MLAB

MOBILE APPLICATION FOR SOUTH ASIA

The development grant US $380,000/- for the establishment of mobile application labs in South Asia was won by the PSEB from the infoDev (world bank) through a competitive process. Pakistan is a country at the gateway of South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East (GCC). Pakistan also provides an excellent laboratory for the implementation and validation of the mLabs idea in that it has several positive factors including a sizeable technically savvy workforce; a fast-growing mobile, telecom, and IT sector; and an emerging entrepreneurial system as well as several challenges that need to overcome before it could become a mobile and ICT4D success story.

Pakistan is also a home to a sizeable portion of population who, very much like other countries in the region,speak a language written in non-English alphabets thus making mobile and smart phone penetration increasingly challenging. This means that if true ICT4D, educational and entertainment content on mobile platforms has to proliferate, both cultural nuances and language representation must be made efficient on mobile and hand-held devices.

The objectives and scope of the project are;

Objectives

• To establish local and regional best practices in mobile, gaming, and animation (MGA) venture process
• To create opportunities for local and regional learning and replication of new venture approaches
• Develop a training program that will be open and accessible to all local and regional players
• Capacity building of selected consortium partners for the implementation & sustainability of the program
• Help facilitate the development of locally produced training courses, content, and curriculum
• Engage specialist trainers, industry mentors, and entrepreneurship coaches to work with incubatees
• Capacity building of the incubators through trainings

Scope

• Selection of consortium partners
• Establishment of physical mLabs at suitable location as decided by the mLab Governing Board.
• Establishment of mLab Secretariat at PSEB premises
• Development of training material and curriculum for design & development of mobile applications & games
• Holding ideas competition at various locations in Pakistan for the selection of incubatees
• Incubation of at least 20 startups in mobile applications and games during the life of the project at the
• success rate of 20%.(approx.).

Governance Structure

The mLab Governing Board is comprises of following members for implementation and monitoring of the program;

• Managing Director, PSEB
• CEO National ICT R&D Fund Co.
• Member IT, Ministry of IT
• P@SHA representative
• MIT Enterprise Forum representative
• One representative from Gaming & Animation Industry
• One representatives from the academia
• Director Projects, PSEB
• One representative from the Nokia

MD, PSEB is the chairman of the mLab Governing Board. The Board will meet periodically to review & monitor the progress of the program. Presence of seven members of the governing board complete the quorum.

Possible Revenue Streams to make the program Self-sustainable

In order to make the program self-sustainable, mLab will need to generate revenue from following streams:

• Charging a nominal membership fee for developers to use the facilities.
• Charging certification and training fees.
• Charging fees for verifying software for various platforms.
• Profit sharing (8-12%) with incubated businesses for a limited period (e.g. 3 years).