Impact of Application Development Competition for Digital Technology Ecosystem

The Indonesia Next Apps 3.0 competition event held by Samsung in conjunction with the launch of the Samsung Z2 device based on the Tizen operating system has ended yesterday. In the competition, the participating participants competed to show their best innovation in making applications. But have you ever asked, what impact can an application development competition have on the digital technology ecosystem?

General Manager of Infinys System Indonesia Dondy Bappedyanto who was one of the judges for the Tizen Apps category in the Indonesia Next Apps 3.0 (INA 3.0) competition said that competitions like INA could actually be the first step for developer to validate whether their idea can be pitched to the market or not. In addition, this can also fill the void that exists now because similar competitions are starting to become rare in Indonesia.

Dondy said, “Competitions like INA are good because things like this are rare in Indonesia. […] So what Samsung is doing can fill the void that exists today and the developer in Indonesia can use it to show their work and get appreciation. […] At least with this kind of activity they can do initial validation, whether the product is suitable to be thrown into the market or not.”

Omni VR CEO Nico Alyus who was the judge in the category Virtual Reality (VR) also gave a similar opinion. Nico said that the VR industry, which is currently still in the very early stages of its growth, needs things like INA competitions. The reason was simple, the competition that Nico thought could be trigger for people to start creating VR content because from here the opportunities can be seen.

“This [the competition] should be possible encouragement people to dare to try because they see Opportunityit exists if he [the developer] really wants to make something. So, don't just think that 'this looks like fun' because it will just end there. You have to make it, really make it and an event like this can be trigger for people to create what they want [in VR]. This is what must be maintained so that the ecosystem can run,” said Nico.

The same tone also came from CEO Setipa Razi Thalib who was the judge in the category w in the INA 3.0 competition. Razi is of the view that competitions such as INA can provide an early indication that developer those who develop applications have begun to understand who their target market is. Especially in the realm w which requires attention from the UI/UX side because it has its own limitations.

Even so, there is one thing that is still a concern, namely in terms of service monetization. Both Razi, Dondy, and Nico agree that one of the product constraints that arise from competition is the business model which is generally still immature.

“In terms of quality, the existing applications are already good. But the drawback, which will also be part of the process later, is maturity of how togenerate business models. […] This expected actually, because currently our people are still weak when it comes to creative business models,” said Dondy.

Dondy added, “For example, if paid apps We already know that it is difficult to sell in Indonesia. Whereas for in-app purchase what we are looking for is how to get people to want to do it. If it's not interesting, then it doesn't work either. Things like this that I see are still lacking, but in terms of application quality it is already very good.”

Meanwhile, Director at Samsung R&D Institute Indonesia Risman Adnan said that if there were 1000 steps to be entrepreneur successful, this INA competition is new step from 0 to 1. However, this is the most important step because it means he's about to start.

On the other hand, the INA 3.0 competition is also one of Samsung's efforts to help complement the Tizen ecosystem which has begun to be brought into Indonesia. Through this competition, Samsung is slowly starting to fulfill applications that can run on its Tizen operating system.

Through this competition, according to Razi, local developers should be able to see new opportunities that are open. There is a new market that can be worked on if the ecosystem can run, survive, and thrive in Indonesia.

Razi said, “From some of the winners or [later] successes from this competition [INA 3.0] might be an example or role model for other young developers to see that this has potential to develop it. Seizing the market is the term, rather than waiting for us game from the outside."

“If this can be an example or role model, it should be able to help people take steps to develop something [an application]. […] If the market develops later, businesses, ideas, or game development what is being made now can help reduce barrier someone to want to try new things [Tizen OS],” he said.