2010, May 17th
SA Team Wins US $ 5,000 1st Prize in Chembe Urban Security Competition



A team of mobile professionals from Cape Town, who met each other at the Betavine Developers Day in March, has won the Chembe Urban Security Competition. The deadline for receipt of entries was April 30th and there were six last-minute entries to bring to 11 the number of solutions submitted.

The judging panel of 5 consisted of one representative from Chembe Ventures and two each from Vodafone and Vodacom. After two rounds of deliberations, the a.OK team from Cape Town emerged the winner. Their product, a “panic button with a difference", automatically sends a notification SMS message to a pre-defined list of recipients if the subject, a loved one or an employee, fails to report to a nominated phone number at pre-agreed intervals.

The judges considered the a.OK entry to be the most professionally presented and with the strongest sustainability plan. Two other entries, “Anonymous Crime Reporting and Communication Service” and “Commuter Connect” were given honorable mentions in the official Winners Announcement and those teams along with the creators of a.OK will be given an opportunity to pitch their projects to Vodacom.

Thanks to everyone who entered the competition and thanks to Betavine and Vodafone for hosting it and Vodacom for supporting it. Watch this space for new Chembe competitions in autumn.


The a.OK team, from left to right, Miemie Viviers, Herman Smith, Ashley Ross and Ronald Bach

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