[Photo Sparks] Attitude, app-titude: a celebration of mobile innovation

PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In this showcase, we bring you face to face with the innovative teams behind award winning mobile content and apps at the mBillionth South Asia 2015 Awards!

In the earlier 50 posts, we brought you a wide range of creative photographs from an art fair, world music festival, painting fair, telecom expo, art museum, mobile showcase, math museum, social hackathon, bookstore, co-working space, sensorium, international design week, flower show, outdoor ads, startup roadshow, computer museum, startup T-shirts, business cards, art therapy, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, Vesak, jazz festival, modern art gallery, ecopreneurs, painter-poets, health activists, eNGOs and digital innovators.

From nimble startups and NGOs to mammoth government agencies and public sector organisations, the mobile wave is transforming the way services are conceptualised and delivered. Organised by the Digital Empowerment Foundation, the exhibition at the sixth annual mBillionth Awards showcased a wide range of apps and platforms (see also the 2015 winner profiles and 2014 photo showcase).

Witness the creativity of mobile innovators from five South Asian countries - from AR apps and alerting services to community centres and citizen engagement platforms!

Mandi Trades is a B2B app which lets farmers post crop details (including pre-harvest information) directly from their smartphones, making it accessible and geo-tagged to buyers and traders. Government prices are also displayed as a benchmark.

ZipAR allows brands to provide location access of all their outlets just by letting users scan the logo of the company or product. Once a consumer is interested in a company’s offerings, a quick scan of the logo via the smartphone app shows where the nearest stores are located, and this information is overlaid on a map for easy identification and access.

Community Information Resource Centres (CIRC) are local digital centres in communities across 19 states of India. The centries provide online services geared towards livelihood generation, education improvement, health focus, and rural development. Core target groups are children, youth and women.

CoYatri.com is a ride-sharing app for enabling inter-city carpooling. Car owners can share vacant seats with willing travelers, whose profiles are registered on the portal. There are also safety features like GPS tracking and panic buttons.

Karnataka Mobile One is a mobile app launched in December 2014 by the government of Karnataka. Published in Kannada and English, the platform provides access to over 4,000 government and private sector services. Some content is also delivered via SMS. Citizens can book railway and government transport bus tickets, and pay bills online.

e-novatRx is a mobile app aimed at providing low-income workers in Pakistan with access to quality medicines, electronic medical record facilities and e-prescriptions. Voice of R is an online magazine for the youth of Pakistan, which challenges youth to organise for positive social change and betterment of human rights. Unfortunately, representatives of these two organisations could not make it to India for the awards due to visa problems.

I want to Learn Better Foundation runs learning modules and immersive programs for children to improve their grasp of English, maths and science. Powered by a large group of volunteers, the aim is to make villages like Khirki a ‘smart village.’ Other centres are in Madanpur, Kahadar and Jasola.

Soochna Seva disseminates information on public schemes and services available for marginalised communities. This includes schemes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Universal Education Mission) and Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act.

Smartur 3D is a mobile app that offers stereoscopic and interactive 3D learning content from CBSE and NCERT textbooks. Using augmented reality, it helps students visualise complex scientific concepts, answer questions and score well in exams.

RxV.co provides citizens with online information about medical facilities and services in their neighbourhood. The data is regularly updated and provides location information and timings of labs, pharmacies, hospitals and doctors’ clinics.

Netradaan (eye donation) from Sightica is an app that helps citizens provide and receive information about eye donation. The Eye Bank Association of India receives the forms and sends the donor a registration card, which the recipient can keep at all times. Citizens who have had accidents and need to contact an eye donor can also update their requests via mobile.

VivaConnect is a digital media company which provides brands and media firms with infrastructure for voice and missed call services. This can also be used for consumer engagement via apps, SMS and email.

Pukar is a mobile app which provides alerting and notification services for citizens during emergencies. For example, women can send distress signals to their chosen emergency contacts. Partnerships have also been established with select police departments for coordinated rescue action.

SmartShehar is a Mumbai-based startup developing smart city solutions. These include apps to help citizens report complaints, crowdsource information, plan commutes and track events. Targeted sectors include urban planning, agriculture, education and transport planning.

MyGov.in is citizen-centric platform launched by the Government of India to incorporate direct citizen inputs. The aim is to help people connect with the government, take part in governance initiatives on a regular basis, and contribute with their own creative talents.

Got a creative photograph to share? Email us at [email protected]!

See also the YourStory pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups,’ accessible as apps for Apple and Android devices.