Isobar launches mobile 'hackathon' event in Asia

Held in partnership with Samsung, OCBC Bank, Microsoft, the AsiaOne network, Clear Channel, Carat Media and 3E Gadgets, the event will see TUS Isobar hosting the first NFC (near-field communication)-themed hackathon in Singapore. Developers from across the region will be challenged to create their own NFC apps within 32 hours to win prizes from Samsung.

The event is supported by Infocomm Development Authority (iDA) of Singapore. Create 32 is an initiative by NowLab, an innovation initiative of Isobar, which scours key markets for technology developments, according to the company.

Jean Lin, CEO of Isobar APAC and global chief strategy officer, noted that the purpose behind the event is to connect brands and clients with local, entrepreneurial developers to generate an understanding of how innovation can enhance business objectives and creativity. “We want to share how new interactive frontiers can exist within consumer engagement,” she said.

Isobar Create 32 Singapore will run from 10 am on 23 February to 7 pm the following day. More than 60 participants, a mix of students and professionals from Singapore, Australia and Indonesia, have registered for the competition. The participants will develop their apps before pitching them to a panel of judges, formed by representatives from the partners such as iDA, Samsung and OCBC as well as internal technologists and business leaders.

The global initiative was held last year in London, Boston and San Francisco. After the event in Singapore, Australia and China will follow within the next few months.

The Singapore event chose to focus on NFC, banking on iDA’s launch last year of a cross-industry, open-access infrastructure that has been implemented to enable businesses to offer secured NFC services to all mobile subscribers in Singapore in a timely manner.

Prakash Kamdar, CEO of TUS Isobar Singapore, said the event allows tech enthusiasts to demonstrate their passion for NFC technology, and to explore innovative uses of it, be it for transactional purposes, exchanging digital content, or simply to connect devices like never before.

Arvind Sethumadhavan, regional practice leader for social and ROI analytics at Isobar APAC, meanwhile, said that with technology changing the way people live—and the way that they interact with brands and businesses—the agency wants to be a thought leader in pushing the boundaries.

“The event is about bringing new technology that can be applied to clients’ business, and it also allows us to get closer to the technology,” he said.

As for the winning solutions, the event partners will be exploring the possibilities for applying the particpants' work to their businesses, and Isobar likewise will look at using the work for its clients' marketing challenges.