Smart nabs Telecom Asia Award for Project NOAH

MANILA, Philippines – At the 16th Telecom Asia Awards held last April 17, 2013, Smart Communications, Inc. received an award for Best Community Telecom Project for its role in helping develop the Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) Android application.

The Project NOAH app was developed as a mobile version of the Project NOAH website of the Department of Science and Technology and PAGASA Weather Bureau. The app was cited for giving valuable public service to people in the Philippines, which is often hit by typhoons.

In accepting the award, Smart public affairs head Mon Isberto stressed that the mobile app was a collaboration. It was the product of the efforts of Smart, the DOST, PAGASA, and the software developer community. He cited Rolly Rulete, one of the app’s authors, who developed the prototype of the Project NOAH app during a programming marathon organized by Smart.

Rulete, along with Pablito Veroy and Jay Albano, developed the Project NOAH app prototype back in 2012. They completed the prototype during the HTML5 hackathon organized in July 2012 by the Smart Developer Network (Smart DevNet) in Davao City. The prototype won the “Best Use of Smart APIs” award.

“This is an excellent example of a mobile application that was designed to serve the needs of the community. Smart will continue to support such initiatives taken by what we like to call ‘apptivists’ – developers who make apps for social good. We will step up our cooperation with agencies like the DOST and PAGASA to help the country better prepare for the threat of extreme weather disturbances,” Isberto said.

Project NOAH – both the website and the application – provides users with real-time weather information, allowing them to detect and monitor potential danger and warn people and take precautions should a weather disturbance grow worse. With more than 50,000 downloads, the app can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store. – Rappler.com