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Hosted by Abu Dhabi Systems and Information Centre
Al Mansoori: Abu Dhabi ideal platform to celebrate and honor ingenuity
Abu Dhabi - 40 winning international teams of the 2014 World Summit Award (WSA) and eight 2015 WSA Mobile global Champions were honored for their pioneering innovation in the field of mobile content during the awards ceremony of the highly acclaimed ICT knowledge-sharing event,'WSA 2015 - Mobile Content',which took place at the St. Regis Hotel Abu Dhabi-Corniche, between February 1 and 3.
Hosted by ADSIC, the three day event showcased 500 mobile applications across 178 countries and eightmain categories covering a range of key economic, social and business areas, from commerce and government to environment, health and education.
Focusing on originality, diversity and creative content, the 48 winning teams were selected by a jury panel of subject-matter experts within the framework of the United Nation's World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) and represented 30 UN member states from the Middle East, Western Europe, North and South America, Africa, Russia,and South and East Asia.
Several key representatives from various Abu Dhabi Government entities were present at the Awards ceremony. The 3 day event witnessed the attendance of more than 400 local and international participants. Overall, 30 speakers shed the spotlight on a number of key m-content issues including excellence in mobile content, ways of supporting the UN's Millennium Development Goals and operational innovation.
Commenting on the occasion, H.E RashedLahaj Al Mansoori, Director General at ADSIC stated, "ADSIC continually seeks to reinforce its position as a platform for thought leaders and subject-matter experts and proactively contributes to positioning the emirate of Abu Dhabi as an ideal platform to celebrate and honortrue innovators."
"The breadth and sheer quality of innovation that was demonstrated during this event is a testament to the Information Society's ongoing efforts to create new pioneering solutions that cater to all, on every level."
Al Mansoori added, "The successful exchange of insights and global learnings we ,in the last three days were both inspirational and motivating, and we are proud to have provided a platform in the heart of the UAE's capital for this key ICT gathering."
ADSIC's DG went on to say that the Centre will continue to actively seek further opportunities and international events that will boost the Emirate's aspirations to strengthen tech-enabled growth and effectively accelerate the modernization of public services through a robust e-government framework.
Al Mansoori concluded by thanking all participants for shedding the spotlight on a number of expert topics and their role in transferring knowledge across a number of key global sectors such as health, environment, tourism, economy and education.
During the three day event, Dr. Major General Ahmed Nasser Al Raisi, Director General of Abu Dhabi Police Central Operations and H.E Hamad Obaid Al Mansoori, Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA)were accompanied by H.E RashedLahaj Al Mansoori, Director General at ADSIC and toured the Exhibition area, gaining first-hand insights into the mobile apps and solutions that were being showcased by the winners. The visiting guests also toured the 'Ibtikari' 2015 booth organized by the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development (KFED).
Prof. Peter A. Bruck, Chairman of the World Summit Award Board of Directors added, "Mobile devices are the closest and most critical things for people in today's information society. Mobile penetration has already outnumbered the earth's population. Access to mobile networks is today as important as clean water or basic foods. The challenge is to create exciting content and innovative applications that do more than just meet basic needs of communication. Content, applications and solutions that impact the daily lives of millions and that connect minds in a smart manner."
Bruck added, "The WSA mobile Global Congress is the impressive showcase of products from all United Nations member states that make a difference and therefore have been selected by the WSA-mobile jury of global experts from 40 countries. The World Summit award addresses the social impact of mobile content and apps in the context of the UN focus on making the world sustainable and to create a true knowledge society."
Eight new global winners were announced from each Award category during the ceremony. They included MOBIZY from the m-Business and Commerce category, Dubai Police app from the m-Government and Participationcategory, Life Saver app from the m-Learning and Education category, Createrria from the m- Entertainment and Lifestyle category, Ancient Aquilea 3D from the m- Tourism and Culture category, LIFENEWS from the m-media and news category, Universal Doctor Speaker from the m-Environment and Health category and the LIVOX app from the m- Inclusion and Empowerment category.
Martin Percy, Interactive Film Director at the UK-based company: Lifesaver/Unit 9 showcased the highly beneficial 'Lifesaver: A New Way To Learn CPR', which is a crisis simulating app that provides users with essential first aid training on how to deal with an emergency situation such as a heart attack or chocking by teaching basic CPR techniques to users through interactivity and live-action film.
Percy said, "Being part of this event has been very exciting and inspiring due to its location in Abu Dhabi, which has been a model for the world in building sustainable economies."
"Moving forward, my dream is to develop a super life saver that would offer more than 12 medical solutions and in several languages, including Arabic."
