Technology

The hackathone ,,Gemification&Entertainment”, orginized by Garage48, ended on December 11. Within the frameworks of the event up to 100 participants with the help of Estonian mentors performed own innovative ideas during 48 hours.

The team of the company ARX, staffed by several members, has become the best technical team of the project. In a very short period of time the team members managed to create a sophisticated application called “Ladybug”, which will help users to locate valuable objects when lost.

One of the authors of the idea Nika Devashvili discussed the new application with “Doctrina” .

Ladybug – the application by Georgian young inventors will help people to find their lost objects. This is the system, where any person is able to take pictures of various items (for example a card, a phone, a wallet, a watch and so on) and upload them to the mentioned application, and then the app uses the algorithms of the computer to memorize them and, if any object is lost, and even a completely unknown person finds it, the founder will just need to look at the item with the app camera and contact to its owner immediately.

The application has one more function  of „Pokemon GO“ type, where the people, who have lost their items, are able to indicate approximate place, where the object was lost and to impose any promotional present for those, who will find the lost item. “If any user has lost a memory card with the important files, he\she can put on the map the place, where his/her item was lost and impose, for example, a certain cash prize for the founder. Those people who have free time and are close to the location can start searching for the lost item and the one, who finds the item first will be presented by the owner and will be awarded a new rank in our application,” – Nika explained.

In addition, for example, if you find a lost card, you can see how the cardholder actually looks and can easily connect to him/her through chat.

The author of “Ladybug” is the company “ARX” which consists of 5 members, among them are university and school students. Young people have earned the title of the best technical team in the hackathon, since the mentor and jury consider that it is almost impossible to create a similar product within 48 hours , but the youngsters have successfully completed the challenge and the application created by them will be available from February 10  on the App Store for iOS and Android devices.

Author: Tamar Devdariani

Translation: Tamar Tabatadze

The Hall of Young Scientists & Analysts – “Doctrina”

10 best startups took part in the final stage of the startup competition – “Seedstars Tbilisi 2017“. Online platform “Deskomy” was among them. It allows any registered person to access the data stored in an own computer from any location via the website.

16-year-old Luka Kvavilashvili is the author of the startup. “Doctrina” has interviewed him. 

• Luka, when and why the idea of creating “Deskomy” began?

– The idea of creating the “Deskomy” came to me in March of 2014 after I started learning  programming and I needed many of my important documents and photos to have always with me. After a while I found the so-called File Hosting websites like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and others. As soon as I used these sites, I had a question about why I could upload only my files and not my entire desktop. At the same time, the knowledge of programming that I already had, was enough to realize that fulfillment of “Deskomy” was actually possible.

– What functions are accessible for “Deskomy” customers and whether it is related to certain amounts?

–  For the time being, “Descom” is in the Beta version. Users can upload / download any type of file, to view the most types of files in the web browser (office documents, photos, videos, audio formats, PDF, photoshop, archives). Users can also share files, personalize desktop (change colors, photos and designs) and to use own e-mail in “Deskomy” in order to have files and e-mail in one space.

Registration is free, but the users are limited in memory. Customers get free 3GB memory and in case they need more volume, they will have to purchase it. We think of other business models, too, which will allow us to make the memory free and earn income from other sources (ads, paid applications, businesses, etc.).

–Creation of platform is a very difficult process, who provided it?

– For the first one year I was doing the platform alone. Later, upon my father’s initiative, I introduced my idea to “Start Business Solutions”, since that time we are closely working with its founder – Jaba Burjaliani and Project Manager – Sopho Kobaidze. They help develop and fund our idea. As for the technical side, I am working alone on it. However, with the funding of “Startup Georgia”, we will soon have other developers in order to speed up the process “Descom” development.

–What about your future plans?

– At this point, we are working on the integration of Microsoft Office in order to allow users to work on Word, Excel and PowerPoint files in the browser. In the future we plan to add a lot of features, such as chat, password files, and etc. In the future, our program will also be available on the App Store. We may launch own easy laptops, like “Chromebooks”, however, our customers will be more complete desktop than ChromeOS’s one.

Author: Tamar Devdariani

Translation: Tamar Tabatadze

 The Hall of Young Scientists & Analysts – “Doctrina”

  Giorgi Mchedlishvili is 22 years old Georgian physicist, whose international success has recently gained a lot of attention. The presentation of his team’s “Griffon”, the aircraft of future, will be held at NASA head office on September 26 this year.

“Doctrina” has interviewed the young physicist:

-George, first of all, tell us what the essence of “Griffon” is and how the project began? 

