Ericsson has announced Team SOP (Nigeria) and Team WorkMode (South Africa) are among the semi-finalists of the company and student categories respectively of the Ericsson Application Awards (EAA) 2014.
TeIn all, teams from 65 countries participated in the award that will see the winning teams in each category receive EUR25,000 (US$34,000).
In a statement, Ericsson said Team SOP developed an application that allows users to receive push notifications on availability and analytics on electricity in their area.
“This is a first for Africa and will harness the power of big data to make people’s lives easier,” it said.
South Africa’s Team WorkMode developed an application that empowers workers to manage their time effectively while in and out of the office. Ericsson said: “The idea behind WorkMode is to allow employees to see, at a quick glance, the real-time work context of other employees, their tasks, and in which context these tasks can be completed.”
The two teams from Africa are competing for the first place spot with teams from Germany, India, Bangladesh, Finland, Poland, United States (US), Macedonia and the United Kingdom (UK).
”New behaviours and emerging technologies are changing how the workplace is organised. Young professionals have high expectations to stay connected at work and have different expectations on communication tools and work life in general. These teams have developed applications that have the potential to define our next generation of working life, we wish them all the best,” said Shiletsi Makhofane, head of marketing and strategy at Ericsson Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Ericsson Application Awards is an annual competition for application developers. The purpose of this year’s theme – “Working Life” – is to promote innovations that will change how businesses are organised.
The semi-finalist apps will be reviewed and the top two teams selected in each category. The winning teams will be selected by an international external jury.
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