Thursday, September 19, 2013

Nairobi to host Vodafone AppStar challenge

A screenshot during the first edition launch of the Safaricom-Vodafone AppStar challenge at the Michael Joseph Centre on September 6, 2012. Photo/DIANA NGILA

A screenshot during the first edition launch of the Safaricom-Vodafone AppStar challenge at the Michael Joseph Centre on September 6, 2012. Photo/DIANA NGILA  Nation Media Group
By Hellen Githaiga
In Summary
  • The competition, which targets mobile apps developers, will take place in two phases – national and international – with the winner taking home Sh1 million ($12,000).

Kenya will this year play host to the second edition of the Vodafone AppStar Challenge.
The competition, which targets mobile apps developers, will take place in two phases – national and international – with the winner taking home Sh1 million ($12,000).

The initiative by Vodafone in partnership with Safaricom will take place in South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania and India, with the top two finalists from the respective countries competing for the grand prize in Nairobi in December.

“Globally, the applications development industry has grown exponentially and we are through the Safaricom/ Vodafone innovation Challenge, giving Kenyans an opportunity to benefit from this trend by providing solutions to challenges faced in the country,” said Safaricom’s chief executive Bob Collymore.

Participants will be required to develop applications that provide solutions to existing challenges in agriculture, health, education, financial inclusion, games and productivity.
All apps developed for the challenge must run on Android, Java, Symbian, Windows Mobile or IOS operating systems.

The first and second runners-up will take home Sh500,000 and Sh300,000 respectively. Other prizes include smartphones, tablets and other high-end devices.

It is the first time the international phase of the competition is being held in Nairobi. The first edition was held in Johannesburg, South Africa last year where Kenya’s Gerald Kibugi and Gilbert Rono scooped the top two prizes.

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