KPK Government launches an app competition with hefty prize money

KPK IT Board has launched a wonderful initiative to boost young techies, entrepreneurs and designers hailing from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and around the world. The initiative called KPApps is being held in March next month.

KPApps aims to contribute towards team building, entrepreneurship, youth networking in order to strengthen the technology ecosystem of the province. For that reason they have partnered with PTA, Tech Valley Abbottabad, World Bank, Code for Pakistan and TechJuice as the Media Partner. KPApps is being defined as an online hackathon which will allow participants to create mobile applications, websites or any other tech gadget. The submissions should belong to any of these categories: Web, Mobile, SMS Apps for Civic Engagement, Governance, Health, Mobile-only Apps for Agriculture, Finance, Education. The initiative is offering a total of Rs. 600,000 worth cash prizes – Rs. 100,000 to the winner and Rs. 50,000 to the runner-up of each individual category.

The eligibility criteria for the competition is pretty lenient.

• The code for the applications should be open source and posted on GitHub.
• You can choose to make your project on any platform.
• Participants can submit more than one app, but only submission per category.
• Everyone must work in teams of 3-5 people.
• Team size should not exceed 5.
• At least one member of the team must be a resident of KPK.

Once you’ve made sure that you are eligible to apply or you have an idea, that’s when the real work begins. Here’s how to enter the competition:

• Register on Devpost.
• Create a GitHub account.
• Use DevPost Discussion Forum to ask questions from organizers, look for teammates, and indicate your interest in mentoring.
• Complete all submission steps by March 14th

After you have entered the race, you must make sure to follow these guidelines in order to be considered for the final demo.

• All teams must submit a link to a functioning prototype for their final demo.
• Create screenshots and mockups to explain the other parts of your app that you didn’t implement.
• All registered participants have the right to use any of the public communication tools of the event, as frequently as they wish, in order to interact with the mentors and each other.
• Use of appropriate language on these channels is required.

The final entries will be judged on the basis of quality of solution, novelty and learning, ease of use and sustainability. The judging panel includes the likes of Anna O’Donnell of World Bank, Abdullah Ejaz of Tech Valley Abottabad, Salman Zafar of PTA, Owais Anjum of eMumba and OPEN Islamabad.

Here are a few deadlines to keep in mind:

• It is suggested that you form teams before February 26th
• Submission Deadline: March 14th
• The submissions will be judged between March 14th- March 21st

Five teams from each category will be invited to the Demo Day in Abbottabad on March 25th where the winners will be announced. Time to get to work!