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ADVANCING ACCESSIBLE APPS ABROADAlumnus Grady Laksmono overcame technology infrastructure barriers in Indonesia to launch Moka, a mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) application, which allows small retail establishments and restaurants to accept and process credit cards using only an Internet-connected iPad.fffWhen Grady Laksmono wanted to establish a startup business after graduate school, he focused on what he knew best: computer science and the unique technological challenges of his home country – Indonesia.“Indonesia has 250 million people and the fifth-largest population of smartphone users in the world, but it has many technology infrastructure problems,” says Laksmono, who earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science at the College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology at California State University, Los Angeles, in 2009 and went on to earn his master’s degree at the University of Southern California.Laksmono and co-founder Haryanto Tanjo developed Moka, a mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) application, which allows retail and restaurant owners to accept and process credit cards using only an Internet-connected iPad. The POS system also works offline, synchronizing the data when it gets an Internet connection.“POS systems are a fundamental need for small and medium businesses,” states Laksmono. “There wasn’t a good POS system in Indonesia, and the number of small and medium businesses in Indonesia is growing.”Moka simplifies the process for business owners to adopt a POS system and equips them with tools to be more efficient and successful. With simple functionality through the iPad, data storage in the cloud, and simple analytics, Moka allows owners to grow their business at a reasonable cost.There are other POS solutions on the market in Indonesia, but many have proved to be cost-prohibitive.“A cafe owner could spend at least 30 million Rupiah (or approximately $3,000 US) for a POS system,” says Laksmono. “And that is before any hidden fees and the cost of training their employees. We want to make it easy for small and medium businesses to adopt a POS system. We have up-front fees for the hardware and a monthly subscription for the technical support. For only $950 US, they will get a 4th generation iPad with retina display, a cash drawer, and a thermal receipt printer. Our subscription fee is only 250,000 Rupiah(or approximately $25 US) per month, per register.”Moka was inspired by the U.S. company called Square.“But we knew that we couldn’t just clone something that works in the United States and expect it to work in Indonesia,” says Laksmono. “How people operate here in Indonesia is very different. So, we had a lot of homework to do in order to understand the Indonesian market. We built Moka from the ground up and market-fit the app for small and medium businesses here.”8f