Springwise - Government tag:springwise.com,2008-12-18://1 2010-09-02T07:31:42Z Your daily fix of entrepreneurial ideas. Movable Type Commercial 4.24-en Canadian government rewards public servants for cost-cutting ideas tag:springwise.com,2010://1.8406 2010-09-02T07:32:03Z 2010-09-02T07:31:42Z Companies have long recognized that the best ideas can come from those in the figurative trenches, since they're the ones closest to the organization's day-to-day operations. That's a less common notion in government circles, but recently we spotted an... Springwise http://www.springwise.com

Companies have long recognized that the best ideas can come from those in the figurative trenches, since they're the ones closest to the organization's day-to-day operations. That's a less common notion in government circles, but recently we spotted an example in the form of Canada's new incentive program to reward public servants for their best budget-cutting ideas.

Beginning this fall, the new Employee Innovation Program will offer cash awards to public service employees with creative and practical ideas that lead to tangible savings and improved services to citizens. Through the two-year pilot program, which is being implemented in eight departments of Canada's federal government, individuals or teams will need to develop an approved plan to deliver a required service in a better way while reducing costs. They will then have an opportunity to put that plan into action. If an audit after six months can show real savings and improved service, then the employee(s) will be given 10 percent of the savings measured in the first year of implementation, up to a maximum of CAD 10,000.

There's nothing better than a win-win proposition—and never more so than when it's effected in government. Other governments around the world—what are you waiting for? (Related: Contest chooses apps to help fight childhood obesity — Site helps businesses reward consumers for positive actions — Helping citizens keep tabs on legislators — Rewarding consumers who drive less.)

Website: www.canada.gc.ca
Contact: www.canada.gc.ca/comments-commentaires/contact-eng.html

Spotted by: CTV via R.P.

]]> Contest chooses apps to help fight childhood obesity tag:springwise.com,2010://1.8372 2010-08-16T12:47:35Z 2010-08-16T14:29:15Z The potential for digitally-enhanced games to help combat childhood obesity has already been widely recognized—witness Treasure World, LocoMatrix, Swinxs and The Hidden Park for just a few examples. Now the U.S. government has gotten involved with a contest inviting... Springwise http://www.springwise.com

The potential for digitally-enhanced games to help combat childhood obesity has already been widely recognized—witness Treasure World, LocoMatrix, Swinxs and The Hidden Park for just a few examples. Now the U.S. government has gotten involved with a contest inviting app developers to create tools and games that encourage kids to eat better and be more active.

Launched in March, the USDA's Apps for Healthy Kids competition is part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign to end childhood obesity within a generation. Toward that end, it has challenged software developers, game designers and other innovators to develop fun and engaging software tools and games that deliver nutrition and health concepts in a fun and engaging way. The submission deadline was June 30; tools and games had to be built using the USDA nutrition dataset recently made available to the public through the Open Government Initiative. All apps are now going through the judging process, with panelists including executives from Apple, Google, Zynga and LucasArts. In September, winners will be awarded a total of USD 60,000.

U.S. obesity rates have tripled in the past 30 years, the USDA says, which could mean a shorter expected lifespan for today's children than their parents enjoyed. App-minded entrepreneurs: keep the fitness-focused innovations coming! (Related: Wrist device rewards kids for exercising — Volkswagen crowdsources apps for in-car info & entertainment — NYC challenges developers to create apps using city data.)

Website: www.appsforhealthykids.com
Contact: info@appsforhealthykids.com

]]> Five neighbourly business ideas tag:springwise.com,2010://1.8356 2010-08-09T13:00:24Z 2010-08-09T13:01:08Z Localisation is a key buzzword for businesses promoting products and services, but advertisers aren't the only ones innovating at the local level. There's an exciting range of new enterprises targeting communities and helping neighbours connect. Here are five recent... Springwise http://www.springwise.com

Localisation is a key buzzword for businesses promoting products and services, but advertisers aren't the only ones innovating at the local level. There's an exciting range of new enterprises targeting communities and helping neighbours connect. Here are five recent spottings with a neighbourhood focus:

1. STREETBANK — Streetbank in the UK aims to help neighbours get to know each other, simply by being nice. Users indicate something they'd be willing to lend, help with or give away. Having done that, they can see what others are offering in their area, or they can make a request for something specific. The result: people get to meet, share something, and hopefully become friends.

2. WIJ BOUWEN EEN WIJK — Wij Bouwen Een Wijk ("We're building a neighbourhood") isn't a company: it's a community effort to design and oversee the construction of every aspect of the neighbourhood in which project members will eventually live. Participants with the most innovative ideas can even get a street named after them!

