Find it with Maua – how it works

By Sapeer Mayron 16 December 2018, 12:00AM

Skyeye’s latest innovation, which won T $320,000 (not $230,000 as previously reported) in funding from the largest international mobile association, will also be able to make money.

Maua, an app which will launch a beta version in May next year, with plans for a full roll-out come November, utilises GPS technology to make buying and selling easier in a region with little to no street addresses.

Chief executive officer of Skyeye Fa’aso’otauloa Sam Saili said to get the funding from the Global System for Mobile Association (GSMA) Ecosystem Accelerator Fund, they had to prove they could turn a profit.

So advertising and a unique business directory are just two of the ways he could reveal about just how Maua will be able to sustain itself.

“We’re going to offer a lot more than a static business directory, where it prints once for the year,” Fa’aso’otauloa said.

“It’s going to be dynamic, it’s going to have G.P.S coordinates and a lot more intelligence behind it too, because it will be categorised.”

Users looking for services will only be a few keywords away from finding exactly what they need, he said.

On the business side, paying subscribers to the business directory can also expect push notifications which will alert you if your service is required.

“That’s based on a need we’ve seen in the market. 

“People will post up online that they’re looking for a tailor, a plumber, an electrician, and then it stays there for a while.

“With the push notifications, once someone puts something up that they are looking something, it will send a notification to all the people who are qualified, or in that category saying there is a person looking for your service,” Fa’aso’otauloa said.

The advertisements will be targeted to users based on the choices they both make known to the program, and that they make while using it.

In accordance with Samoan legislation, users can opt in or out of targeted advertising. If they choose to opt in, they’ll be offered to fill a survey on what they’re interested in.

“If they’re interested in getting advertisements, we have to make sure what they receive is actually what they’re interested in,” said Fa’aso’otauloa.

Data will be secured in accordance with international standards, as is Skyeye’s obligations as a GSMA member.

Fa’aso’otauloa was not able to say how much the extra feature of the business directory would cost users at this stage, but he said he feels confidence it will be a return on any investment for a business.

By Sapeer Mayron 16 December 2018, 12:00AM
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