Islamabad: Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Dr. Mohammed Yaseen, has said that it is a positive sign for the telecom industry that companies are diverging into new grounds for the development of Local Contents and Applications and it signifies a shift in telecom industry. He was addressing prize distribution ceremony of calling All Innovators Pakistan 2010 developer’s competition organized by Nokia which was held here in Karachi. He said that “Today’s event symbolizes the progress of Pakistan’s telecom industry. It is an honor for us to have players in the industry who are playing critical role in furthering not only their business but are also fuelling the growth of the industry on the whole. He further said that by providing a breeding ground for Pakistani developers, Nokia is taking a lead in bringing to Pakistani consumers the most relevant mobility experience.

During the occasion Imran Mahmood, General Manager, Nokia Pakistan said, “We are overwhelmed with the number of developers who submitted their applications for the competition. It only reaffirmed our belief that Pakistan has some of the finest developers to offer. It is truly a milestone for us to reach the final stage of first Calling All Innovators competition in Pakistan. It has been a sheer pleasure to see that we have a large group of technology enthusiasts in this country” he added.  Nokia will provide free software development kits (SDKs) to PTA for onward distribution to universities across Pakistan.

On this occasion Teemu Kiijarvi, Forum Nokia Developers Relations Manager said, “It is a great achievement and a proud moment for the Nokia team as well as the Pakistani developers to come together on a single platform. This event only marks the beginning of a fruitful and winning partnership between Forum Nokia and Pakistani developers. We want to have a dialogue with the developers and engage them with our platform and offerings to offer them the services that are tailored around their needs. Calling All Innovators is a step towards this goal.”

The Award Competition was arranged to recognize the talent who has locally developed mobile applications and contents. Awards were given to three most innovative and creative content developers.

These prizes were decided by the panel of judges comprising of Mr. Amir Malik, Mr. Zia Imran, Ms. Jehan Ara and Mr. Farhan Chawla. The competition winner received the grand prize of 1,000,000/- PKR in cash; along with paid travel and accommodation to demo the winning application at a Nokia specified event. The two runners-up received 500,000/- PKR in cash and 300,000/- PKR in cash respectively. The winners in all four applications categories also received a one-year membership in Forum Nokia Launchpad, which is designed to accelerate mobile application development and elevate business visibility in the mobile world.

 

(Khurram A.Mehran)

Director (PR)