Linden resident wins award for Most Innovative Solution at MTN Business App of the Year Awards
LINDEN – A Linden-based company walked away with the award for Most Innovative Solution for 2020 at the annual MTN Business App of the Year Awards, which took place virtually last week for the first time.
The winner of the Most Innovative Solution for 2020 at the MTN Business App of the Year Awards is BirdPro. The ultimate app for the many bird-watching enthusiasts in South Africa that provides users with the most sophisticated identification tool on the market. The app developed by a Linden based company boasts a vast source of comprehensive information on over 6 500 birds, including vivid images and over 1 700 comprehensive and clear bird calls.
The names of birds are available in 16 languages, including all native South African languages as well as German, French and Portuguese. This entry, submitted by Herman van den Berg, surpassed all other submissions for being a truly ground-breaking, first-to-market disruptive solution.
“BirdPro was born from a passion for the wildlife of South Africa and the urge to create something unique for novice birders as well as enthusiasts. Our aim was to create a sophisticated and modern app which not only provides all the information a birder would need about birds, but also help users to identify a bird,” says Van den Berg who took three years to develop this app.
“We also want to aid in combating the deterioration of biodiversity in South Africa and ultimately the world, and what better way to do it than helping people identify and appreciate what we have around us,” Van den Berg added.
Van den Berg’s combined background as a mechanical engineer and extensive experience in software development with his lifelong enthusiasm for wildlife and photography informed the creation of BirdPro.
Many were involved in the development of this app; sponsors, two developers, administrative assistants and quite a few ornithologists and bird enthusiasts. Material was sourced from a very broad base of photographers, writers and bird call recordists and they were privileged to have many enthusiastic testers who assisted along the way.
In total, 146 entries were submitted for Most Innovative Solution sponsored by IDEMIA for the second year in succession. As the global leader in Augmented Identity, IDEMIA is very much in the driver seat when it comes to innovation, particularly as regards security, biometrics and digital solutions.
“Heartiest congratulations to the winner, BirdPro,” said Alexander Georgiev, senior vice president (Middle East and Africa), mobile operators, IDEMIA. “With a proud history of introducing innovative technologies to the global mobile telecoms sector, IDEMIA is pleased to present the award for the Most Innovative Solution together with MTN. As a technology company that has a long history of supporting the mobile sector’s growth in South Africa, we stand proudly with our partner, MTN, in support of the robust development of local technological talent.”
“It is a huge honour to have received this award. Hopefully, this will give us some exposure and allow us to expand the app to cover more fauna and flora as well as covering birds of other countries. For me it also serves as an acknowledgement that these disparate skill sets and passions can come together to create something special for users,” Van den Berg said.
His team have many exciting ideas in the pipeline, many of which have been requested by BirdPro users. Some of these included expanding the app to cover birds of neighbouring countries, adding more advanced sightings functionality and more identification features, to name but a few.
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