New Delhi: Technology giant Microsoft on Thursday launched a contest for independent software vendors (ISVs) and technology start-ups in India to create over 100 applications (apps) and solutions for businesses and governments in the next six months.

The contest, Code for Honour, is supported by a panel of organizations including the National Informatics Centre (NIC), IT-ITeS industry body NASSCOM, TiE, Nokia, Nokia App Campus, Intel and BarrierBreak.

Launching the contest, Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt Ltd Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik said: “With the proliferation of devices and cloud-based services, governments, businesses and other organizations are seeking to interact with customers, partners and other stakeholders securely and reliably.”

There is an opportunity to create commercial apps beyond the traditional ERP and other transactional systems, he added.

“Code for Honour will kick-start the creation of apps and solutions that are scalable, reliable and secure and that can be used over public, private and hybrid clouds,” he said.

The contest, which will run for over six months, is open to over 5,000 ISVs and tech start-ups in India. Any Indian ISV or tech start-up that is less than eight years old is eligible to participate in the contest, Mr. Pramanik added.

The ISVs and start-ups can develop apps and solutions in four broad categories on enterprise apps and solutions (HR, Finance, Marketing, Sales etc), micro, small and medium enterprise apps and solutions, government enablement and citizen services.

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