Doha: Silatech, Applied Innovation Institute and Ooredoo have announced the winners of the first Arab Mobile App Challenge, a key opportunity to promote entrepreneurship, start-up businesses and technology-based career skills for Arab youth.
Loujee, the first Arabic-speaking mobile app educational toy for children, won the grand prize of $50,000.
In second place was Crowd Analyzer, the first fully-automated Arabic social media monitoring platform in the Middle East and North Africa, winning $30,000.
Finishing third was Markabaty, which helps car owners troubleshoot problems and find workshops, winning $20,000.
“We designed the challenge as a catalyst for helping develop innovative young entrepreneurs in a rapidly-expanding technology sector. Linking the teams with mentors, connecting them with entrepreneurship support organisations in participating countries, and providing them with opportunities to present their companies to potential investors are essential components of the competition,” said Martin Roeske, Chief Programmes Officer, Silatech,
“The creativity of the apps at the challenge demonstrates skills among the youth in the region, who are solving everyday problems with mobile technology. By helping incubate ideas and bring the winning mobile apps to market, we expect to make an impact on raising awareness about digital services for potentially millions of youth, as we seek to promote human growth and provide youth with life chances they need to succeed,” said Dr Shaikha Sultan Al Jabir, Executive Director, New Business, Ooredoo.
At a ceremony at the Ooredoo headquarters in Doha, teams from across the region learned who had won the regional finals this week and who will compete in the global finals at the Mobile World Congress later this month.
While the Arab region is advanced in terms of Internet usage and smartphone penetration, the number of tailored and commercially-successful Arabic language apps remains scarce. The challenge aims at raising awareness, discovering and supporting local talent and expanding the choice of available Arabic content and applications.
The Peninsula
