Vodacom develops local app ecosystem

Since going live two months ago, the Vodacom App Store has had over 429 000 visitors and 400 000 app downloads.

Vodacom's managing executive of digital, Prins Mhlanga, says the operator is very pleased with the response to the initiative so far.

The app store itself is a cross-platform mobile application, which supports Android, BlackBerry, Java and Symbian.

“Our plan was not to compete with the likes of the Android Market. We launched a multi-platform app store that could address the different markets, so we feel that we've brought in a solution that caters for everyone,” says Mhlanga.

“The beauty of our app store is that it caters for different people rather than looking at it from a phone perspective.”

Of the store's 140 000 apps, 40 are from local brands and developers. Some of the current local apps include News24, Zoopy and K53. Mhlanga says Java and BlackBerry apps make up the most popular downloads.

“While the emphasis now is on globally relevant apps, we are aiming for a mixture of both local and global,” says Mhlanga.

“Moving forward, we anticipate seeing more and more local apps being published into the store. We have different programmes that we are already embarking on to make sure that we develop the local ecosystem.”

The Vodacom Developer Programme (VDP) aims to collaborate with various stakeholders in the local app eco-system to build a pool of local developers, provide technical training and drive innovation through incentives.

Vodacom has been running road shows to create awareness about the VDP and to invite developers to publish apps on the Vodacom App Store. The first road shows have already taken place in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Further road shows are planned for Durban, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth and Polokwane.

At the Johannesburg and Cape Town road shows, 10 contestants were randomly selected for the Vodacom App Star Challenge.

The 60 day challenge will see contestants develop a fully working app on any of the platforms supported by the Vodacom App Store. The challenge kicked off on 1 November, and the winner will receive a cash prize, conference packages and an iPad 2.

“Basically, what we'll do is follow them into their own environment and support them through the process of developing the apps. They will also be able to use the labs that we have in Cape Town and Johannesburg,” says Mhlanga.

Vodacom intends to make it a monthly app development contest from February next year.

“We aim to then take the programme into tertiary institutions and different relevant markets where we can discover new talent,” says Mhlanga.

Vodacom is also hosting the Garage48 event, from 2to 4 December, at Vodacom World, in Midrand.

Participants will have 48 hours to turn an idea into a prototype, and Vodacom says the idea is the winners will get the opportunity to secure venture capital in order to commercialise their apps.

Mhlanga says participants in the VDP initiatives so far represent a broad cross-section of developers, ranging from professionals to students.

“All of these developers come from different backgrounds and have understandings of different markets, so that just shows how diverse the market is that their apps could collectively address.”

Mhlanga says a challenge for local aspirant developers has been the lack of a wide, diversified market that allows them to disperse their products.

“Again, I think an advantage for us and for the market is that we have that multi-platform offering to address the market.

“We're very excited to be in this space and we'll continue to mentor and entice developers. So I believe there will be a whole lot of killer apps that will come out of SA,” says Mhlanga.

“For me, a killer app is an app that addresses a need, one that provides relevancy and adds value to what we do.

“We're hoping our app store will pick up those apps that can actually change people's lives. Those apps that address certain needs in certain areas where there might be challenges.

“Looking at the SA context, there are more chances of having a whole lot of different killer apps, because of the sheer scope of challenges that we face, and the potential for the creation of relevant apps to address that.”

Mhlanga says Vodacom is looking to introduce paid-for apps to their app store in the near future, to give developers the chance to make some revenue.

“But the priority has always been to launch the store, introduce it to the market and strengthen the local ecosystem, to ensure that we have got more and more relevant local apps.”