The Government of Jamaica in partnership with the World Bank and private sector operators in the local ICT sector invites applications from Jamaican software developers and digital artists to participate in the Digital Jam 2.0 Mobile Apps Competition.
Conceived as an integral part of a 3-day Business Development and Marketplace event to be held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston June 28-30, 2012, the following are requirements for submission into the competition:
- The software application should feature a mobile device interface, serving platforms widely available to the Jamaican public or to a broader international market seeking Jamaica-related inputs or contents.
- The app development should utilize technologies such as SMS, USSD, Java ME, iPhone Xcode, Android development tools and HTML5.
- The application must be new, designed and implemented after January 1, 2012.
- At least half the members of the application development team must be Jamaican by citizenship or parentage.
Concept submission, to be received by April 23, 2012 must specify:
- The proposed features and functions of the application
- Value added component in support of social development and/or specific business objectives
The process will include sponsored training in specialized mobile applications development along with mentoring and resources to support the competing apps teams during the course of the competition. John Henry Thompson, renowned software inventor and mobile apps developer will lead the program.
Sponsorship for app development is being sought for 2 categories of mobile apps that have near-term application:
- Olympic apps related to the upcoming London games; and
- National Culture apps relevant to upcoming Jamaica 50 celebrations.
Special awards and prize categories will focus on the social value of the mobile applications and the degree to which they integrate creative art content. A grand prize of J$ 1 million will be provided to the overall best application. More details will be announced in the coming weeks. For further information on the Mobile Apps Competition kindly contact:
igonzalezb@worldbank.org