DOST mobile app bags award

MANILA, Philippines - ARKO, the mobile app created by the Department of Science and Technology’s Project NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards) to make its weather information accessible to Filipinos, bagged an award that is said to be conferred only to a select few by the World Summit Awards Mobile Content 2014 (WSA Mobile).

The ARKO mobile app was chosen as one of five winners under the e-Inclusion and Empowerment category, besting hundreds of participants from all over the world.

The prestigious international award recognizes the best mobile content solutions in the world where it shows innovativeness, creativity and impact.

“ARKO serves as a vehicle to deliver important information regarding floods to ensure the safety of our communities-at-risk and this app proves one thing; it shows that Filipino talent is world class,” said Science Secretary Mario Montejo.

Overall, ARKO was one of 40 winners of WSA Mobile from a total of 456 projects submitted by 98 countries.

“The creation of the ARKO mobile app for Project NOAH is one clear example of the innovativeness and ingenuity of our Filipino scientists and software engineers who developed a very important tool in disaster preparedness by providing information about floods that will enable our communities to prepare ahead of time,” reiterated Montejo.

Other winners alongside the Philippines’ ARKO are the following: ColorADD from Portugal, Braille Board from Palestine, SnooCode of Ghana, and LIVOX of Brazil.

The winners of WSA Mobile, which works in cooperation with the United Nations’ World Summit on the Information Society and in collaboration with UNESCO, UNIDO and UN GAID, will be invited to receive their awards in Abu Dhabi on Feb. 1-3, 2015 to coincide with the WSA Mobile Global Congress.