Hyderabad to play host to India's first AppFest

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), a professional body representing the online and mobile value-added services (VAS) industry in India, will be organising AppFest 2012, the country’s first apps event, in Hyderabad from December 13.

“The three-day AppFest is the first step towards realisation of the tremendous opportunity, and will seek to foster an environment where businesses, developers, platforms and networks are incentivised for their efforts,” IAMAI president Subho Ray said, adding that over 600 app developers will be participating in the event.

‘Apps’, less than 5 years after the term was popularised, signifies some serious stuff in India –– the front door for all businesses, opportunity for entrepreneurship and innovation in smaller towns and cities, creation of enormous core and ancillary job opportunities. The faint whispers of an ‘apps economy’ in the US in 2009, therefore, are becoming a loud and serious topic of discussion across the world in 2012, according to IAMAI.

It is estimated that in the US alone, apps have generated half a million new jobs between 2007 and 2012. In India, given the strong base of mobile users, rapidly-growing base of Internet users, availability of innovative minds and depth of resource pool, the opportunity can be enormous, Ray said.

AppFest 2012 will have three tracks –– Talkathon, Hackathon and Challengathon. Developers will be able to share ideas on technology, revenue models and current opportunities with each other. It will also provide an opportunity to participants to compete and create on-spot customised solutions for brands present and immediate opportunity to work with them on larger projects, he added.