-“Griffon” is the model of the future commercial airplane that I have created together with my teammates. Last September, I learned from my friend, Ilon Gordon about NASA’s challenge and from the very beginning we had a very serious attitude to it, because we believed that we could make our contribution to the development of the future aeronautics. A 12-member group were working on the “Griffon”. The group consisted of three teams : engine, aerodynamics and aero design. I worked directly on optimization of engine burning and cooling systems. Just as we have improved burning, we have reduced the emission of the harmful substances by more than 80%, and correspondingly, we have satisfied the essential requirement of NASA. At the same time, improvement of the combustion system allowed us to reduce the fuel consumption by 50-60%.

-Presentation of the project at NASA’s head office is unconditionally a huge success, but, in your opinion, how will the events develop and what are your chances to release the project?

-The main purpose of the challenge was to create a commercial airplane, which implementation would be quite realistic in 2025-2035. Of course, this project includes a very serious financial calculation. The cost of our aircraft production was also competitive with regard to the prices of the market. We have worked effectively in this aspect, so in my opinion it is possible to fully implement a full or certain system (engine or aerodynamics) of this design in future airplanes.

-Giorgi, as I know, in the course of study you have your own business and you are the founder of “SAC Group”. What is your company and what should we expect from it in the near future?

-We established the “SAC Group” this summer and it is one of the first and the highest level consultation and investment services firms in the direction of agribusiness and biotechnology in Georgia and in our region. We are the official partners of the American International Agribusiness Firm, “GIC Group”, which has been involved in implementation of many successful projects throughout the world, including in collaboration with the Chinese government. Our goal is to establish new standards in the region and to develop a vital industry for Georgia. At the same time, it is also important that we have a close and friendly relationship with the founder of GIC Group, Mr. Richard Gilmour, who is a great supporter of Georgia. Richard Gilmour was a very successful advisor in the US government under different auspices. In addition, he taught at Harvard, Georgetown and at other leading universities. So, with the support of “SAC Group”, we should expect many important projects.

-Finally, perhaps, your nearest future plans are still related to “Griffon”, but it is interesting how can you imagine yourself after years or are you going to return to Georgia?

-Now it is very difficult to talk about future plans exactly, but my future is closely linked to the United States as well as to my Georgia, which will definitely get stood up by us!

Author: Tamar Devdariani

Translation: Tamar Tabatadze

 The Hall of Young Scientists & Analysts – “Doctrina”

In the modern world WiFi is a unique way to advertise and the Georgian company “Wifisher” is attempting to help different companies in promoting their products. The idea of setting up the company came up two years ago to two youngsters – Nodar Ivanidze and Davit Khosroshvili, who managed to implement it with the help of the Georgian investor.

“Doctrina” has interviewed Nodar Ivanidze about the successful initiative.

“Wifisher” is an online advertising platform that allows anyone to choose desired object for advertisement placement at the company’s website and to activate their ad in this point through a simple bank transaction.

According to Nodar Ivanidze, the platform is quite popular and effective. “The service provides us with the opportunity to interact directly with the customer. The modern man has already developed an instinct that cannot see advertisements in banners or social networks, and in these conditions, “Wifisher” creates some kind of alternative, “he notes.

“Wifisher” has an additional feature, too – cafes, restaurants, hospitals and hotels can use this system for internal communication with their consumers, for example, by means of the platform it is possible to find out how many times the user visited the site and, accordingly, loyal guests will be encouraged.

Currently, the company covers 150 objects throughout Georgia, including all airports, shopping centers, cinemas and several catering facilities. Statistically, 30% of the company’s customers use the platform to advertise their products, such as “Dunkin ‘Donuts”, “Wendy’s” and others.

“Wifisher” is the partner of almost all the largest Georgian companies, including VTB Bank, TBC Bank, tobacco and Insurance Companies, such as “Irao” and “Aldagi” and international companies – “Samsung” and “Philip Morris”.

Another advantage of the service is that the company enhances the Internet speed on all the facilities where their system operates. Special funds are allocated and the user receives much faster Internet access after viewing the advertisement.

The platform is innovative one in Georgia, but the similar programs exist abroad. Nodar Ivanidze noted that they cannot compete with their platform, so young people try to provide their service abroad. They already have partnerships in Azerbaijan and Armenia, and in the future they plan to cooperate with other countries in Europe as well as in Asia.

Author: Tamar Devdariani

Translation: Tamar Tabatadze

 The Hall of Young Scientists & Analysts – “Doctrina”