Apps for Amsterdam is an initiative to make accessible as much data of the City of Amsterdam as possible. Developers are invited to send in their applications that use at least one source of available information of the (local) government.
To stimulate the use of Open Data and to demonstrate the possibilities of applications based on Open Data, the Apps for Amsterdam Contest was born. The contest is modeled after the Apps for Democracy contest in Washington (US). Participants can win prizes to further develop their applications and make them suitable for a large audience.
Governments as well as companies collect an enormous amount of information about our society, from criminal records to garbage collection routes, and from the quality of schools to traffic statistics. This kind of information is called Open Data.
Open Data has a value and can stimulate economic growth; more importantly, society can make progress by using the available information. One of the conditions for innovation is that Open Data is accessible for all, is interpreted, combined and visualized in the right way. That is in everyone’s interest.
The Apps for Amsterdam Contest is a participation between medialab Waag Society, the City of Amsterdam (Economic Affairs) and Hack de Overheid (Hack the Government).
More information on Open Data is available in this article by Marleen Stikker:
The Rules of the Contest
The jury only assesses Apps that meet the criteria for this contest, namely:
- Participants are required to use at least one data source from this website (or at least one different data source from the City of Amsterdam), combinations with other data sources are allowed ;
- Contributors will submit the App in the correctly filled out form, with detailed contact information and the URL to the location of the App.
Furthermore:
- The competition is open to all applications (web, phone, pad, Facebook, etc.);
- The final entry date for Apps is 4 May 2011;
- One prize is available per App: Gold, Silver, Bronze or the Incentive prize. In addition, an App can also be eligible for special awards such as the Mobility award or the Public award;
- Participants can be individuals or a team, the prize will be awarded to the team leader;
- Competitors may submit as many Apps as they want, any application that meets the rules can participate in the contest;
- The App must be at least a working prototype.
All rights of the idea and the development of the App remain with the applicant. From May 5, 2011 the public can rate the applications. The winners will be announced during the awards ceremony on May 25, 2011.
The Awards
The distribution of the prizes is as follows:
| Prize | Number | Private | Business | Total |
| Gold | 2 | € 2,500 | € 2,500 | € 5,000 |
| Silver | 2 | € 1,000 | € 1,000 | € 2,000 |
| Bronze | 4 | € 500 | € 500 | € 2,000 |
| Incentive | 10 times € 100 | € 1,000 | ||
| Public | 2 times € 1,000 | € 2,000 | ||
| Mobility* | 2 times € 1,250 | € 2,500 | ||
| Total | 22 | € 14,500 |
These prizes are offered by the City of Amsterdam, Department of Economic Affairs, and “Antwoord voor bedrijven” | Agentschap NL.
* The City of Amsterdam, Department of Infrastructure Transport & Transportation offers the Mobility awards. Condition to apply for the mobility award is the use of a mobility data source.
The Jury
The Apps will be judged by a professional jury consisting of the following members:
- Marleen Stikker – President Waag Society
- Alexander Klöpping – Columnist at Emerce, known from Dutch television
- Carolien Gehrels – Alderwoman City of Amsterdam, dept. of Economic Affairs
- Alper Çugun – Hack de Overheid
- Josje Majoor – Manager internet and innovation, Antwoord voor bedrijven | Agentschap NL
Judging Criteria
The jury will assess the submitted apps using the following criteria:
1. Originality
2. Usability and user friendliness
3. Potential of the application: social and economic value
4. Viability, also after the contest
5. Level of detail
Contact
To submit new Apps, you can use the form on this website. Your information will be sent to our editors and added to the list of all apps. The deadline is May 4, 2011. Visitors to the website can then rate the Apps from May 5.
For questions about your entry or technical questions please email Apps for Amsterdam.
Press
For press information please contact Eva James.
The mailing address of Amsterdam Apps:
Apps for Amsterdam
c/o Nieuwmarkt 4
1012 CR Amsterdam
Organized by:
Made possible by:
