The idea behind city app This is Eindhoven

How can newcomers to Eindhoven find their way as easily as possible to a shop or event? That’s the questions that app-developer Proxible considered as it made the app This is Eindhoven, which has been extended with a Dutch Technology Week (DTW) programme.

This is the first time that Proxible has used an event like DTW to experiment with expanding the app. In the future the company hopes to do this increasingly often with other events in the city.

“We were able to implement the programme for the DTW in the existing app. We want to keep expanding it in this way, keeping in mind that a newcomer to the city should be able to find everything,” explains Bobby Born, who was heavily involved in the app’s development.

Roots

It seems like a logical idea. Some of Proxible’s team members are still new to the city themselves. Founder Shinjan Dasgupta is from India, while other programmers come from the Caribbean and North America.

Two years ago, Dasgupta found a spot on the High Tech Campus to get his start-up off the ground. He assembled a largely foreign team and got to work. “So we still have a strong sense of loyalty to the city – we started off here and we owe a lot to the city,” says Born.

The app uses bluetooth to provide relevant information. The distance between the location of the user and an event is determined via the beacons throughout the city. Once users choose an event, they can add it to their agenda or follow the route via Google Maps.

Commissioning

The app was commissioned by Eindhoven365, the foundation responsible for raising the city’s profile. The collaboration began two years ago. Eindhoven was looking for a way to compete with other cities. “We wanted the job at all costs,” says Born. “We thought it was important to give back to the city that gave us our starting point.”

The company had to constantly question itself in order to develop. “Of course we researched what people in and outside of Eindhoven wanted to see, but ultimately we made something that we ourselves would want to use.”

You can download the app at This Is Eindhoven.