As mobile becomes more central to businesses and governments worldwide, the demand for talented employees who can implement mobile applications continues to grow. Many universities and polytechnic institutes are introducing specific learning tracks around mobile technologies. It is also important to provide students with a platform for them to easily and quickly learn how to leverage these technologies so they can bring value to their future employers. What is the best way that enterprises can help ensure that students graduate with the skills required to meet top business priorities?
In September, CompFest 2013 was held at Balairung University in Indonesia. In the lead up to the event, the IBM Academic Initiative held a mobile application contest for students to build mobile applications using IBM Worklight. There were 180 teams of students who downloaded IBM Worklight Developer Edition and built compelling and interesting mobile applications. During the event the winners were announced in categories.
The Grand Award was won by team IDE Alpha and their BroomLight app. BroomLight enables users to manage home electricity usage in real time. BroomLight can be used to turn on and off lights or any other electrical device in the home. Users can see power usage, set a schedule to turn devices on and off and chat with others using BroomLight.
Take a look at this YouTube video of team IDE Alpha demonstrating the app:
Click here to view the embedded video.
The People’s Choice award was won by Team Tama Handika. Their app, a portal for exploring the many shopping malls in Jakarta, is called Jakarta Wiki Mall. The Jakarta Wiki Mall app allows users to see what outlets are in a mall, search for outlets and view promotions. One interesting thing to note is that they show the app off for multiple platforms, including Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry 10.
While BlackBerry has lost significant market share in Western markets, according to Foreign Policy, in much of Southeast Asia, South America and Africa “the BlackBerry still enjoys superstar status.” In fact, a recent survey of youth in South Africa rated Blackberry as the “coolest brand.” So remember, enterprises don’t build mobile apps just for us and our friends.
Make sure to think about what kinds of mobile devices are being used by the users you want to reach. Are they using BlackBerries? Are they using feature phones? IBM Worklight supports most any type of mobile interactions.
Watch the movie of Team Tama Handika’s Jakarta Wiki Mall:
Click here to view the embedded video.
Here is the complete list of the CompFest 2013 award winners. Congratulations to winners and the rest of the student teams who are preparing their skills for our mobile world!
Award Category | Team | Application | Demo Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Award | IDE Alpha | BroomLight | Video demo |
| Best App for Health | Smoony | Smoker's Nanny | Video demo |
| Best App for 'I Love My City' | Tomos | Pelesiran | Video demo |
| Best App for Transportation | Transys | buSpot | Video demo |
| Best App for Environment | BRAVO | Disaster Alert! | Video demo |
| People's Choice Award | Tama Handika | Jakarta Wiki Mall | Video demo |
As demonstrated by these students, the technology to build mobile apps is more accessible today than ever before. Do you have a student interested in mobile? Are you looking to enhance your skill set? Download IBM Worklight Developer Edition at no charge and get started today!
Keep an eye out for a post next week discussing the results of the IBM Mobilithon 2013, which just concluded in Malaysia, and watch for a future post with more details on the mobilithon coming up in Thailand!
Send me a tweet @davidleeheyman with links to the apps that you are developing, and while you’re at it why not send a tweet to @CompFest and let the students in Indonesia know what you think of their apps?
The post Students make mobile look easy in Indonesia appeared first on IBM Mobile.