World Bank Opens First Global 'apps For Development' Competition

< BACK TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY starstarstarstarstar   Science - Information Technology Press Release
8th October 2010, 09:52am - Views: 1219





Community Charity World Bank Group 1 image

Community Charity World Bank Group 2 image










MEDIA RELEASE PR41656


World Bank Opens First Global 'Apps for Development' Competition


WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --


     Software Developers to Design Tools to Fight Poverty Using Open Data


    The World Bank Group today kicked off the "Apps for Development" competition, the first global contest of its

kind. President Robert B. Zoellick challenged software developers and international experts around the world to

enter the contest. Entries must be filed by January 10, 2011.




    "Help change the world by using the World Bank's data collection to help

find solutions to today's development challenges," said Zoellick. "Create

applications to analyze and tackle the world's long-standing problems."


    The competition challenges developers to create software applications,

tools, data visualizations or "mash-ups"- whether web-based, mobile, through

SMS, smart phone, desktop, or tablet. There are only two requirements for

entries: use the World Bank Data Catalog

(http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog) and address one of the eight

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (http://www.worldbank.org/mdgs).


    "The World Bank is seeking creative 'apps' that bring ground level

insights of the development challenges posed by the MDGs," said Shaida

Badiee, Director of World Bank Group's Development Research Data Group. "The

apps created in this competition will allow policy makers, researchers, and

civil society to track the impact of policies, develop new solutions, and

measure improvements more accurately."


    "We'd like to see examples of developers everywhere using our data and

combining it with their own data to build really useful applications

addressing local problems. That's the power of crowdsourcing innovation and

that's the essence of the challenge," added Aleem Walji, World Bank Institute

Innovation Practice Manager.


    Competition Requirements

    Entries must be submitted no later than January 10, 2011, must relate to

achieving one of the MDGs (http://www.worldbank.org/mdgs), and must include

data from at least one of the datasets available in the World Bank Data

Catalog (http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog).


    Entries will compete for $45,000 in prizes and financial support. Large

organizations may compete for a corporate recognition award. Winning entries

will be featured on the World Bank Group's website.


    The distinguished panel of judges includes Craig Newmark, Founder of

Craigslist, Inc; Kannan Pashupathy, Director, Engineering, Google; Ory

Okolloh, Executive Director and Co-Founder,Ushahidi; Homi Kharas, Senior

Fellow and Deputy Director, Global Economy and Development, the Brookings

Institution; and Shanta Devarajan, Chief Economist, World Bank's Africa

Region.


Community Charity World Bank Group 3 image

    Get contest details and enter your app at:



    The Apps for Development competition platform is powered by ChallengePost



    To access the World Bank Data Catalog:



    To view the competition website, please visit



    View World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick video announcement:



    Listen to World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick audio announcement:



    World Bank Open Forum "Open Development Solutions"


    October 7th, 2010 12:30 pm: http://www.worldbank.org/openforum


    For info about the MDGs: http://www.worldbank.org/mdgs


    To learn more about The World Bank's work, please visit



    Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/worldbank


    Be updated via Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/worldbank


    For our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/worldbank


SOURCE: World Bank Group


    CONTACT: In Washington: Edith Wilson, ewilson1@worldbank.org,

+1-202-473-1104; For Broadcast Requests: Natalia Cieslik, +1-202-458-9369,

ncieslik@worldbank.org


To view this and other AsiaNet releases please visit http://www.asianetnews.net






news articles logo NEWS ARTICLES
Contact News Articles |Remove this article