(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- Held for three days from 14th to 16th December 2018in Bank Muscat's Headquarter, the Sas48H contest, organized by the Information Technology Authority (ITA (and in cooperation and support of Bank Muscat, was concluded last Saturday evening witnessing the participation of 100 participants divided into 18 teams working on different and creative ideas in mobile app and web development field during only 48 hours.
The closing ceremony was attended by Dr. Salim Bin Sultan Al Ruzaiqi, CEO of ITA, Waleed Alhashar, Deputy CEO of Bank Muscat and a number of ITA's and Bank Muscat Officials.
The contest aimed at promoting entrepreneurship through encouraging young Omanis to turn their innovative ideas into reality and establishing emerging Omani companies in the ICT field, website and mobile applications development in particular.
After working for 48 hours continuously, and successfully passing the evaluation, the first prize went to 'Mum's Food App' which was developed to support home businesses to promote and sell their homemade food to users through easy delivery and ePayment system. The second prize went to 'Garage Pocket App' which aims to link automotive service centers with customers enabling them to request repairing or maintenance at any time. The third prize was taken by 'Together app' which facilitates communication between family members and enables them to take decisions through a voting system and create to do lists.
On this occasion, Dr. Salim Bin Sultan AL Ruzaiqi, commented 'we congratulate all winners and participants for their great work and wish them success in their future pursuits. I urge them to continue working on their projects through which they proved that they are able innovate and excel in producing ICT electronic platforms/apps with high quality and are ready to move on to the Omani market.'
He further went on 'Sas48H came within our cooperation with the Republic of Estonia and it is one of our endeavors to promote entrepreneurship among Omani youth in various ICT fields to prove that they are capable of producing and implementing creative ideas within 48 hours only if they succeeded in organizing their thoughts and coordinating their efforts in programming, design, marketing, management to produce implementable projects that compete in the local and regional markets.'
'we invite whoever wish to improve his/her skills and competencies in different ICT fields to join the training programs and initiatives provided by ITA or to benefit from all the facilities and services offered at Sas Center for entrepreneurship, Sas Center for Virtual Reality and Sas Center for Mobile Apps Development and others', he added.
From his side, Waleed Al Hashar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Bank Muscat, thanked the Information Technology Authority for organizing the SAS48 competition and congratulated the winning teams and all participants for their innovative ideas to enhance the ICT role in business and society.
Waleed Al Hashar added: 'SAS48 competition is an innovative initiative targeting an important segment comprising developers and programmers who have interest in smart phone technology and applications. Bank Muscat always strives to support Omani youth involved in various fields, including information communications and technology (ICT) in view of the importance of this sector in supporting business development and helping establishments to keep abreast of latest developments, thereby complementing the comprehensive development of the Sultanate. We encourage Omani youth to establish companies in the emerging ICT sector and benefit from technical consultancy and training services provided by the SAS Center, as well as obtain financial funding to start their business.'
315 candidates registered to join the contest, 100 of which have been selected and moved to the next phase and participated at the contest which held at Bank Muscat headquarter during 14th to 16th December 2017. The participants were divided into teams and worked on 18 creative ideas out of 38 proposed ideas, in different areas like tourism, logistic support, open source, and other vital sectors in 48 continuous hours.
18 Creative ideas
During the 48 hours, the participants developed 18 creative ideas as smart phones apps or websites, in various fields including marketing and promotion, health, education and other service sectors as well. In the business sector, a number of projects were implemented such as 'Tawasul project' which is a smart platform for managing and promoting events and providing all necessary information to invitees. 'WAFFer' is a mobile app specialized in collecting all discounts, promotions and offers available in the Omani market as well as facilitating the purchase of products.
'Kashka' is a mobile app to promote Omani traditional fashion. 'Shubak' is an online platform which lists all main events and activities to be held in any place in Oman and enables users to book tickets to attend any event of their choice. 'Rial' is an electronic platform to enable users to invest in various sectors with limited amounts starting from one Rial only. 'Mom's food' is a platform to market for homemade males to all its lovers. In the health sector, "Blood diamond' which is an app to offer all medical reports of donators and all relevant information about them to facilitate reaching to them whenever required easily. In addition, "Holo lab" project which is an app based on augmented reality technology, through which, users can conduct chemical experiments simulating the reality.
In the education sector, 'Eschool app' was developed to enable direct and instant communication between parents, school management and teachers to discuss student's educational, behavioral level/performance. "career positioning system" was developed to guide students and professionals on how to achieve their career goals in different ways with the help of experts and specialists.
In the construction sector, 'Tawafuq' was implemented to facilitate the establishment of professional organizations for property owners and enable them to manage and maintain their properties and services offered. 'whereas' Bunian' aims to gather a large number of contractors and engineering consultancy offices to facilitate the construction and building process and enable users to select among them after reviewing their previous works. In the booking area, a number of apps and platforms have been implemented such as 'Ahjiz' to enable users to book for entertainment facilities like play yards, resorts/farms, camping equipment and halls.
Whereas 'Malabna' facilitates the booking of various sport places. 'Together App' is a platform facilitates communication between family members and sharing of moments and memories such as photos and videos. The app also has features to enable family members to create to do lists and voting system for decision/taking. 'Mawahib' is a website and mobile app which links all talented people and talent haunters who are looking for creative people to implement certain projects or tasks either for full/time or part/time. While 'Pocket carage', will link customers and service centers at automotive agencies to request for services and maintenance. In addition, 'GPS system for Fishermen' was implemented to serve fishermen during their in the fishing trips and provides them with lots of services such as weather information and fishing areas.
It is worth mentioning that the winning teams received cash prices reached up to OMR10000, and part of it will be allocated to courses and consultancies for the teams to develop their projects. In addition, the winners may have the opportunity to join the Sas Center for Entrepreneurship at ITA, which seeks to incubate and establish Omani emerging companies in ICT sector. These incubated companies will be provided with a range of services and facilities, including an equipped office in the knowledge Oasis – Muscat, technical consultancies, as well as monitoring, training, accounting, financial, marketing and legal services, government support and financial assistance.
MENAFN1712201701410000ID1096242810
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.