Amman, March 2014 - Microsoft Jordan has held the Mobile App Acceleration Camp (MAAC) event, in partnership with the Information Communications Technology Association of Jordan (int@j). MAAC took place at the Gaming Lab located in King Hussein Business Park.

The event was attended by a number of int@j members and Microsoft Jordan partners, alongside a group of participants looking to enlist in the AppCampus program. Over the course of the event, the participants were provided with the opportunity to pitch their app ideas to mobile industry experts, and received invaluable insight and guidance with regards to transforming them into fully-fledged businesses. Nine out of 13 participants - whom were selected from a larger group - qualified to receive a pass code to take part in the AppCampus program.

The shortlisted apps that meet the four set criteria are eligible for the chance to apply for a grant of either EUR 20,000, EUR 50,000 or EUR 70,000. The criteria includes: market differentiation, mass market appeal, app development experience and overall proposal.

“Microsoft Jordan is an active supporter of talented Jordanian app developers, and short listing nine out of 13 candidates is further testament that. This step corresponds with Microsoft Jordan’s commitment towards Jordan’s education sector, particularly with regards to skill development and encouraging entrepreneurship,” commented Microsoft Jordan Country Manager Hussein Malhas.

In turn, Ville Riikkala from the AppCampus team expressed his delight at seeing so many participants present their mobile application ideas at the MAAC event, and stated, “We are looking forward to working with the selected candidates who qualified to take part in the AppCampus program, and are excited to see additional MAAC events organized in Jordan in the future.”

AppCampus is a mobile application accelerator program managed by Aalto University in Espoo, Finland. This is an 18 million euro joint investment between Microsoft and Nokia to foster mobile application development on Windows Phone and any other Nokia platform.

The Information and Communications Technology Association of Jordan is an ICT and IT Enabled Services (ITES) industry-support association founded in 2000 with the aim of improving the dynamics of Jordan's ICT and ITES market and developing the Kingdom's ICT and ITES related activities. int@j comprises more than 210 local and global companies working in IT, telecom, and ITES (Outsourcing).

Since its establishment, int@j has been exerting a high effort level towards advancing the Jordanian ICT and ITES sector. int@j has been looking for various partnerships with different institutions on the local, regional and international levels, in line with efforts to elevate Jordan’s ICT and ITES industry, raise awareness on ICT and ITES services and products, and highlight the benefits of integrating ICT and ICTES in other sectors.