District Launches 2nd Apps for Democracy Contest

City is the first to accept service requests from consumer technology devices

Contact:Ayanna Smith (OCTO)     Monique Waters (EOM)
         ayanna.smith@dc.gov         monique.waters@dc.gov
         (202) 724-5178 5178         (202) 553-8182

WASHINGTON, DC - Today Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Interim Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Chris Willey announced the launch of the 2nd edition of the Apps for Democracy technology contest.

The competition originated in October 2008 and tasked contestants to develop web applications for everyday consumer technologies using Internet, iPhone, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook and Google Maps by utilizing District government data.

The 2nd round of the contest will enlist talented developers to create community-oriented website applications that will streamline city services requests for residents, such as vacant property inspections, tree removals, street repairs and non-emergency public safety assistance.

“Just like last year’s contest, this new edition of Apps for Democracy will help us make government services more accessible and bring government closer to the people,” said Mayor Fenty.  “This new contest will allow the District to foster citizen participation in government, drive private-sector technology innovation and growth, and build a new model for government-private sector collaboration.”

The competition is open to the general public and will run for two months from May 4, 2009 to July 1, 2009.  Entries will be judged by an appointed jury based on public feedback, usefulness to citizens, usefulness to government and originality. The applications will access the District’s open government data catalogs using the new 311 API (Application Programming Interface), which allows citizens to build custom applications for submitting service requests.  

The Apps for Democracy contest will make the District the first city in the nation to accept service requests from consumer technology devices.  The cost of the competition is $50,000 and could the save the District hundreds of thousands in development costs.  In addition, all the applications developed through the contest will be freely available for use by other state and local governments.

The previous contest was a tremendous success, producing 47 innovative and useful applications in 30 days. The resulting applications offer a wide range of services, from crime alerts to neighborhood profiles to historic tour mapping.  All 47 are available for free at www.octo.dc.gov.

“I’m excited to see how the technology community will answer our call for innovative applications, as they did last year,” said District Interim CTO Chris Willey.  “Once again, Apps for Democracy will allow the District government to partner with talented technologists in promoting digital democracy.”

To learn more about District government technology initiatives, visit www.octo.dc.gov.