Emirates Islamic announces winners of EI Appathon the 24-hour app challenge

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Emirates Islamic announces winners of EI Appathon the 24-hour app challenge

Emirates Islamic, one of the leading Islamic banks in the UAE, today revealed the winners of 'EI Appathon', a 24-hour challenge for students and professionals from around the UAE to establish unique and innovative apps.

EI Appathon by Emirates Islamic is a celebration of innovation offering mobile app designers a platform to present their big ideas on financial technology. UAE's leading technology companies including Microsoft, Oracle, Hewlett Packard, GDG Dubai (Google Developer Groups) in addition to Dubai Customs were essential partners of the occasion.

63 groups, comprising 176 individuals, were given 24 hours to establish real apps-- iOS, Android or Windows - based on banking themes announced on the day of the competitors. After a gruelling 24-hours of hard work and determined effort, the winners were selected by an evaluating panel consisting of senior management from the partners as well as Emirates Islamic. The winners walked away with a grand prize of AED10,000 each for experts and students, along with a variety of benefits from the event partners.

The winners in the Professional category developed the incredibly innovative 'ShopUp' app, which bridges the gap in between offline and online merchants, while the student winners established the 'iEarn' app, which teaches children the value of generated income.

While turning over the awards to the winners, Jamal Bin Ghalaita, Chief Executive Officer, Emirates Islamic, stated: "Emirates Islamic is proud to organise the EI Appathon, a competition to uncover real skill in the UAE. I am very happy that we have actually had the ability to supply an innovative environment for these passionate developers and now anticipate supporting the real execution of the winning apps in an industrial environment. At Emirates Islamic, we are committed to driving developments in all walks of life and we anticipate arranging comparable occasions in the future.

"Dubai intends to be the most smartest city worldwide, according to the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai. In organising the EI Appathon, we are tapping capacity among the youth in our neighborhood who will contribute in driving the developments that will make Dubai a truly Smart City.".

Team Shop Up, the winners in the expert classification commented: "We are a team of engineers who decided to stop our professional tasks in India and come to Dubai in search of a brand-new challenge. As the UAE is a recognized regional shopping hub with among the world's highest mobile phone penetration rates, we have actually developed an app with an aim to bridge the gap in between offline and online retailers.

Team iEarn, winners in the students category said:''We wanted to get involved in the EI Appathon as it is an ideal platform to meet people, exchange understanding and gain experience in developing apps. We created an app with the purpose to instill the value of made cash amongst children.We would like to thank Emirates Islamic for providing us with this valuable opportunity.