noted that, “The ideas and prototypes, in many cases, already do exist. However, opportunities like the MTN App Challenge enable developers to show case and court public interest and that of potential partners to commercialize their applications.”
The Hackathon is part of a series of initiatives that will drive MTN Uganda’s innovation ambitions and through which the brand lives its mission to deliver a bold, new digital world to customers.
In an interesting twist this year, each team will be expected to register a team of at-least four (4) individuals and a maximum of five (5) with skill-sets/roles: UI/UX creative designer, software developer, marketer and project manager. Its recommended that the team composition is of different skills sets like:
- Developers: You know how to create code in different languages. You can plan technical architecture for complex Mobile Apps and test the outcome.
- Designers: You know HTML/CSS/JS/AJAX and call yourself a front end designer and/or you are graphic designer for either websites or software
- Marketers– Every business needs marketing ideas from the beginning. You fit here if your blood runs for sales, marketing and making products fly and reach the target audience.
- Project Managers and visionaries: You have awesome IT ideas that you want to make happen. You can organize teams by structuring the work to be done, ensuring they have the necessary resources and are vigilant on the quality of work delivered.
A maximum of up-to twenty (20) teams to will be selected to participate in this year’s MTN App Challenge.
How the winners will be chosen:
- Best M-Health App: an original concept to address the need for accessing health services in Uganda through the phone.
- Best M-Education: the App with the most potential to extend consumption of education using the phone.
- Best M-Media & Entertainment: the most original concept that enables Entertainment on the phone.
- Best M-Finance: an original concept that can extend financial services to low income segment of the population via the phone.
- 5. Best M-Agriculture: an original concept that aims to support the Agricultural industry via the phone.
- Overall Winner: Out of the winning Apps in the categories above, this is an Application identified as most aligned to MTN’s current objectives in Enterprise, Consumer, Financial and Digital services.
- Audience’s Favorite: This application will be chosen by the audience as their favorite.
All Awards will be chosen and given out on the 14th, May 2017 as per the event program.
Awards and Prizes:
The Overall Winning app will get; a certificate of recognition for each team member, USD$2500, commercialization support through MTN, 1GB internet to all team members for 3 months, and a smartphone for each team member. The best
M-Health App, M-Education, M-Media &Entertainment, M-Finance, and M-Agriculture apps will each receive USD$1,000, a certificate of recognition for each team member, commercialization support through MTN, 1GB internet to all team members for 3 months, and a smartphone for each team member.
The app that is chosen as the Audience’s Favorite will get; a certificate of recognition for each team member, 1GB internet to all team members for 3 months, commercialization support through MTN, and a smartphone for each team member.
How to Register:
Interested innovators can register their teams free of charge at https://www.mtn.co.ug/new-world/Sponsorship/innovations/Pages/MTN-App-Challenge.aspx
Registration opened Tuesday, 11th April and closes on 28th April, 2017. All successful entrants shall be notified by 4th May, 2017 via e-mail or through a phone call.
