DOTC Concludes Successful Philippine Transit App Challenge
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| Top-winning app lets commuters share traffic, weather info, events, etc. |
The Department of Transportation and Communication’s (DOTC) Philippine Transit App Challenge, the first in Southeast Asia, was a resounding success, drawing participants from as far as Cebu for a three-month hack-at-home competition to develop an app that will ease commuting in the megacities of Cebu and Metro Manila. More details after the jump.
At the culminating event held last 14 October at the GT-Toyota Asian Cultural Center Auditorium in UP-Diliman, competition finalists got to demonstrate how their apps worked and the various benefits each offered.
Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya thanked the developers for sharing their talent in helping provide tools to the commuting public for navigating the two giant metros.
“I commend all of the participants to our App Challenge, especially the finalists who are here tonight, for spending the last three months being a part of the solution to one of our country’s toughest problems,” he said.
Trip Barker, a community-based trip planner for mass transit systems through which users can share real-time weather, traffic, and events with their community, won the Best App Award and P100,000.00 plus a nomination to the 2014 Mobile Premier Awards at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain next February.
There were also three special award winners, each with a P50,000.00 prize.
Sakay.ph, a web- and SMS-based app that gives commuters printable transit directions for jeepneys, buses, and trains in Metro Manila, took the Open Community Award.
The Transport Award went to Transit.com.ph for its app that provides Cebu City commuters with route-planning tools as well as a route editor for city planners and contributors.
Manila Train Guide, a trip-planning app for Metro Manila’s railways, which highlights nearby places of interest, won the Inclusive Technology Award.
Meanwhile, Rklamo, an app that provides a tipping mechanism via SMS for PUV drivers with good behavior was the Voter’s Choice and received P30,000.00.
The Philippine Transit App Challenge, which was launched by the DOTC alongside the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the Cebu City Government in early July, netted 17 entries from which 10 finalists were chosen.
Source: Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC)
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