In pursuit of easier and faster information dissemination on announcements, procedures, and protocols, the Ateneo de Davao Research Information System and Software Engineering (ARISEn) launched AdDU’s official mobile application called AdDU InfoPro.
The AdDU “InfoPro” app was released on iOS last Monday while it is expected to be up on Android this week as ARISEN is still awaiting publication in Google Play Store.
The Lite version of the said app incorporates quick links to University sites such as Student Information Systems (SIS), Daigler, and the SAMAHAN portal.
“It integrates a wide array of features and tools that will help the members of the community – students, faculty, staff, and administrators – communicate with each other,” said Raul Vincent Lumapas, director of the ARISEN Lab.
On the other hand, the full version, Lumapas said, is scheduled to be released next month. It would integrate more features such as the integration of liturgy and devotion/prayers, OSA portal, tailored notifications, page for student clubs and orgs, and guest access.
He said they would also launch in the same month the Ateneo Connect functionality, where students can message/chat their formators, assigned campus ministers, guidance counselors, and departments.
Planning for the app started in the first two weeks of May, development began in its third week, and the Lite version finished last week. It was then uploaded to App Store and Play Store for review last Friday.
The team behind “InfoPro” consists of Computer Studies (CS) faculty members and students.
CS representative and also one of its UI designers Jolemarh Kairus Pandatu said he was glad with the whole “new and exciting” experience as the app is in its deployment stage.
Pandatu joins Junrick Bation and Dwight Ian de Jesus as the app’s user interface designers. The app developers from the faculty are Patrick Angelo Paasa and Antonio Bulao II.
Lumapas said it was a challenging for the team as mobile development usually takes three months.
“However, we wanted to finish the app before the first day of classes. Moreover, the team needed to develop an app for both iOS and Android. We also implemented a complementary web system for posting of news and memos and editing of office/orgs details and information. All of these were done within a month,” he said.
“It helped that the mindset and motivation of the team members were to help the AdDU community in its transition online,” he added.
First time InfoPro user Peniel Mallari of Interdisciplinary Studies Language & Literature likened the app to AdDU’s website and was impressed with its interface that is easier to navigate and is “pleasing to the eyes”.
“Para siyang AdDU website in an app version pero for me mas easier siya to work,” she said, also observing that the patterns are “very Mindanawon”.
InfoPro was developed by ARISEn in partnership with SAMAHAN and iCOMMP.
ARISEN is an Information and Communication Technology Research Lab under the CS cluster.
Lumapas disclosed the opening of application of ARISEN Lab for all students who “want to learn to design and develop online solutions.”
He also mentioned the research lab’s “very exciting” collaboration with the government, academe, and the industries related to internet connectivity in the Davao Region.
“We are still ironing out the details of the collaboration. This will be a very important project that might change the internet situation we have in the region,” he said.