Kevin Nyango
TechInPacific – Crystal Kewe, through her LinkedIn account on August 8th, announced the opening of the Biluminous Artisan Platform for artisans across PNG. According to the announcement, PNG artisans can sign themselves up for the upcoming free trial that will take place in November this year.
Artisans interested in participating in the free trial are required to fill in the signup form at https://lnkd.in/fKX8KU5. You need to write your full name and email address so that you can be added to the platform. Once you are registered, you will be included in its upcoming 30-day free trial.
The full form of platform will be launched on November 12th, 2019. The launching means to commemorate a year since the launch of the platform by Hon, Rimbink Pato, the former PNG Foreign Affairs Minister and Simon Birmingham, the Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. The launch took place in PNG during the 2018 APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting.
On her LinkedIn account, Crystal also said that the platform will be launched fully in PNG and will cover 5 provinces: East Sepik, Madang, Goroka, Oro, and Southern Highlands. It will feature traditional and naturally-made handicrafts from billums.
Crystal is a Software Engineer and Entrepreneur who founded Crysan Technology Ltd. Last year, she and her father Jonathan won the First Prize of the 2018 APEC App Challenge with its Biluminous App. The Biluminous app was designed to help rural bilum weavers or artisans to connect with customers in PNG.
The second prize of the competition went to duo Australian developers, Venus Izadi and Kelly Benson with their “Bilum Original” platform. The platform connects buyers and makers through a combined SMS interface and internal matchmaking algorithm. Meanwhile, the third prize was won by Nguyen Duc Hiep and Ngo Minh Quoc Hung from Vietnam with their innovative blockchain solution.