3. DEHOOD — DeHood is a social network application that focuses entirely on location: everything and everyone that users see is in their immediate surroundings. To encourage a sense of community, users are encouraged to report what's going on nearby, from traffic accidents to get-togethers. Shoppers can share deals that they find in local stores, and promotions featured at chainstores are aggregated and passed on to users.

4. GASTOWN BLOG — The Gastown district in Vancouver has a lively website listing local events and promotions. It was formed in partnership between local government and businesses, but now features active participation from the wider community. Earlier this year The Gastown Blog attached QR codes to various historic buildings in Gastown, enabling passersby to instantly call up detailed information about the buildings.

5. CABSENSE — Featuring a smart use of the publicly available data gathered from New York City taxis' GPS devices, CabSense is an iPhone app showing locations where users are most likely to find a cab in their area. CabSense's algorithm uses the GPS statistics to calculate a probability score for successfully hailing a cab at any given street corner, at the current time (or at a time specified by the user).

Spotters: Jane Durney, Kevin de Caluwé, Cecilia Biemann, Kevin W.

]]> Recycled parking meters collect donations for Montréal's homeless tag:springwise.com,2010://1.8345 2010-08-02T07:55:38Z 2010-08-02T12:51:22Z If old candy machines can be used to enable guerrilla gardening, then why shouldn't old parking meters be used to help combat homelessness? Such, in fact, is exactly the premise behind the ParcoDon campaign, an effort in Montréal to... Springwise http://www.springwise.com

If old candy machines can be used to enable guerrilla gardening, then why shouldn't old parking meters be used to help combat homelessness? Such, in fact, is exactly the premise behind the ParcoDon campaign, an effort in Montréal to collect money for the city's most destitute residents.

ParcoDons are the City of Montréal's retired mechanical parking meters, 70 or so of which have been recycled as standing piggy banks designed to collect donations to help the city's homeless. The project was launched in 2007 by Stationnement de Montréal—the city's parking authority—along with the Ville-Marie borough and the L'Itinéraire newspaper. To draw further attention to the effort, its organizers this year asked local Quebec celebrities and organizations to "adopt" and personalize the parking meters with acrylic paint. Accordingly, since two workshops in March, those decorated meters—each signed by a person or institution—have been placed throughout the streets of Ville-Marie, amounting to a sort of local Walk of Fame. All funds collected in the meters will be used by L'Itinéraire to provide a wide variety of services for the benefit of Montréal's homeless. A video on YouTube illustrates the project in more detail.

In the ParcoDon effort's first three years, it raised some CDN 23,000 for the homeless cause; organizers hope the celebrity effort will increase proceeds to CDN 40,000 over the next three years, according to a report in the Montreal Gazette. Social entrepreneurs around the globe: be inspired! (Related: ATM machines offer embedded charity with every withdrawal.)

Website: www.itineraire.ca
Contact: www.itineraire.ca/formulaires/joindre.php

Spotted by: Murray Orange

]]> Crowdsourced effort maps the trees of San Francisco & adds dollar values tag:springwise.com,2010://1.8289 2010-06-29T18:58:28Z 2010-06-29T18:57:45Z Mapping is an application to which the crowds are eminently well-suited, geographically dispersed as they tend to be. Not only have we seen the masses contributing to maps of hot music gigs and filming locations, but now they're helping... Springwise http://www.springwise.com

Mapping is an application to which the crowds are eminently well-suited, geographically dispersed as they tend to be. Not only have we seen the masses contributing to maps of hot music gigs and filming locations, but now they're helping to create a map of San Francisco's urban forest too.

Now in beta, The Urban Forest Map is “a collaboration of government, nonprofits, businesses and you to map every tree in San Francisco,” in the project's own words. Starting with a database from public records, the project aims to communicate the value of the urban forest and engage communities in creating greener, more livable urban environments. Toward that end, citizen participants can not only search for particular types of trees in the San Francisco area, they can also add new ones that haven't yet been mapped by simply putting a dot on the map where they're located and then providing as much information about them as they can, including photos and factors such as species, size and trunk diameter. Citizens can verify the facts about the trees near them as well, updating as necessary to help track changes as the urban forest grows. The information added to the Urban Forest Map will be used by urban forest managers, landscape architects and planners to estimate future growth and planting opportunities, improve wildlife habitat, maximize ecosystem services, and grow a strong and healthy urban forest.

