Digital communications agency Isobar and O2 have teamed up to launch ‘Isobar Create London’ ‘ a unique event offering developers from around the UK the opportunity to create their own apps and win a kick-starter development fund plus marketing support to help successfully launch their idea to market.

From 8am Saturday 24th ‘ 8pm Sunday 25th March, 100 tech enthusiasts will descend on Shoreditch Studios in London to battle it out in a 36-hour challenge which will explore creative new uses of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.

Over the course of the Isobar Create London event, participants will develop their apps before pitching them to an esteemed panel of judges from the digital and tech world including Isobar, O2 and BlackBerry. Tech enthusiasts will also hear from keynote speakers including Brendan Marry – Lead NFC Engineer at Google Europe.

The winning team will receive expert advice and the opportunity for kick-starter funding to help bring the right commercial idea to market thanks to O2’s global development platform, BlueVia. The winners will also be able to promote their idea at an NFC-enabled poster site in central London courtesy of Clear Channel. The winners will be announced on Sunday evening.

Interested participants can register their teams for free at www.isobar.com/createlondon from today. The event will give tech enthusiasts the chance to challenge and define the future of NFC and pioneer new and exciting uses for this technology that will let us make transactions, exchange digital content and connect electronic devices like never before.

Dom O’Brien, Head of Innovation, Isobar, said: ‘Near Field Communication is an exciting new technology that’s going to have a big impact on all our lives. Isobar Create London is an open event for the best developers and designers to come together to accelerate knowledge and understanding of how NFC will impact sporting events and the leisure and retail industries.’
Neil Rutter, Head of NFC at O2, said: ‘We are really excited about the possibilities that Contactless offers. Through BlueVia, and events such as this, O2 is committed to supporting and enabling developer communities to deliver innovative applications for consumers and businesses using NFC technology, limited only by their imagination. We look forward to helping bring some of the fresh thinking and new possibilities generated in this event into our customers’ everyday lives.’

Participants will be asked to develop applications for four brand sponsored categories: Retail, Sporting Events, Finance and Leisure & Entertainment. Additional event sponsors to be announced soon.

Journalists can contact the Virgin Media O2 press office on:
press@virginmediao2.co.uk 01753 565656
Virgin Media
press enquiries
press@virginmedia.co.uk
O2
press enquiries
pressoffice@o2.com