While Indonesian citizens are busy with the pro and contra on Komodo and New7Wonder issue, there is an event took Komodo as its theme. It took the spirit of knowing more about Komodo as the endangered animals which can be found only in Indonesia. The competition was held by the Ministry of Tourism (which now becomes the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy) and the Marketeers magazine, Komodo Apps Challenge was held to challenge local developers.
The registered apps will also be exhibited at Komodo Night event in Chicago and Sydney. This event is aimed to get more attention and global visitors. There were three platforms for the competition bases; they are BlackBerry, iOS, and Android. The judging was based on the implementation of the idea and the marketability potential.
The judging was done by a board of judges consisting of Sapta Winandar (Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy), Hermawan Kertajaya (MarkPlus), Andrew Darwis (Kaskus), Enda Nasution (Saling Silang) and Sanny Gaddafi (Founder Institute). The prizes for the winner in each category are IDR 40 million (1st place), IDR 15 million (2nd place), and IDR 5 million (3rd place).
After going through the judging process, there are three winners chosen for each category. They are
BlackBerry Category:
1. Raka Mahesa — Komodo Park
2. Diaz Hendrianto — KomodoGo BlackBerry
3. Andri Yunanto — KomodoIn
Android Category:
1. Inas Lutfi — Komodo Island Newborn Wonders
2. Surya Dr — The Lost Komodo
3. Yansen Kamto — Komodo: Do Ko Mo
iOS Category:
1. Yansen Kamto — Komodo: Do Ko Mo
2. Inas Lutfi — Komodo Island Newborn Wonders
3. Yohan Totting — Explore Komodo
The awarding was done on 31st October 2011. For me, the most important thing from this event is the awareness that we Indonesian have protected species which live only in Indonesia. The understanding about Komodo and its habitat is very important to help save its ecosystem. Let’s hope that these apps will be available in marketplace for each platform and soon will be able to be utilized by costumer both in Indonesia and global market.