Executive Summary
This paper consists of proposal to develop the Katarist mobile application for implementation in the iPhone OS system. This application will act as a means by which Katara cultural village will advertise its various events and sales to the general population of Qatar in a quick and efficient manner.
Introduction
Within the past few years, numerous local artists (i.e., craftsmen, handcrafters, performers, etc.), especially those in the cultural village of Katera, have been declining in significance due to the current societal push towards industrialization and the development of a distinct focus on modern day methods of entertainment. As such, it can be stated that in Qatar’s pursuit of becoming an advanced industrialized country, it has neglected its traditional heritage which is in danger of becoming lost due to the rapid progress of both the country and its citizenry.
In order to address this issue, it is necessary to develop a means by which local artists within the cultural village of Katara can promote their work and reach modern day consumers in Qatar. Such a method must be affordable given their limited budget, while at the same time, it should be far reaching and convenient for consumers. It is based on this that it was decided that the best and the most effective method by which this problem could be solved would be a creation of a free mobile application pre-installed in all the iPhones sold within Qatar.
Problem Statement
Katara cultural village is a newly established organization which focuses on art and artists and attempts to introduce Qatar’s traditional cultural and heritage to both the locals and the foreign tourists. In a sense, it acts as a means of preserving Qatar’s cultural heritage from the continued influx of modernization entering into the city. The problem in this particular case is that despite Katara has its own website, the fact remains the same it still lacks a sufficient means by which people can be informed about the various events, sales and performances that occur in the village. The reason behind this is quite simple, few people visit the site, and as such, there has been very little interest in the cultural village as a direct result. Without some means of reaching out to people in a quick and cost efficient manner, it is likely that the cultural village project will end in failure.
Objective
The main objective of this study is to develop an OS application that can be installed for free in the Apple iPhone. Due to the current popularity of the device and the fact that it is widely utilized by many people within Qatar, having an application on their phones which informs them of events and sales at the cultural village should create significant interest and, as a result, increase the amount of visitors that go to the village. A special request can be authored and sent to the Qatar government which asks the software to be mandatorily installed in iPhones sold within Qatar as a means of preserving the country’s cultural heritage.
Funding
The funding for this particular project will come direct from Katara cultural village and will be equivalent to roughly 10,000 GP.
Evaluation
In order to test the viability of the application with the target consumers, 4 individuals chosen by the CEO will test the application to determine its overall usability and if certain improvements need to be implemented prior to release to the general public. The second stage of the testing procedure will involve 10 people within the class to check the application’s viability in an actual working setting with purchases and reservations made by the testers to see if everything works as it should.
Anticipated Concerns
One of the main concerns with the development of this particular application is the relative inexperience of the developers in creating the means by which it can be effectively created and conceptualized. A significant amount of research will need to be done in order to determine how the language program of the developed software works, what particular design backgrounds are best, and what sort of system can be developed in order to send automatic updates to individual’s iPhones so that people using this application will not be inconvenienced by the necessity to visit the website. It is anticipated that if such concerns were addressed, the development of the application would proceed quite smoothly.
Conclusion
Overall, the name of the mobile application will be” Katarist” which is a blend of two words, the first is the village named Katara and the second is ‘artist’. It is anticipated that if this application is successfully implemented and distributed to the general population of Qatar, a significant amount of interest will be developed and, as a result, this will promote Qatar’s cultural heritage by making people aware of its events. It should also be noted that my involvement in this project will significantly improve my skills in the development of mobile applications and thus help me in my future career.