Ericsson has announced the launch of its 2014 App Awards with key targets on students and small- and medium-sized enterprises.
The prize is worth EUR 25,000 (Sh2.8 million) and gives app developers the opportunity to be recognized on a global scale.
The theme for 2014 is Apps for Working Life, in support of Ericsson’s vision of a Networked Society in which – through a combination of mobility, broadband, the cloud, applications and services – anything and everything is connected. There will be a global competition and several regional competitions.
This is the fifth consecutive year that Ericsson has announced the awards. This competition will give entrants the opportunity to gain a foothold in the app industry, while also earning recognition and making contacts within the telecom industry.
There will be two categories for this contest – one for students, and one for small- and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 100 employees.
In the Networked Society, Ericsson is the leading advocate of Technology for Good and encourages innovation to help meet sustainability challenges. The Technology for Good award of EEA 14 will recognize achievement in this area.
The winner of the student category in 2013 was Portugal’s GreenSpark, which offered a solution based on energy efficiency with a truly global reach. The UK’s TboxApps was the winner in the company category. Their solution was based on usage patterns in order to get access to instant messages and quickly get help.
In all, 192 teams took part in the 2013 competition (compared with 143 in 2012) from 52 countries.
Mobile app development is increasingly changing the lives of Africans within the continent. Apps such as M-Pesa and MedAfrica, an app which increases access to health care related information to the masses, are some of the examples that have proven effective.