Perhaps even more interesting, however, is that for each and every tree, the Urban Forest Map taps a US Forest Service model to calculate the environmental benefits it's providing: how many gallons of stormwater it's helping to filter, how many pounds of air pollutants it's capturing, how many kilowatt-hours of energy it's conserving and how many tons of carbon dioxide it's removing from the atmosphere. The open-source project is available for use by any community; time to start “missing” the forest for the trees near you....? ;-)

Website: www.urbanforestmap.org
Contact: www.urbanforestmap.org/contact/

Spotted by: Anna Brones

]]> Health care by monthly membership tag:springwise.com,2010://1.8265 2010-06-16T12:00:10Z 2010-06-16T11:14:34Z In the United States, more than 40 cents of every dollar patients spend on health care goes toward insurance billing and overhead. That means clinicians must see more patients each day just to make ends meet, resulting in longer... Springwise http://www.springwise.com

In the United States, more than 40 cents of every dollar patients spend on health care goes toward insurance billing and overhead. That means clinicians must see more patients each day just to make ends meet, resulting in longer wait times, shorter appointments and higher costs. Aiming to apply some fresh thinking to an area that sorely needs it, Qliance has developed a new model for health care that works like a health-club membership and excludes insurance from the process.

Qliance reminds us of Hello Health for the way it aims to make medical services friendlier and more accessible for everyone. With three clinics in the Seattle area, Qliance gives its members unrestricted access to its clinicians and services for a monthly fee of between USD 44 and USD 129. No long-term contract is required; rather, members simply pay a registration fee of USD 99 and choose from two types of service plans—one with remote hospital coordination, or one with bedside hospital coordination by Qliance clinicians. Services include checkups, vaccinations, pneumonia, minor fractures, routine women’s health exams, and ongoing care for chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension or obesity—the primary and preventive care, in other words, that accounts for 90 percent of the medical issues that drive people to the doctor, according to Qliance. For more serious problems, Qliance recommends that patients have wrap-around insurance plans; the company's providers also coordinate any necessary outside specialist or hospital care for their patients. The overall result? Shorter wait times, longer appointments (an hour for physicals, for example) and savings of up to 50 percent for patients and employers alike over traditional insurance plans. Open seven days a week, Qliance also reinvests in its clinics, electronic medical records and patient services the 40 cents of each dollar that would have been lost to billing and overhead, it says.

Qliance has already received USD 13.5 million in funding, including investments from Jeff Bezos and Michael Dell, and it's aiming to expand outside Washington as early as next year. One to get in on early? (Related: Doctor 2.0 uses IM & sticks to house calls — A simpler way to make a doctor's appointment.)

Website: www.qliance.com
Contact: info@qliance.com

Spotted by Susanna Haynie

]]> Viral tourism site recruits expats to help promote New Zealand tag:springwise.com,2010://1.8251 2010-06-09T09:25:55Z 2010-06-09T10:31:19Z Tourism agencies have become innovators in the arts of promotion—witness last year's job contest spotlighting the Great Barrier Reef Islands, for example—but lately we've seen several new efforts aimed at the influx of international visitors expected for a particular... Springwise http://www.springwise.com

Tourism agencies have become innovators in the arts of promotion—witness last year's job contest spotlighting the Great Barrier Reef Islands, for example—but lately we've seen several new efforts aimed at the influx of international visitors expected for a particular global event. Shanghai's AtYourSide service was launched to coincide with Expo 2010, for example; Africa Talking, similarly, is ideally positioned to benefit from the World Cup. The latest along those lines? Pass It On, an initiative to turn the nearly million New Zealanders who live overseas into a network of virtual ambassadors in anticipation of the Rugby World Cup 2011 event.

Kicked off last month by the Kiwi Expat Association, Pass It On aims to get expat New Zealanders to spread the word about everything the country has to offer. With funding, distribution and content support from a variety of New Zealand partners, the effort offers monthly prize draws for participants with Kiwi-centric prizes for the winners. Participants begin by signing up with the effort and then sharing stories from the Pass It On site with friends, family and colleagues—sharable videos focus on travel and cuisine, creative talent, and business and innovation. When the recipients of those stories follow the sender's link back to Pass It On and sign up, the sender earns “pass points.” Those points then become entries in a prize draw that takes place on the second Monday of each month; prizes range from locally focused T-shirts and ice cream to the Expat Reconnaissance Tour, an opportunity for four Kiwis living overseas to bring their best non-Kiwi mates home for a week of “money-can't-buy” experiences. Using the Pass Navigator, meanwhile, participants can view their “chain of passes,” including upstream and downstream statistics, the number of people reached, and the countries spanned.

