Uganda software Developers get free testing laboratory from Nokia

Wednesday, 16th March, 2011

A MOBILE phone vendor Nokia is offering local software application developers a laboratory for testing devices.

Dorothy Ooko, of Nokia East and Southern Africa said Uganda is blessed with several developers but most of their products are not finding their way into vendors who could help them monetise their products.

“There are many developers but vendors are receiving little application from Uganda,” said Ooko last week.

Uganda has some of the region’s best training institutions for ICT which produce close to 1,000 graduates annually. The country’s ICT industry has attracted global interest but there appears a mismatch on turning the skills into real economic wealth through practical applications of the skills.

Ugandan developers complained of fragmentation in the market which has caused them not to develop and specialise their products for specific market thus leading to duplicity.

“You want to develop an application but you find somebody else has done it,” said one of the developers.

Many of the young developers were encouraged to use the available free ovi store for their applications.

Ooko asked government and media to encourage developers who are making break throughs so that the young generation coming through can look at exploring beyond the traditional jobs of medicine, law and engineering.

“I see a lot of potential in technology and mobile industry,” said Ooko. The Nokia ovi store platform and the Ideos Google smart phone recently launched by MTN and Orange allow developers to use the android platform to develop applications for free.

The handset and devices market is opening up with several varieties on the market.

By David Mugabe: The New vision Newspaper