Carlos Pereira, a Computer Analyst and dad from Brazil who was trying to communicate with his daughter born with cerebral palsy, highlighted the truly inspiring 'LIVOX' app, which is an alternative augmentative communication software for people with motoric, cognitive and visual limitations, aiming to ensure that people with deficiencies do not encounter the same obstacles in the digital world as in the real world. LIVOX enables people with disabilities to speak, read, write and understand complex concepts like math.
On the sidelines of WSA's workshops, Pereira expressed, "I'm very happy and thankful to be here today, as I have made many new connections which I hope to turn into business opportunities and subsequently help more disabled people throughout the world."
Jaleel Al Labadi, Managing Partner at Al Tibbi.com, a specialized Jordanian medical web platform that has developed the pioneering Altibbi app said that he was honored to be among the world's best in mobile content and that WSA provided him the opportunity to show the world how Arabs can significantly contribute to the global health sector.
Al Tibbi is the largest interactive medical and health online platform in Arabic connecting patients to certified physicians and physicians to other physicians. Millions of Arabs take advantage of the app to access a vast amount of information and connect with thousands of doctors. Al Labadi said that the apps key goal is to assist Arabs in leading heathier lives.
Enrico Degrassi and Daniele Bulfone from IKON Multimedia - Italy, were showcasing the Ancient Aquileia 3D App which puts archaeologically interesting cultural content on a mobile platform with detailed augmented reality reconstructions of main locations from the ancient Roman city of Aquileia allowing visitors to use their devices as peepholes in time and as interactive video guides.
Winners from the m-Business and Commerce category included the Clip app by PayClipInc (Mexico), Mobizy app by Tekever(Portugal), UBANK app by UBANK (Russia), Mobile Pay app by Danske Bank (Denmark) and Talabat app by TalabatGeneral Trading and Contracting Company (Kuwait).
Winners from the m-Government and Participation category included the Dubai Police app by Dubai Police GHQ (UAE), Football -Pass to get a better result! app by State Chancellery (Latvia), Electronic Consumer Guide by the Public Authority for Consumer Protection (Oman), Colab.re app by ColabTecnologia e-Serviços de Internet S.A. (Brazil), U-report app by the U-report Organization(Uganda). m-Learning and Education included CURE Runners app by Three Coins GmbH (Austria), Lifesaver: A New Way To Learn CPR by UNIT9 (UK), iChemistby Titration Simulator xfastgames.com (Sri Lanka), Life in the Womb by Science Picture Company (Ireland) andmyBlee Math app by LGM Learning(France).
m-Entertainment and Lifestyle winners includedCreaterria app byIncuvo Sp. z o.o.(Poland), Wattpadby Wattpad Co. (Canada), SplycePlyceapp byInqbarna (Spain), Sherlock: The Networkby The Project Factory (UK) and Hero from the pastby Esprit(Tunisia). m-Tourism and Culture winners includedNezahualcoyotl byConaculta(Mexico), Ancient Aquileia 3D appby Ikon Multimedia(Italy),Touch Van Gogh app byVan Gogh Museum(Netherlands),Makkah Window app byMakkah Window(Saudi Arabia), World Heritage app by DenmarkDanish Agency for Culture (Denmark).
m-Media and News winners included NewsHuntapp by Ver Se Innovation Private Ltd (India), FIVE app by CUBE MOBILE (Latvia), Hiru TV app by Lotus Technologies (Pvt) Ltd (Sri Lanka), LIFENEWS app by NewsMedia (Russia) and NOW app by Mercury Media (Lebanon).The m-Environment and Healthcategory included Altibbiapp by Altibbi.com (Jordan),Universal Doctor Speaker byUniversal Projects and Tools SL (Spain), Sistema AmbientalPaulistaapp by Tboom Interactive (Brazil), BetterDoctor app (Finland) and Your Health app by Dial Technologies S.A (Morocco).
Finally, the m-Inclusion and Empowerment category included ColorADD app by Color ADD(Portugal), Arko app by the Department of Science and Technology (Philippines),Braille Board app by Team of Producers - Islamic University of Gaza (Palestine), SnooCodeapp by Tiny David(Ghana) and Livox app by Agora EuConsigo Tecnologias de Inclusão Social Ltda (Brazil).
Other highlights included interactive networking opportunities, innovation pitches from WSA winners, UAE Entrepreneurship Camp with Emirati students and 'Ibtikari' 2015, which is an initiative in partnership between the Abu Dhabi-based Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development (KFED) and WSA that aims to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation by facilitating knowledge transfer between mobile experts and Emirati youth.
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© Press Release 2015
