Winners of 11th mts app competition pronounced

Following the tradition of lending support for gifted secondary school students, this year too, Telekom Srbija has organized an mts app competition in creating applications for mobile handsets. Students of classes specializing in mathematics, computer science and informatics, the participants in the competition, presented online their applications which they have diligently worked on over the last months. The jury was confronted with a challenging task of selecting five best from among many quality works: SmarterWater by theteam ofBoljai Grammar School of Senta, Explora, by the team of the Grammar School of Smederevska Palanka, Eko drugar and Smarket by the teams of the Computer Science High School of Belgrade and Fitness Assistant, of Jovan Jovanović Zmaj Grammar School of Novi Sad.

“As a company operating in the sphere of telecommunications, which keeps up with and creates fresh frameworks for technological innovations, we are thrilled with the enthusiasm of younger generations, and their readiness to professionally advance and seek new opportunities. In that spirit, through mts app competition and other socially responsible projects, Telekom Srbija is investing in the education of young people, as the drivers of a better and more beautiful future for the society as a whole“, said Marija Bošković, head of the Public Relations Department of Telekom Srbija.

The members of the Eko drugari team, Žana Jelovac, Janko Mirović and Jovan Tomić, said it was an invaluable opportunity for them to meet teams of other towns in Serbia, to discover the entertaining facet of programming and find inspiration for a next project. The Zeleni prekidač team agreed with the peers from their grammar school in assessing that, working on their application, they had promoted teamwork. They also said that the set frameworks had contributed to their feeling what it was like working for a large company. “If you believe you have a good idea, stop just dreaming, gather together to set up your team and turn your idea into reality. The knowledge you will acquire, awards and the feeling of having actually created something that will help people, is definitely worthwhile”, said Ognjen Nešković and Pavle Sekešan.

The students of Boljai Grammar School of Senta, David Sobonja and Boris Tevdenić, said it had been very interesting to see the applications of the other participants. “Participating in the competition meant a lot to us for it was an opportunity to familiarize others with our project and thus promote it. The remarks and credits of the jury helped us to identify the strong and weak sides of both the application and the project”, said members of the GardenerZ team.

The members of the ByteMinded team of Jovan Jovanović Zmaj Grammar School, Marko Gordić and Igor Maljik, said their facing the obstacles and solving problems during their work on the application, had been a true challenge which they had overcome with persistence and mutual support.

The students of the Grammar School of Smederevska Palanka, Kristina Karašićević, Mina Todorović and Aleksa Maričić also shared their impressions: “We are glad to have managed to win the award, particularly in view of the fact that a large number of competitive projects had a high quality design of the application, whereas our project focused primarily on the feasibility of the concept.”

As in previous years, this year too, the winners will participate in the regional competition Regional app challenge, where they will meet the teams of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro, since the competition, under the same terms, was also organized by m:tel BiH and m:tel CG.

In an attempt to encourage the application of the acquired knowledge, creativity and the team spirit of young people, for eleven years now, Telekom Srbija has successfully organized the mts app competition. To date, 193 teams have presented as many as 200 applications for mobile handsets.

The mts app competition is included in the selection of the prestigious European organization CSR Europe, and is held with the backing of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development.

Descriptions of the winning applications

SmarterWater is an application which enables a stable and scalable plant watering system, from in-house plants to those in the field. With the help of a control unit connected with the sensor and pumps, the application makes it possible to have insight into the watering process and parameters. The system can be controlled over the phone, with the help of this application, or from the website created specifically for this purpose.

Explora is an orientation assistant which uses an intuitive interface, intended for all those who want to explore their surroundings. Explora offers a wide range of locations for exploration – from natural forms to geographical and tourist locations. Based on the user’s location, the application shows places of interest in the radius of up to 50km. With the help of a gyroscope and a rear camera on the phone, it draws locations in different colours on the screen, depending on which group they belong to.

Eko drug (Eco friend) is an application intended for all those who are interested in ecology and obtaining sustainable habits. Eko drug allows an insight into information about pollution, energy, weather, UV radiation and many other things. Eko drug shares advice with the users, gives information about the carbon print and offers the possibility of starting a game on the topic of ecology.

The Smarket application makes it possible to search food items in an online shop that can be added and organized in lists, and then set a date in the calendar when the user needs them. The application also manages the organization of a virtual fridge by quickly scanning the barcodes of the food items to be ordered from the online shop and organizes their delivery to home address.

FitnessAssistant is an application intended for the improvement of physical health and everyday habits of the user. It allows easy and efficient monitoring of nutritive values in the diet, progress in physical activities and sleep quality. The users make progress insomuch as they achieve their daily goals.