As we've noted on so many occasions before, advertising can no longer hold a candle to the unstoppable force that is peer-to-peer promotion. How can your brand tap the power of crowdsourcing and social media for its own promotional gain...? (Related: Crowdsourcing the sales force — Referral program helps landlords find tenants on Facebook — Crowdsourced chocolate bar promotes Yellow Pages — InterContinental hotels get staff to share mates' rates.)

Website: www.passiton.co.nz
Contact: www.passiton.co.nz/About/Contact-Us/

Spotted by: Scott Riddle

]]> Webcam tool shows which health clinics are crowded tag:springwise.com,2010://1.8166 2010-04-30T12:53:25Z 2010-04-27T09:44:59Z Emergency rooms and health clinics are notorious for the long waits visits typically entail. That's why InQuickER—which we covered last year—emerged to let patients reserve a spot ahead of time, and it's also apparently why Singapore's Ministry of Health... Springwise http://www.springwise.com

Emergency rooms and health clinics are notorious for the long waits visits typically entail. That's why InQuickER—which we covered last year—emerged to let patients reserve a spot ahead of time, and it's also apparently why Singapore's Ministry of Health has developed a service to give citizens a real-time view from home of how crowded clinics are likely to be.

Part of the Ministry of Health's eCitizen effort, Queue Watch is designed to provide health patients with timely information to plan their visit to any of Singapore's many health clinics. A map on the site marks each of those clinics with two symbols—a red circle and a yellow triangle. Clicking on the red circle for any given clinic reveals not just the number of patients waiting for registration and consultation, but also live webcam images showing the waiting areas for registration, consultation and pharmacy/payment. Webcam images are intentionally out of focus to protect patients' confidentiality, the site notes. Clicking on the yellow triangle for a clinic, meanwhile, brings up information about its peak and non-peak periods.

By giving patients the information they need to plan which clinic to visit and when, Queue Watch promises to help them minimize the time they'll have to wait—and, at least as important—the frustration they'll experience. Time to bring that type of transparency to clinics and government offices all over the world!

Website: he.ecitizen.gov.sg/hecorp/qwatch.aspx?id=646
Contact: moh_info@moh.gov.sg

Spotted by: Sharon Sng

]]> Dutch city launches iPhone app for lodging civic complaints tag:springwise.com,2010://1.8167 2010-04-27T08:08:00Z 2010-04-27T08:16:26Z Potholes, stray garbage, broken street lamps? Citizens of Eindhoven can now report local issues by iPhone, using the BuitenBeter app that was launched today. After spotting something that needs to be fixed, residents can use the app to take... Springwise http://www.springwise.com

Potholes, stray garbage, broken street lamps? Citizens of Eindhoven can now report local issues by iPhone, using the BuitenBeter app that was launched today. After spotting something that needs to be fixed, residents can use the app to take a picture, select an appropriate category and send their complaint directly through to the city council. A combination of GPS and maps lets users pinpoint the exact location of the problem, providing city workers with all the information they need to identify and resolve the problem.

The application covers a wide range of familiar nuisances, from broken sidewalks to loitering youth (who will hopefully respond favourably to having their picture taken by concerned citizens). Compared with lodging a complaint by phone or in writing, BuitenBeter creates a nearly frictionless experience and will no doubt prompt a wider group of people to become active reporters of issues that need the city's attention.

Besides giving people an easy way to send through detailed reports, city officials also believe the concept will create shorter lines of communication, and will facilitate quicker feedback from local government to citizens. Developed by mobile solutions provider Yucat, the BuitenBeter app will soon be available for Android and Windows Mobile phones, too. Eindhoven has signed on for a twelve-month trial, and Yucat hopes to roll out the system to other cities in the near future. (Related: In San Francisco, civic complaints via Twitter — NYC challenges developers to create apps using city data — Tagging repairs for local government.)

Website: www.buitenbeter.nl
Contact: info@buitenbeter.nl

]]> Geo-targeted messaging with a public services twist tag:springwise.com,2010://1.8073 2010-03-04T07:55:00Z 2010-03-04T08:59:32Z Hard on the heels of our story about BlockChalk comes word of Nixle, another location-based service for community messaging. But where BlockChalk focuses primarily on letting neighbours communicate with each other, Nixle adds a component for secure messaging by... Springwise http://www.springwise.com

Hard on the heels of our story about BlockChalk comes word of Nixle, another location-based service for community messaging. But where BlockChalk focuses primarily on letting neighbours communicate with each other, Nixle adds a component for secure messaging by local government and municipal agencies.

