1. Save the planet, one line of code at a time

    Want to change the world this coming weekend? Sign up for the Cleanweb Hackathon, which takes place Jan. 20–22 in NYC. Participants will build apps that tackle sustainability issues and resource constraints (issues related to energy, food, waste, water, and so on).

    Bonus: if your Cleanweb hack uses NYC Open Data, your app can also be eligible for NYC BigApps 3.0 (the deadline is Jan. 25)!

    Event: NYC Cleanweb Hackathon

    Date: Jan. 20–22 (Friday evening social followed by 2 days of hacking) 

    Location: NYU ITP, 721 Broadway, Fl. 4

    Who’s invited: Developers, designers, students — and anyone else who’s interested (registration categories include Business, Press, and Presentations only)

    More information: Cleanweb on Posterous

    Register now: cleanweb-nyc-eorg.eventbrite.com 

    Follow @NYCBigApps and @ChallengePost on Twitter, and join us on Facebook.

    Jan 16 Comments

  2. 2011 Open Data Day Hackathon: Better tools. More data. Bigger Fun.

    This year’s International Open Data Day is happening on December 3rd. Citizens in cities around the world will be gathering to write applications, liberate data, create visualizations and publish analyses using open public data to show support for and encourage the adoption of open data policies by the world’s local, regional and national governments.

    If you’re a software developer, designer, or visionary, check out an event near you. Here’s a short list of U.S. events:

    Open data continues to gain traction around the world, with new open data catalogs launching in Europe, North America, and Africa in 2011, and more data than ever made available from organizations like the World Bank.

    This weekend, hack something to make the world a better place.

    Twitter hashtags:
    Use the twitter hashtags #odhd + #yow <— (your airport code) for hashtags. This lets organizers geocode and visualize tweets from around the world.
    #OpenData — General Open Data comments
    #odhd — Open Data Hackfest Day
    #nyc — Your airport code
    #sosodhd — Help! We need help with an application.

    By Samantha

    Did you know?
    ChallengePost has powered many open data competitions, such as Apps for Development for the World Bank, NYC BigApps for the City of New York, Apps for Communities for the Knight Foundation and the FCC on Challenge.gov, and more. To participate or learn more, sign up for an account.

    Dec 2
    Gov 2.0,  Hackathon,  Open Data,  events,  
    Comments

  3. Awesome NYC BigApps hacks

    How was your weekend? If you were at the first-ever NYC BigApps Hackathon, it was pretty amazing! A diverse group of developers, designers, and visionaries collaborated on some incredibly innovative uses of NYC Open Data and APIs from participating companies. A stellar panel of judges ranked the submissions and awarded $2,500 in prizes.

    Here’s a list of all the demoed hacks, including the winners, all coded in just under 27 hours!

    • Can I Park Here? (Grand Prize; Hackers’ Choice) — Eric Rafaloff
      Helps you decipher confusing parking regulations and cryptic signs. Just touch one button to find out whether you can park here!
    • Scene Near Me (2nd Prize) — Luis Miranda, Avi Dabir, Dan Blumberg
      Every day, New Yorkers walk the same streets as the Ghostbusters, Annie Hall, and King Kong. Scene Near Me tells you exactly where your favorite actors, directors, and superheroes stood.
    • NYC Taxi Tracker (3rd Prize; Hackers’ Choice) — Alastair Coote
      Helps you gauge the performance of taxi drivers, comparing the average time for a given route to the actual time of your journey. Users can also rate driver politeness and taxi cleanliness.
    • Did It! Do It! — Holly Chen, Mark McCorkle, Jorge Martinez, Nigel DeFreitas, Corinne Tinacci, Jeffery To
      Helps you discover things to do in NYC right now, based on real-time social intelligence.
    • Game On — Tobias Wright, Jorene Rene, Rodney Cobb
      Shows you the 532 basketball courts within the 5 boroughs so you can invite potential players for a pick-up game.
    • Street Surfer — Sean Kean, Rob Eccardt, Jeremy Baron, Arthur Grau
      A mobile browser for the physical world of places, events, and actionable data — find out where everybody’s going, meeting, doing.
    • FDNY Building Inspections Done Right — Nate Kidwell
      Allows building owners to add building characteristics to city databases. Provides QR codes and bit.ly URLs for easy updating.
    • PacManNYC — Roger Pincombe
      Play Pac-Man in NYC.
    • Fourtron — Will Charczuk, Noah Lucas
      Enriches your Foursquare history with NYC data. Checking in is only the beginning.
    • NYC Hood — Arthur Grau, Chao Huang, Harshil Shah, Noah Smith, Jay Zalowitz
       Uses NYC Open Data to give every neighborhood in the city a personality profile. Invites users to log in via Foursquare to find the best neighborhood fit.

    Check back soon for more details, and skim the @NYCBigApps tweets to soak up some of that inspiring hackathon atmosphere. Thanks to everyone who participated — now go work on your submissions for NYC BigApps 3.0!

    Follow @NYCBigApps and @ChallengePost on Twitter, and like us on Facebook. Use hashtag #NYCBigApps when you tweet.

    By Marci

    Nov 14 Comments

  4. Green hackathon in DC Labor Day weekend

    With its new Apps for the Environment challenge, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is challenging software developers to create innovative and widely useful apps that use EPA data to address health/environmental problems. 

    Green + tech enthusiasts, if you’re in DC over Labor Day weekend, check out the Apps for the Environment hackathon. It’s hosted by American University, in their technology-rich green facilities. EPA specialists will be on hand to answer questions and help you build your app.

    What: AU “Apps for the Environment” Hack-a-thon

    When: Sept. 3, 2011, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

    Where: American University Graduate Research Center (below Bender Library), Washington, D.C.

    Who: Developers and teams from universities throughout the area, professional coders, journalists, and anyone with ideas for green apps.

    Inspirations: 7 priorities for EPA’s future, ideas for apps, data discovery webinars, developer resources

    RSVP here!

    Can’t make the event, but want to host your own code-a-thon to make prototypes of green apps? Contact the EPA at greenapps@epa.gov, or call 202-566-1686. They’ll work with you to set one up, promote it, and make it a success. (See the code-a-thon toolkit here.)

    By: Samantha

    Follow @ChallengeGov and @EPAgov on Twitter.

     - - -

    Why the EPA Wants You to Design America’s Next Top Environmental App [Mashable]

    Greening the Internet with Apps for the Environment [techPresident]

    EPA’s Apps for the Environment Challenge [Sunlight Labs]

    Aug 25 Comments