Extra time to “Hack Warwickshire”
People have been given extra time to submit their entries for Warwickshire County Council’s “Hack Warwickshire” competition, with the deadline now extended to Friday 2nd July at 5pm.
Due to the increased numbers of datasets loaded onto the county council’s Open Data website recently, the council has decided to allow people more time to look at the new data and either enhance their current competition entry, or even build a new one.
Last month, Warwickshire County Council challenged people to come up with new ways that it could use technology to deliver better public services, by “mashing up” data held by the council and making it available in different formats.
Ideas for applications that use Warwickshire’s Open Data include a ‘Warwickshire Reality View’, which would allow people with iPhones and Android mobile phones to view a live “augmented reality” version of Warwickshire through their camera phones, with information overlaid on top the view the user sees through the camera.
Other ideas include a ‘Warwickshire Tip Finder’ and a ‘Bridge Height and Weight’ application. All the ideas can be viewed on the Warwickshire Open Data App Gallery.
Warwickshire County Council launched its Open Data website in April, which is making many of the council’s previously unreleased datasets, on everything from the number of school exclusions to bridge height restrictions, freely available to the public for the first time.
Data mashing involves combining data or the functions of two or more sources to create a new service, which is the aim of “Hack Warwickshire”. The grand prize is a brand new Apple iPad, the latest technological must-have.
Entrants are being encouraged to think about developing map visualizations, iPhone applications, ways of integrating the data with social networking and much more in their bid to win the competition.
There are also two categories sponsored by Yahoo! An iPod shuffle is up for grabs in a category for the not-so technically minded – simply come up with an idea for a great application or website using our open data. And there is further category, also sponsored by Yahoo! for the best use of YQL language.
Cllr Martin Heatley, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Resources, said: “This is not only about making our work more transparent, but also about making the information we hold as a county council more useful to people.
“Making our data freely available was just the first step. Now we want you to identify other methods of making this information available, bringing it together in dynamic ways that people can interact with.”
A shortlist of ten finalists will be selected, before a grand final is held in July, with the ultimate winner chosen by a panel of Warwickshire County Council and industry experts.