Through Nixle’s community information service, granular, location-based information is pushed out directly to the community by SMS, web and email. As with BlockChalk, neighbourhood residents can broadcast locally targeted news, events, and recommendations. Additionally, thanks to a partnership with Nlets (who provide messaging services for law enforcement agencies), Nixle says it is the first authenticated and secure service for connecting municipal agencies, schools and community organisations with residents in real time. Nixle’s servers are even housed within the Nlets secure facility. This means police departments can send alerts and advisories right from their police terminals.

Nixle is offered at no cost to government agencies, community organisations and consumers. Local residents can decide how much information they want to receive in real time; and all messages are archived online for later access.

Since Nixle launched publicly about a year ago, more than 3,800 public safety and community agencies across the United States have begun using it. The New Jersey-based company also plans to expand internationally; could you be a partner in your part of the world? (Related: More neighbourhood problem-solving: SeeClickFix — In Boston, an iPhone app for civic complaints — In San Francisco, civic complaints via Twitter.)

Website: www.nixle.com
Contact: info@nixle.com

Spotted by: Jim Stewart

]]> Eco-iconic license plates for green vehicles tag:springwise.com,2009://1.7902 2009-11-20T13:53:01Z 2009-11-20T07:01:30Z Electric and hybrid vehicles are typically eco-iconic in their own right, but a new program from Ontario's Ministry of Transportation aims to give them additional recognition via special license plates as well. The Canadian province hopes to have one... Springwise http://www.springwise.com

Electric and hybrid vehicles are typically eco-iconic in their own right, but a new program from Ontario's Ministry of Transportation aims to give them additional recognition via special license plates as well.

The Canadian province hopes to have one out of every 20 vehicles driven in Ontario electrically powered by 2020. As part of that effort, it is encouraging the purchase and use of electric cars via several incentives. First, vehicles purchased after July 1, 2010, can qualify for rebates of between CDN 4,000 and CDN 10,000. Even more eco-iconic, however, is that drivers of such vehicles will be given special, green license plates from the province starting next year. Said license plates will qualify them to use Ontario's High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes until 2015, even if there is just one person in the vehicle; give them access to provincial recharging facilities; and allow them to use designated parking spots at the University of Toronto and private companies such as Wal-Mart Canada. Particularly interesting from a crowdsourcing perspective is that the province's green license plate design was chosen through public voting from among four competing alternatives.

If there's anything more gratifying than simply reaping the benefits of an environmentally friendly vehicle, it's having that ethical purchase decision recognized and rewarded, for all the world to see. How long before every DMV under the sun has its own version of the green license plate...?

Website: news.ontario.ca/mto/en/2009/11/new-green-licence-plate-selected-by-ontarians.html
Contact: nicole.lippa-gasparro@ontario.ca

Spotted by: Monica Watkins

]]> Manchester sells holiday gift wrap designed for the city tag:springwise.com,2009://1.7901 2009-11-20T05:18:56Z 2009-11-20T05:18:25Z It's no secret that cities love to promote Christmas shopping as a festive way to boost the local economy. What we hadn't yet spotted, however, was a city selling its very own holiday gift wrap, which is what Manchester... Springwise http://www.springwise.com

It's no secret that cities love to promote Christmas shopping as a festive way to boost the local economy. What we hadn't yet spotted, however, was a city selling its very own holiday gift wrap, which is what Manchester is doing this season.

Created by graphic designer Peter Saville—whose work has graced the city since he designed for and directed Factory Records—the wrapping paper's vivid colours match Visit Manchester's multi-hued logo. Produced in a limited edition of 5,000 rolls, the gift wrap is sold for GBP 2,99 through Visit Manchester's online shop, as well as at the city's Tourist Information Centre, Manchester City Art Gallery’s shop, exhibition centre Urbis, Visit Manchester’s Christmas market stall, and—with a nod to Saville's musical roots—at local record store Vinyl Exchange.

