O.K., let’s say you are a New Yorker and you want to use technology to improve the city. You heard the city has created over $5 million in software with just $50,000 in prizes through its Big Apps competition. But you don’t actually know much HTML, much less how to actually develop an app (we’re guilty of this too).
Not to fear fine citizens, the city has a contest for you. Big Ideas let New Yorkers submit their ideas for what mobile and desktop apps would most improve NYC. The winner took home $100 in cold cash.
“As expected, the Ideas Challenge has built upon the success of BigApps and demonstrated the tremendous amount of talent and innovative thinking that exists among developers and non-developers here in New York City,” said Seth W. Pinsky, President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. “This competition has given a voice to New Yorkers with creative ideas on how to improve their city, but who don’t necessarily have the technical capabilities to create an app themselves. These winning ideas will now help shape the future of web, desktop or mobile apps, and, most importantly, will benefit the lives of New Yorkers across the five boroughs. I congratulate all the winners on this terrific achievement.”
And your winners are:
· Let you ‘like’ or rate any street or block in the five boroughs (Carlos J. Gomez de Llarena)
· Create networks of citizens who can chime in about their borough, district and neighborhood issues with local government (Carlos J. Gomez de Llarena)
· Provide an open API to all MTA transit information, schedules, delays, and current locations of trains and buses (Kyri Sarantakos)
· Aggregate bike accident data to make/help petition for safer bike routes (Trev Eld)
· Allow residents to rate their building’s owner, management co., landlord, even brokers and lets interested renters browse those ratings (Bud Caddell)
· Aggregate all the volunteer initiatives available, its cause and allows someone to register/participate (Christopher Bian)
· Tell someone when the next subway car is to arrive at their station, before they go underground (Stephen Mellert)
· Has a visual, color coded map of all street parking rules, regulations and street cleaning schedules (Will Turnage)
· For each borough gives the location of nearest public restrooms with A, B, C, D type ratings for their cleanliness and the level of safety (Sheryl Commodore)
· Tells someone their options during an emergency based on where they are and what their status is (Kelly Thompson)
Personally Betabeat would kill for a very accurate subway arrival predictor and a drop dead simple way to avoid parking tickets. An app that helps us find a parking spot wouldn’t be to shabby either.
Think you’ve got the chops to build one of these apps? The raw data is ready and waiting.
