4 Filipino teams enter semifinals of Google Apps Developer Challenge

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has achieved international recognition once again, this time at the Google Apps Developer Challenge 2012 — a global coding competition for Google Apps and Google Drive, where four Filipino teams, including a team of Smart developers, have reached the semifinals.

Smart, through its developer community, Smart Developer Network (Smart DevNet), provided sponsorship and assistance to the Philippine legs of the international competition organized by local Google Developer Groups (GDG).

The country’s short-listed entries were: CollabSpot Notetaker, which allows collaborative creation of tasks and document links via Google+ Hangouts sessions; tsksticker, which enables the creation of art, comic strips and animation using drag and drop sticker options; CleverNote, which is a unique way of taking notes in Google Drive; and Events KIT, the Google app coded by Smart developers, which helps manage events, meetings or usual meet-ups in a more organized manner.

“Being one of the finalists is already a major achievement for our company and for the country,” said Mitch Padua, Smart department head for Internet product management.

“This significant achievement underscores our commitment to the development of groundbreaking products, services, and programs that will help our subscribers and our people to live more and achieve their full potential,” he added.

“This milestone shows that the developer community in the Philippines is dynamic, advanced, and world-class,” said Jim Ayson, Smart senior manager for Smart DevNet.

“We renew our commitment to support programs and activities that will help move the Philippine apps developer ecosystem forward,” he added.

The four Filipino teams were part of the seven short-listed entries from Southeast Asia. They will compete with developers from five other regions, namely India, Latin America, Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, for prizes that include Chromebooks and up to $20,000 in cash.

Launched in June this year, the Google Apps Developer Challenge 2012 is a global competition for developers across the globe which requires participants to build and submit applications for any of the three categories — Enterprise or Small Business Solutions; Social/Personal Productivity/Games/Fun; and Education/Water/Food and Hunger/Health. 

A total of 18 winning apps will be chosen at the end of the competition. Winners will be announced on Nov. 12.