A group of young Qatari entrepreneurs has launched “Evently,” the country’s home grown smartphone application aimed at providing a wide range of events-based information.
Available across all three platforms – iOS, Android, and Blackberry 10, Evently features major events such as exhibitions, conferences, workshops, sports competitions, tech talks, and other public occasions.
“We are confident that apps like Evently would play a major role in keeping global tourists and local residents abreast with happenings in Qatar,” said Digital Incubation Centre (DIC) head Ahmed Laiali.
He added: “At DIC, we are focused on supporting entrepreneurs who dare to build businesses through solutions that would add value to society and our nation.”
Guided by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ictQatar), DIC identifies local tech startups before incubating and providing them with various facilities and training over a two-year period.
With more than 500 local and international events happening in Qatar every year, Evently aims to be the go-to app to discover happenings in advance. The app can be downloaded from the app store, google play store, and blackberry app world.
Evently would soon feature happenings at Katara, museums, and the Museum of Islamic Art, while other organisations like the Doha Film Institute and other venues will also be listed in the app. Public lectures and conferences at universities inside Education City can also be discovered and shared through Evently.
The app could be found under the arts and culture, community, entertainment, sports and fitness, conference, and music category.
It also provides event details, including a list of resource speakers and schedules, eliminating printed programme guides. Users can also share the events directly on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook as well as direct messaging services like whatsapp.
“While Qatar is fast emerging as a family tourist destination with world-class facilities and unique occasions, we strive to be a single source of information for all the events, conferences, and happenings in the country,” said Nasser al-Naama, head of communications, Evently.
He added: “We keep our strategies closely-aligned to the country’s larger vision. We believe our product will add value and support the country’s efforts in positioning Qatar as an exceptional family tourist destination.”
Evently is available in English and will soon be released in Arabic. In the pipeline are plans to integrate a ticketing platform into the app to enable users to purchase tickets from their smartphones.