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Smart health, public bus mobile app teams land top awards in MEGA 2015

Smart health, public bus mobile app teams land top awards in MEGA 2015

TreconWeb wins “best innovation” cup for chronic kidney disease data-analysis tool; Chula’s ViaBus app takes ‘Best Idea’ cup for transportation app

Mobile-application development teams TreconWeb and ViaBus recently emerged as the winners in the best government app of the year competition, receiving HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn-donated cups in the “Mobile Enterprise d-Government Award 2015 (MEGA 2015)” contest.
The contest – conducted by the Electronic Government Agency and its partners – was split into two categories, with the TreconWeb team winning the “Best Innovation” award for its development of the Smart Health for Chronic Kidney Disease app, and the ViaBus team taking the Best Idea” award for developing the ViaBus mobile-app project.
Competition was tough, as more than 170 mobile-application teams and over 280 mobile-app projects had originally entered the fray.
Phongchai Petsanghan, web service manager of the TreconWeb team, described the Smart Health for Chronic Kidney Disease app as a healthcare application that analysed a patient’s blood pressure, urine and blood results, and linked the data with a hospital’s system. 
The application also allows patients and others to collect their chronic-kidney-disease results and other healthcare information via their smart phone.
The app in the first stage will be piloted next month at Somdet Phra Yuparat Leong Noktha Hospital in Yasothon province, where there are more 3,000 patients with chronic kidney disease, the service manager said.
The plan is then to provide it to support hospitals both in Thailand and countries such as Japan and China. The app is being localised in Japanese and Chinese with a view to this next stage.
The app potentially has widespread use in Thailand, where as many as one in 10 people suffer from kidney disease, Phongchai added.
Intouch Marsvongpragon, team leader of the ViaBus project, developed by students from Chulalongkorn University, described the team’s mobile app as a real-time public-bus tracking and navigation tool, in both Thai and English to serve both locals and foreigners wanting up-to-the-minute information on bus transportation.
He said ViaBus would enable users to readily access information such as bus station, bus route from start to destination, timetable and expected arrival times. The app – jointly worked on by the Chula Engineering Innovation Hub, AIS (Advanced Info Service), the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre and the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority – is being piloted in a project tracking bus numbers 36, 54, 73A and 204 in the capital.
The pilot commenced in March and will be completed next month, with a view to being officially announced for public bus transportation services as the next step.
Moreover, the application will connect with other public transportation services, such as boats, vans and minibuses.
“I think ViaBus will be able to solve the problems faced by members of the public who are daily users of public transportation services, as the application will provide information on the latest situation and the location of public services in real time, so that they know how and when they will get to their destination,” Intouch said.
Uttama Savanayana, the information and communications technology minister, said “MEGA 2015” was a start-up campaign to develop disruptive technology innovation that could change and improve existing products and services. 
It aims to promote government agencies to take part in the development and research of quality mobile applications in order to fulfill the needs of the public and private sector across the nation and support the government’s digital-economy goals, as well as to improve the quality of e-government services, he explained.
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