Global Alert, a prototype iPhone App built by 2i, the Sliema-based IT solutions company, is currently being reviewed by Apple to go live on the App Store shortly, director Jonathan Camilleri Bowman told The Sunday Times.
A firm believer in citizen engagement, Mr Camilleri Bowman designed Global Alert, a free App, to allow iPhone users to take photos or videos of any ‘happening’ – incidents, street art, events, or such like – and file them according to category.
“Imagine you are walking down the street and you spot an abandoned vehicle, a pothole, or a fight that you would like to notify an authority or an organisation about,” he explained.
“Most people do not usually know who to call or do not want to kick up a fuss. Others prefer to remain anonymous. All people need to do is take a picture – the phone will use the current location – and through Global Alert, the image can be filed under a specific category.”
The submission will be received by 2i’s back-end solution, which captures the information automatically under each category and channel it accordingly.
Information on crime or incidents will be passed on to law enforcement agencies. All other information will be marketed worldwide to organisations interested in specific data relating to territory, trends, culture and so forth.
Organisations will be assigned a login and password to access categorised information against a subscription fee.
Meanwhile, users who submit the original information with their contact details will be notified of its progress or destination.
A similar version of Global Alert will be available for Android on other phones in a few weeks’ time.
2i was established in 2006 to offer IT staff augmentation, and software development and outsourcing. It has since won considerable business with state entities locally and abroad and has delivered services such as web development, back-end solutions and reporting services.
It recently entered into an equity exchange agreement with a US firm that allowed it to boost its capital. Mr Camilleri Bowman now holds a 49 per cent stake in 2i, which currently has a core team of 15 software developers backed by outsourced talent.
2i’s client portfolio has grown to include some oil and gas firms for which it has designed corporate solutions, business intelligence and bespoke software.
Over the past few months, the company has channelled some resources in a bid to carve a niche for itself in a very specific market locally. 2i’s drive towards mobile applications stemmed largely from Mr Camilleri Bowman’s own desire to design challenging, exciting solutions with a worldwide reach created for simple ideas.
2i has mainly focused on building solutions for two mobile application frameworks, the iPhone’s operating system and Android.
Its calling card in mobile applications is a back-end framework with core functionalities, which is applicable to any business offering.
Using a generic platform it designed in-house, 2i is able to adapt the solution to any client’s requirements with some design changes and parameter adaptation.
Mr Camilleri Bowman explained: “Any entity requiring a website or a mobile application usually needs users to locate and contact it. Users will also need to be made aware of the entity’s services and have access to some main links. Whatever your business, there are a number of keywords to help people find you when they run a search. Companies with larger budgets can add a range of functionalities to this basic framework.”
Mr Camilleri Bowman stressed this basic mobile application was cost-competitive and would allow any business to go from nowhere to a presence in the App Store in three weeks flat. The core framework meant there was no need for businesses to fork out considerable sums running into tens of thousands to build complicated concepts as they sought to win more customers.
“My motto is: if you have to fail, fail fast. It’s cheaper!” Mr Camilleri Bowman said. “This framework allows firms to test a straightforward App for six months, launch a basic campaign to advertise their presence in the App Store to gather traffic, and then monitor users’ response.”
He explained that businesses could then add functionalities to the core framework based on user feedback. The framework can be applied to any business – from banks to real estate agents to hairdressers – which sought to give customers, or potential customers, information and basic mobile services related to their products.
Mr Camilleri Bowman is annoyed that searching ‘Malta’ in the App Store currently produced only a recently-launched ‘Visit Malta’ App and a few map-oriented Apps designed for tourists. He hoped local organisations would examine the commercial potential of mobile applications and seek to join the growing market of mobile business tools.
There have been a total of over 41 million iPhones sold worldwide from October 2007 to the end of 2009 – and the figure was growing constantly. This does not include Windows Mobile, Android, Blackberry, Symbian, and others.
“The potential is huge, and with the local talent we pride ourselves with, we should take advantage of this sector,” Mr Camilleri Bowman added.
Global Alert is 2i’s own first real adventure in the App Store, although the company was responsible for providing its back-end framework for two Apps in use in the US, and another in Germany.
The framework already has one Maltese taker and is currently being adapted for a local business.