Microsoft India has launched the Code for Honor contest geared to create over a 100 apps in 6 months. Open to independent software vendors (ISVs) and technology start-ups, the contest will produce solutions for businesses and governments. The contest is receving support from a panel of organizations such as National Informatics Centre (NIC) of the Government of India, NASSCOM, TiE, Nokia, Nokia App Campus, Intel and BarrierBreak.
ISVs and technology start-ups can win nine awards in four categories – Enterprise, MSME, Government Enablement and Citizen Services. Special credit will be given to apps and solutions that are accessible to differently-abled people and/or are created to promote social good.
An NIC-backed, special award is earmarked for the ‘Best solution for social good using Open Gov Data’. 56 Indian government departments and ministries recently opened their data sets to the public and NIC is encouraging ISVs to develop applications using these data sets.
“With the proliferation of devices and cloud-based services, governments, businesses and other organizations are seeking to interact with customers, partners and other stakeholders securely and reliably. Code for Honor will kick-start the creation of apps and solutions that are scalable, reliable and secure and that can be used over public, private and hybrid cloud.” – Microsoft India’s, Bhaskar Pramanik.
Any Indian ISV or tech start-up that is less than eight years old is eligible to participate in the contest. The contest will be themed around four broad categories:
- Enterprise apps and solutions – these could be in the areas of HR, Finance, Marketing, Sales etc.
- Micro, small and medium enterprise apps and solutions – these may be in all the areas of operations of a small company and the apps and solutions need to be simple to deploy and cost effective.
- Government Enablement – these could be applications that help government departments improve their internal operations.
- Citizen services – these can be apps and solutions that help make government services more accessible to citizens and that benefit a large section of society.
“The reality of multi-device, multi-screen experiences is reshaping how developers think, build and monetize apps for consumption across the world. Windows is playing a key role in giving wings to their aspirations by providing the most flexible and comprehensive platform. With best-in-class guidance, Code for Honor will challenge developers to build apps that have large-scale impact both for India and the world,” – Microsoft’s Steve Guggenheimer.
Registration for the Code for Honor competition is now open on www.codeforhonor.com. The contest will run between December 2013 and June 2014. Winning teams will receive cash awards of INR 2,00,000, access mentoring from an elite panel, and will have the opportunity to connect with potential investors and customers.
