Popular Pakistani cricket app Cringif made the country proud when it won the award for Best Startup at the 17th Asia Pacific ICT Awards APICTA 2017. The prestigious technology awards were held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from December 7-10, where delegations from 16 countries of the Asia Pacific region participated. Around 400 participants with 180 projects competed in 17 different categories at the event.
The Pakistani delegation, represented by the Pakistan Software Houses Association for IT and ITES (P@SHA), comprised 11 members, including prestigious names like Cricingif and 10Pearls. Pakistani companies presented 10 technology products, producing a superb show, highlighting the country’s progress and talent in the ICT sector, and impressing the judges in the process.
Cricingif CCO Qasim Zafar expressed his satisfaction at winning the influential technology award, while acknowledging the need for his company to keep up to pace with future challenges. 
“I’m extremely proud to have represented Pakistan at the 2017 APICTA Awards and have won the best Startup Award for the country” he said. “The Awards encourage healthy competition amongst the participating countries. Bigger challenges are yet to come for Cricingif and the connections we’ve made with likeminded people from all over Asia Pacific will definitely help us going forward.”
CricinGif started off as an app that aimed to provide the most appealing cricket coverage on the digital format, with the best cricket following experience anywhere. Users of the app have access to live highlights, live online scores, live streaming, cricket news, opinion pieces and humourous blogs from all over the cricket world. Earlier this year, Cringif had also won two awards at P@SHA ICT Awards 2017 in the categories of Brand Development, and Media & Entertainment Technology, along with being a runner-up in Best Startup Company category.
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mong the other notable Pakistani participants, 10Pearls gained much appreciation in the Mobile Application Development Category for its application ‘Spyd’. Although it did not win the award, it succeeded in impressing the judges and was recognised as one of the leading entries in the category. Representatives from 10Pearls felt that participation at the high-profile event helped it get valuable feedback from the judges and other participants, which would help shape its “product strategy for a much more accelerated traction in the future”
At the event, P@SHA President Jahan Ara highlighted her organisation’s role in promoting the ICT sector in Pakistan.
“The P@SHA ICT Awards, P@SHA’s signature event for the past 14 years, has provided a platform to show the world what technology companies and young people in Pakistan are capable of,” she said. “This year we have once again proven that our products can be benchmarked against the best in the region.”
To succeed at the APICTA, technology products need to excel across five criteria, including, uniqueness, market potential, functionality/features, quality/application of technology and application. Each nominee is rigorously assessed by a team of judges of the highest calibre, with the judges belonging to different fields including government, academia and the industry from each of the APICTA member economies. Given the meticulous and thorough judging process at the APICTA, Cricingif’s achievement is all the more laudable.