It's an innovative launch by Manchester's city marketers, and one that their colleagues in other cities will no doubt follow next year ;-)

Website: www.visitmanchester.com
Contact: www.visitmanchester.com/contact_us.aspx

Spotted by: The Scout

]]> Airport kiosk alerts customers to counterfeit products tag:springwise.com,2009://1.7816 2009-10-16T06:36:19Z 2009-10-16T06:39:31Z According to the World Customs Organisation, counterfeit goods account for between five and seven percent of world trade. In an effort to counter the counterfeiters, Hong Kong's government is working to facilitate efficient product authentication. In June, the region's... Springwise http://www.springwise.com

According to the World Customs Organisation, counterfeit goods account for between five and seven percent of world trade. In an effort to counter the counterfeiters, Hong Kong's government is working to facilitate efficient product authentication. In June, the region's dominant duty-free retailer Nuance-Watson pilot-launched an authentication kiosk in its Hong Kong Airport Travelcare Express store. The kiosk allows customers to scan a product's label and follow its supply chain history to verify authenticity. Since fake medicines are of particularly acute concern to regulators, the pilot is focusing on pharmaceutical products.

The kiosk is part of a wider government initiative—BarcodePlus—which is supposed to become Hong Kong's portal for product quality and safety information. Due for official launch next month, BarcodePlus will enable users to not only verify the authenticity of a product, but also to find information about its shelf-life, origin, ingredients and packaging. Consumers will be able to access the service online or via SMS.

The 'product life story labels' we've covered in the past—from spinach to sheep—were mainly about sustainability and unearthing the softer sides of authenticity. With BarcodePlus, on the other hand, traceability is being put to work to protect consumers and profit margins. One to keep an eye on if you operate in markets flooded with knockoffs!

Website: www.barcodeplus.com.hk
Contact: info@barcodeplus.com.hk

Spotted by: Judy McRae

]]> More neighbourhood problem-solving: SeeClickFix tag:springwise.com,2009://1.7812 2009-10-13T21:49:27Z 2009-10-13T23:04:12Z Empowering citizens to improve their communities, SeeClickFix functions as a hub for residents to report and track non-emergency issues, with the aim of having them resolved by local government and neighbourhood groups. The Connecticut-based venture was inspired in part... Springwise http://www.springwise.com

Empowering citizens to improve their communities, SeeClickFix functions as a hub for residents to report and track non-emergency issues, with the aim of having them resolved by local government and neighbourhood groups.

The Connecticut-based venture was inspired in part by UK enterprise FixMyStreet, which we covered in 2007, when it was known as Neighbourhood Fix-It. SeeClickFix expands the model on several fronts. The free problem reporting service benefits from enhanced mobile accessibility in the form of an iPhone app, Twitter and a US toll-free number, helping people to report concerns while on the go. SeeClickFix will match reported problems with potential 'fixers'—users or groups who have signed up to receive updates—according to their location or keyword relevancy. Interested local media and bloggers are also encouraged to syndicate these feeds (which are available in a variety of formats), and to stimulate community engagement by adding Google Maps-based widgets to their own websites. And adding an extra level of interactivity, users can show their support for causes by voting, commenting and sharing.

SeeClickFix is currently focusing on select US cities, but was created with global expansion in mind. Its founders hope to maintain the sustainability of their enterprise by way of a paid premium service for local authorities, which offers extra tools for tracking issues and viewing data. SeeClickFix is also enlisting volunteers—SideClicks—to act as ambassadors for the service in their local area.

Website: www.seeclickfix.com
Contact: team@seeclickfix.com

]]> NYC challenges developers to create apps using city data tag:springwise.com,2009://1.7800 2009-10-08T15:31:42Z 2009-10-08T15:44:19Z Last week, we wrote about SFapps, a San Francisco initiative that invites developers to turn municipal data into useful tools for the city's residents. Not one to be bested, Mayor Bloomberg just launched a similar concept in New York:... Springwise http://www.springwise.com

Last week, we wrote about SFapps, a San Francisco initiative that invites developers to turn municipal data into useful tools for the city's residents. Not one to be bested, Mayor Bloomberg just launched a similar concept in New York: NYC BigApps, "a software application competition to make New York City more transparent, accessible and accountable, and an easier place to live, work and play." On offer for developers? USD 20,000 in cash prizes, plus dinner with Bloomberg. And, no doubt, some valuable media attention.

Developers can use public sets of raw data produced by city agencies, available from the newly-launched NYC Data Mine. Judges for the competition, which is taking submissions until 8 December 2009, include Fred Wilson, Esther Dyson and Jason Calcanis. No word yet on if and how the city will adopt and promote winning apps. Other cities around the world—what are you waiting for? Data isn't just for internal use; time to corral it, keep it up to date, and entice developers to create useful applications for your citizens.

Website: www.nycbigapps.com
Contact: info@nycbigapps.com

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