Apps for the Environment Forum Celebrates Success
2011 November 10
EPA’s Apps for the Environment Forum recognized the great contributions of developers and other important groups in the green apps community. The five winning app teams were honored, we heard some inspirational talks, and we had a chance to connect with people from diverse backgrounds.
Over 270 people attended this event, including federal agencies, universities, and the press. The inspiring speeches by Nancy Sutley (U.S. Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality), Aneesh Chopra (U.S. Chief Technology Officer), Malcolm Jackson (Chief Information Officer of EPA), and Lisa Schlosser (U.S. Deputy Chief Information Officer) confirmed that information has the power to address environmental issues at the national, state, and local level. We appreciated how Chris Dorobek kept things running smoothly and in good humor.
We heard some ideas for future directions in a panel led by Alex Howard (O’Reilly Media) and including Andy Rossmeissl (Brighter Planet), Erin Robinson (Earth Science Information Partners), Tom Lee (Sunlight Foundation), and Chris Thomas (Sierra Club). Eric Paulos (Carnegie Mellon University) and Peter Preuss provided ideas about innovation and personal sensors. Six breakout sessions allowed for discussions about environmental and information topics in more detail. And we could talk one on one with people at the 24 exhibits from Google to NASA to EPA programs to Esri. Keep an eye out for recordings of the plenary sessions in the near future.
The positive vibe in the air was contagious and the event lived up to its title, Building Innovation Through Partnerships. As Malcolm Jackson said “We will continue to build the green apps community that we are celebrating here and we look forward to your input.” Tell us how we can move green apps forward even more.
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed here are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
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Building apps is my favourite occupation. The point I’m not an experienced programmer doesn’t disturb me much. I make apps on snappii in minutes and it’s not expensive.
Am I the only person who noticed that you accidentally repeated your post. (It’s a useful summary–but I don’t need to read it twice!!) I look forward to watching the videos. When do you expect to post them?
Michael Nelson: we fixed this a couple of hours after you mentioned it – thanks for the heads up. We plan to post the videos in the next week or two. So tell us, what do you think about the challenge?