Shah Alam (16 June 2016) — Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Digi) today announces the kick-off of the seventh edition of its Digi Challenge for Change (DigiCFC 7) programme inviting Malaysian public and local developer communities to ideate and build innovative mobile apps for social good. DigiCFC is one of the seven flagship programmes for Digi Empower Societies, a commitment to enable the internet for all communities to inspire a better Malaysia.
Albern Murty, Digi’s Chief Executive Officer said that DigiCFC has always been advocating innovation, by leveraging on the power of the internet to drive positive societal impact. “Over the years, DigiCFC has evolved to create relevance while keeping the fundamental value of empowering change constant. This year we are challenging Malaysians to come up with ideas to address some of the most pressing issues faced by children, youth and women in the country. We’ll then work with the developer community to create mobile apps that serves as a conduit to engage the various communities,” said Albern.
Open to all Malaysians, DigiCFC 7 is scheduled to start from mid-June 2016 until early October 2016. The Challenge will be carried out through three main phases:
- Phase 1 – Crowdsourcing ideas for social good (16 June – 17 July, 2016)
Malaysians are invited to submit their ideas at www.digicfc.my. Shortlisted ideators will then be engaged in planned activation sessions and pitches to select the best three issues facing Malaysians that will be developed into mobile apps. The three winners will walk away with RM5,000 each.
- Phase 2 – Hackathon to develop mobile apps (1 August – 20 August, 2016)
Under this phase, developers are challenged to build mobile apps in addressing the three issues by participating in HACK!@DigiCFC7.
- Phase 3 – Pilot mobile apps (22 August – 25 September, 2016)
The three finalists selected from the Hackathon will undergo a 30-day validation period. They will need to show Proof of Concept by running their product in a chosen beneficiary group or community.
The winning team will receive a grand prize of RM50,000 and invited to participate in the Digital Winners Conference to be held in Oslo, Norway in October 2016. The two runner-up teams will receive cash prizes of RM 10,000 each.
DigiCFC 7 is supported by Facebook Malaysia, Google Malaysia, MaGIC, MDEC, Microsoft Malaysia and UNICEF.
DigiCFC 6 creating meaningful impact
At the event, Digi together with last year’s DigiCFC 6 winner, Dialogue in the Dark showcased the winning Virtual Call Centre initiative for the Visually Impaired Persons (VIP) and Persons with Disabilities (PWD). In a period of nine months, the team with the winning grant of RM250,000 built a virtual call centre, equipped with customised screen reader software enabling the VIPs and PWDs to operate the system easily. The participants also underwent personal development and capacity building workshops besides digital and communications trainings, as part of their preparation to qualify as full-fledged call centre agents.
“Internet is a great equaliser. We have seen this in DigiCFC 6 whereby Dialogue in the Dark has leveraged on innovative solutions for the visually impaired persons and persons with disabilities, creating meaningful employment. We applaud Dialogue in the Dark and the 18 agents for their tenacity in building a strong foundation for the virtual call centre and we hope that this will be an impetus for everyone who are looking to benefit from the power of the internet ,” added Albern.
For more information, please visit Digi’s Challenge for Change website via www.digicfc.my.
