Note: This blog from the Province of Alberta was originally posted on the Alberta Open Data Portal. This challenge may be of particular interest to those who participated in the recent CODE 2015 event. Apps for Alberta is open until June 19, 2015, and is offering $70,000 in prizes.
Open Data Day 2015 took place on February 21 this year, and I was able to attend the City of Edmonton's Open Data Day hackathon to see first-hand some of the amazing things that can be done with raw data. And on that same day, the Government of Alberta was able to launch our very own apps competition, Apps for Alberta. The competition, which we're hosting in partnership with Alberta Innovates - Technology Futures, is offering a top prize of $30,000 to developers who use Alberta open data to create useful apps for Albertans.
Not only will the competition help raise awareness of Alberta data that is freely available to the public, it will help people understand the benefits of sharing data openly. In this day and age, data is a tremendous resource that can unleash social and economic value. Whether you are a software developer, the owner of a small business or a researcher, access to data can make all the difference.
A big thanks to David Eaves, Patrick Lor, Richard Pietro, Bruce Johnson and Rod Skura for volunteering to judge the submissions. They bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in the areas of open data, innovation and entrepreneurship to the competition.
My thanks also to the City of Edmonton for letting me take part in their Open Data Day activities. The City of Edmonton has long been considered a leader in open data, and these activities are another example of the city's commitment to the open data movement.
I'm really looking forward to seeing what folks come up with. We have a lot of quality data on our site and the possibilities are endless. For information about eligibility, rules, important dates and submission criteria, check out the Apps for Alberta website.
Mark Diner
Chief Advisor for Open Government
Government of Alberta
The opinions expressed in this blog post are not necessarily those of the Government of Canada.
