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Being part of the jury is a very interesting experience and because of which we are getting exposure to a lot of innovative applications and services, see what all is going on around South Asia. The awards ceremony is required to be focused on what is being done for digital divide inclusion, and what is been done for the base of the pyramid type users.
Kunal Bajaj, Partner, Director India, Analyses Mason India
I have come across a number of innovative applications and i have also been a part of the very tedious jury process which has also been enjoyable at the same time.
Prof. Dileeka Dias, Dept of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering, University of Moratuwa
I feel the entire technology of telecom, whether it is 2G or 3G or next one will actually be meaningful if we have a lot of mobile content. So I think mBillionth Award is happening at the right time. Mobile content has been an area which has been neglected for so long primarily by operators who have been focused on getting numbers. An Award like this will really raise the levels of awareness about mobile content, its significance and importance. I also believe the govt. will wake up and realize that they have not really supported and encouraged the mobile content guys.
Ibrahim Ahmad, Group Editor, Cyber Media
It’s a brilliant feeling to be a part of the mBillionth Awards, because it is an opportunity to evaluate such innovations who are invisible. mBillionth award acts like a catalyst for the innovation of the brilliant people in this part of the world. Mobile is mass’s media. We are looking forward to identifying people through the awards who are taking this to the next level of massifisation of the innovation on the mobile platform.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Managing Director, One97
mBillionth concept will help a lot of innovators to showcase their products and will help the business to get close to the customers.
Sinnathamby Shanmugarajah, CTO, Microimage (Pvt.) Ltd
It’s a very good idea to have mobile awards like mBillionth Award. It is very important for the people of the region to know how users and technical experts feel about the development and content around mobile. The mBillionth Award should certainly help in promoting the area a lot more. I think we need to get a lot more into the local languages. The west has a lot of things. Every country has one language or a maximum two, but in India or Pakistan for example there are 100’s of languages. I think we need a lot more incentives like the mBillionth Awards possibly even for the local languages.
Zaheer Alam Kidvai, CEO, Beyond Information Technology Solutions (BiTS), Karachi, Pakistan
Awards are the best way to incentivize any sector, especially the high energy, and entrepreneurially driven youth in the mobile sector. I feel great to be a part of the mBillionth Award process and jury member. The kind of discussions that take place during the jury, the thoroughness with which the jury go into each nomination and the passion with which they seek the most meritorious is a site to be seen. At the end of it, it is very satisfying to feel that we selected the best.
Lekha Kumar, Commissioner of Income Tax (Systems I), Directorate of Income Tax, New Delhi
mBillionth Award a very good concept. I believe South Asia is home to millions of subscribers and is an evergreen market. The statistics show that in India alone there would be over 60% mobile penetration and going by voice, mobile content would play a major role and equalizer in the digital divide. In that sense the mBillionth Award would fill a lot of mobile content solution development, mobile application and also a lot of citizen services and the recognition given by the mBillionth Award would lay the foundation for a lot more activity in this field in the future.
Nayana P Serasinghe, Head – Mobile Chapter, SLASSCOM Centre of Excellence for Mobile
mBillionth Award has been introduced at a very pertinent time when the mobile penetration is growing and we see a trend where a lot of people are developing applications. mBillionth recognizes the applications and acts as a mode to reach the masses. mBillionth Award is a motivating factor, because now they have a reason and a platform to come and present their initiatives.
Balathasan Sayanthan, Solutions Architect, hSenid
I’ve been writing about ICT for more than 15 years now and I’ve been delighted and honored to be a part of judging some of the best applications in the mobile awards. This is the first ever South Asian Mobile Awards. We are creating history through these awards. Awards always serve a very important purpose, to recognise and promote excellence in every field. I think it’s a very timely focus on mobiles. The jury process has been terrific. We’ve got a chance to meet even before the actual jury process. We had a very good 1 day seminar also on the sideline of jury process in Colombo, where we saw very smart young and dynamic Sri Lankan developers. The process has been very good. The selection, documentation of the awards has been thorough. Getting us all together in one room and working for 48 hrs is a terrific idea. It’s tough but the fruits of the effort are well worth it.
Dr. Madanmohan Rao, Editor, Mobile Monday, Author, Asia Unplugged
It’s a great pleasure to be a part of the jury process of mBillionth Awards. It helped in understanding the trends in developing mobile applications. Mobile and telecommunication is the most penetrated information technology in people’s hand. The mobile phone based solutions deserve separate attention, and so the mBillionth Awards is a very good idea to promote innovations in mobile technology. Most of the people have very basic handset that cannot access various applications and VAS, so it is important to reach the unreached in this field. I believe the award will bring new players on the ground and promote innovation particularly among the young generation whose imagination is unlimited.
Dr. Ananya Raihan, Exe. Dir, D.NET & Advisor i2i project, PMO, Bangladesh
It’s a great opportunity to reach out to smart developers who also have a purpose in their development which goes beyond the commercial benefit. I will not be surprised if in the next few years a lot of digital empowerment and technological development we are talking about accelerates on the mobile much faster than it does on the computer. The entire mBillionth jury process is vigorous, pretty exhausting for the jurors but is also error free. We try to make sure that the people who have won have really proven something and have able to sustain through several runs of scrutiny. It’s a good water tight process.
Sidin Vadukut, Managing Editor, MINT (Online & Convergence)
mBillionth Award will help a lot of innovations to be recognized and bring a lot of mobile phone developers forward and help the people, help us to reduce the digital divide in the region. I think there is lots of innovative mobile work happening relevant to mobile media. However when I look at the projects people are engaging, there are lot of initiative on rich content, content on advanced devices but is not reachable for the masses. When it comes to things useful for the mass, there is a lot more we can do. I think we need to educate the mobile developers on those needs and what sort of applications they need to bring in.
Sanjaya Karunasena, Head of Technology & Chief Software architect, ICTA, Sri Lanka
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