Ncell App Camp 2014: Participants get solutions from corporate experts

Ncell organized a seminar to encourage the teams selected under corporate solutions, one of the four categories of Ncell App Camp 2014, to give an opportunity to acquire more knowledge and information from the corporate experts.

Encouraging the competitors, the keynote speaker of the event and CEO of Ncell, ErimTaylanlar said that the speed of app development is getting amazingly faster in the world. “In Nepalese context, it is also amazing to see how much people are aware about the use of smart phones,” Taylanlar appreciated that Nepalese are engaged in knowing the latest technology releases in the market.

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However, Taylanlar also pointed out that smart phones penetration is still one of the major challenges in the sector of app development in Nepal. “We need to increase smart phone penetration to increase the app penetration,” said Taylanlar.

Besides, good data network is another challenge for the app developers to deal with, said Taylanlar. “We are trying to extend the data coverage to rural places of Nepal but are still waiting for the license from the regulatory bodies in this regard,” Taylanlar informed.

Discussing the challenges faced by Nepali app developers, panelist said that credit card payment is still not common in Nepal. Meanwhile, participating teams were curious if payment through mobile apps could be possible in case of international transactions for people in Nepal at a time when Nepalese currency is not directly convertible.

Dev Guragain, a participating team member asked if telecom companies or banks could manage to ease customers in making payment to the global firms for making transactions from Nepal.

“We have a facility to help our customers to make international transactions indirectly through our banks, though we don’t have such a facility that could help customer make transactions on their own through their accounts,” said Binaya Regmi, COO of Nabil Bank.

Stressing on the importance of mobile apps in banking, Regmi added that such apps would be more relevant in the regions like Jumla Humla and other remote locations where, the major challenge is power. “People can not use computers where there is a power cut. But if they use mobile apps for the same purpose, it is relatively easier managing power for the mobiles,” said Regmi.

Speakers suggested the developers to understand the business before thinking of building any app. Highlighting the growth of smart phones penetration in Nepal, Saurabh Jyoti, director of Jyoti Group of Companies and chairman of Syakar Trading Pvt. Ltd said, “Future of mobile is the future of everything. When you talk about mobile apps, it is something that enhances mobility.”

Rajan Shrestha, director of Hama Steels suggested the developers to create such apps which can enrich local experience and make sure easy navigation. “Your apps need to have real value for the users,” added Vahdat Zehtab, head of B2C department at Ncell