Top prize for Team BabyBlocks for app that helps parents

CYBERJAYA: A team who developed an app that helps pool used baby items to be donated, won the top hackathon honours at the Malaysia Developers Day (MYDD) 2017 last night.

Calling themselves Team BabyBlocks, its three members - Cheong Jin Haw, 34, Francis Pang Chang Chun, 35, and Melissa Lee Mei Wei, 21, took home the grand prize of USD10,000 (RM42,900).

Team leader Pang said the app was developed by the team to provide a platform for people to donate used baby items to parents who are not able to afford them.

"We found a lot of women groups in social media giving out their used baby items, and that's how the idea to generate this app came about.

"We want to help other parents who cannot afford them, find this platform to get those items," he said.

BabyBlocks' platform would feature used baby equipments such as strollers and car safety seats, where anyone on the platform can donate their items or put a price on it.

And people who join their community, with a subscription fee, gets to use up to three items marketed in the platform every month. Once a user is done, that person can return it and use another item on the market.

The second place went to team iHorus, who brought home USD3,000 and third prize of USD2,000 won by TeamY.

MYDD was organised by Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and US telecommunications company AT&T at the MCMC former headquarters, here.

The two-day event, which ended last night saw participations from 33 teams comprising of 161 local and international participants competing 24-hour developing mobile applications since 4pm on Friday.

Themed "Internet of Things & Data Analytics", the developers can choose from four categories - Smart Cities, Healthcare, Sustainability and Home.

The teams were also provided with the tools and resources they need to quickly build creative apps besides further support by tech experts and mentors from AT&T and MCMC.

At the prize giving ceremony, five Nanodegrees scholarships funded by AT&T and Udacity worth approximately USD10,000 were also given to promising participants during the hackhaton.

Those in present at MYDD include MCMC Technology and Society Division senior director Aisharuddin Nuruddin, US Ambassador to Malaysia Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir and AT&T International External Affairs executive director Jake Jennings.