Mobile app Taxi Buddy wins inaugural Moratuwa Uni Hackathon
View(s):Taxi Buddy, a feature phone and smartphone application (app) to locate and contact the closest taxi, was selected as the winner of the first ever Ideamart University of Moratuwa Hackathon, which was held recently.
Organised by Dialog’s Ideamart unit, in conjunction with the EClub of the university, the competition comprised 18 teams, of four members each, selected from the over 100 entries that were submitted, which utilised the available APIs of Ideamart to develop mobile apps.
Rounding out the top three were ORACLE, an app that utilised natural language capabilities to turn any phone into a smartphone, followed by the Colombo Route Finder, a simple SMS based platform that allows a user to find the closest and best bus route to get from point A to point B. Also highlighted were lost phone finder app Intelligent Seeker and SMS-based query app Mega Mind.
Meanwhile, quoted in a statement issued about the event, Dialog’s Group Chief Information Officer, Anthony Rodrigo, commented that the “true power of a service delivery platform was displayed during the Ideamart UoM Hackathon with some great applications being developed overnight. This goes on to showcase how easy it is to create a multifunctional mobile application in a short time period using the Ideamart platform”.
Dialog’s statement also revealed that the company “gives back 70 per cent of the revenue earned via Ideamart applications back to the developers of the application. Many content providers including creative students at university at present benefit monetarily by having their applications published on Ideamart”.
At the same time, Prof. Dileeka Dias, of the University of Moratuwa, also stated; “I was impressed by the students’ achievements at the end of the Hackathon. The range of APIs offered by Ideamart made it possible for students to come up with creative apps really fast… This was an opportunity for them to get a unique experience, and also a glimpse of a future in technology innovation. I appreciate the efforts of EClub, particularly for facilitating students from different disciplines to participate. I hope that this would become an annual event received with even more enthusiasm in future”.
(JH)
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