Etisalat and hSenid Mobile announced the commercialization of their breakthrough Mobile Application Eco-System 'AppZone,' enabling all Etisalat users to download applications that are useful and important for them in day-to-day information sourcing & entertainment. The AppZone portal that was launched in June initially to local developers to start developing mobile phone applications, is now accessible for commercial purposes. Customers can now dial #141# or visit www.appzone.lk to download mobile applications ranging from train schedules, horoscope predictions, games, sports updates or anything else at the click of a key. There is a comprehensive listing of applications and the most significant factor is all these have been developed by local technocrats to suit local requirements.
Etisalat CEO Dumindra Ratnayake expressing his delight on succeeding in introducing a breakthrough mobile value adding service in Sri Lanka said, “what commenced as a pilot project in application development has today become a general service to Etisalat customers. AppZone will enable our customers to access an array of applications, be it searching for bus routes , checking for rahu kalaya or checking for a cab listing.” Ratnayake further stated that since there is very highly evolved techno-culture woven around the mobile phone, it was important that service providers introduce more and more value added services to their customers. “In order to substantiate the entrepreneurial angle of this project we will be sharing 70% of revenue with respective application developers” added Ratnayake.
AppZone is based on the revolutionary Cloud Telco Application Portal (Cloud TAP) developed by hSenid Mobile based on open standards & technologies, end to end service creation and rapid time to market Telco Applications. The state of the art Telco developer portal helps to create opportunities from simple to enterprise applications that can be developed with minimum effort.” Mr. Dinesh Saparamadu, CEO, hSenid Mobile is pleased with the responses they have received for the competition. “AppZone is Sri Lanka's first ever Telco App Store. We believe this is the beginning of taking our developers to a global Telco application platform powered by hSenid Mobile," Saparamadu stated further.
Asanka Gayan, a young technocrat from the University of Peradeniya who has developed an SMS based application enabling users to access island wide train time-route schedules as per the Railway department said, “once the idea was in place, the execution was immensely simple. All I had to do was gather the technical background from the online AppZone forum and follow instructions. I was motivated by the challenge of developing an application as well as the revenue incentive! I have no doubt that this experience will be a stepping stone for my future ambition of making it big in the industry.”
The inter-university competition is still on and the grand winner will receive an Apple i-pad from the organizers. Endorsing the success of this breakthrough initiative, Director University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC), Prof. Gihan Wickramanayake said, "AppZone covers a wide rage of applications from business to pleasure. Creation of innovative mobile applications is a business opportunity for our undergraduates."
Commenting on the entrepreneurial angle of this project Dr. Koliya Pulasinghe , Dean Academic Affairs, Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT), “The benefits that student community can reap from this initiative are two folds. This initiative creates an environment where students can try out their technical, entrepreneurial, and soft skills which are essential underpinnings of future graduates. The other is, ownership of the product remains with developers after the competition and with that recognition they can start-up businesses which create more opportunities for their community.”
Dr Kapila Ponnamperuma, Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, is in the view that AppZone provides an ideal and hassle free platform for students to effortlessly venture into mobile application development. He said, “I hope that this would lead to a future brand of young entrepreneurs who could look beyond traditional and local boundaries and explore the global marketplace with confidence.” Commenting on the changing employment dynamics of the modern era, Ms. Vishaka Nanayakkara Head - Department of Computer Science & Engineering - University of Moratuwa
said, “In our quest to make today's graduates the job creators and not job seekers initiatives like Appzone are very helpful as it would give the young undergraduates an opportunity to develop entrepreneurial skills and enhance their knowledge and skills in software development. An inter-university competition would give all Sri Lankan undergraduates and opportunity to compete and showcase their talent”
Discussing the multi-faceted advantages of this competition, Mr. Dinuka Kahandage, Operations Manager for Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology said,“This will be a great opportunity for the youth to kick start their career path. Come up with your own application, creative ideas and earn some income at the end of the month. It is not only the income that you will get out of it… it is the recognition what is more important, since you could become recognized locally and globally based on the success of your application in future”
said, “In our quest to make today's graduates the job creators and not job seekers initiatives like Appzone are very helpful as it would give the young undergraduates an opportunity to develop entrepreneurial skills and enhance their knowledge and skills in software development. An inter-university competition would give all Sri Lankan undergraduates and opportunity to compete and showcase their talent”
Discussing the multi-faceted advantages of this competition, Mr. Dinuka Kahandage, Operations Manager for Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology said,“This will be a great opportunity for the youth to kick start their career path. Come up with your own application, creative ideas and earn some income at the end of the month. It is not only the income that you will get out of it… it is the recognition what is more important, since you could become recognized locally and globally based on the success of your application in future”
Encouraged by the success of the inter-university competition, Etisalat & hSenid has now opened this competition to the technology savvy general public as well. Application developers will have to visit the Etisalat Mobile App Forum (www.appzone.lk) powered by hSenid Mobile, use the development kits provided to develop application, test it with the simulators provided and submit it for approval and commercialization. Apart from earning a significant portion of the revenue earned, the developer will also get the chance to share the application nationally and internationally there by having the chance to build a reputation for himself .
