Big Ideas for Big Apps
AUGUST 23, 2011
An annual city contest asks New Yorkers to suggest snarls, snafus and common concerns that might be solved with mobile apps. 
Winners were announced this month in the NYC BigApps Ideas portion of the NYC BigApps contest. BigApps Ideas is a challenge from the city to the public to suggest a city problem or concern for which an app would provide a great solution. The next phase, the NYC BigApps Challenge 3.0 contest, will challenge developers—and offer a much bigger cash prize—to actually build the suggested apps.
BigApps Ideas judges included Clay Shirky (well-known internet technology author/consultant/scholar), Dawn Barber (co-founder of New York Tech Meetup) and technology experts from city agencies and program sponsor companies. Top 25 (chosen by the public in online voting for a $100 prize) and top 10 winners (chosen by judges for a $350 prize) were selected for their quality, feasibility and potential impact; the new crop of winning ideas includes an app that aggregates available volunteer initiatives and allows you to register and participate, an app that lets you ‘like’ or rate any street or block in the 5 boroughs, an app that aggregates bike accident data to help petition for safer bike routes, an app that provides an open API to all MTA transit information, and an app that tells you your options during an emergency.
Originally launched in 2009 by Mayor Bloomberg, the first NYC BigApps competition made more than 170 official city datasets available; past prizewinning apps include WayFinder NYC, which helps locate nearby subways, buses or train stations, Roadify, which alerts iPhone users to the latest subway, bus, or driving conditions by using official transit data and real-time updates from commuters, Taxihack, Big Apple Ed and Bookzee.
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