The World Bank launched its Open Data Initiative in April, 2010. This initiative made an array of data sets, including the World Development Indicators, Africa Development Indicators, and Millennium Development Goal Indicators – free for all.
The Apps for Development Competition aims to bring together the best ideas from both the software developer and the development practitioner communities to create innovative apps using World Bank data.
The Competition challenges participants to develop software applications related to one or more of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Submissions may be any kind of software application, be it for the web, a personal computer, a mobile handheld device, console, SMS, or any software platform broadly available to the public. The only other requirement is that the proposed application use one or more datasets from the World Bank Data Catalog available at data.worldbank.org.
Applications submitted to the Competition should address at least one of the following objectives:
1. Raise awareness of at least one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), or
2. Contribute to progress toward meeting one of the MDGs by 2015.
Applications which best satisfy the competition criteria will receive cash prizes and the opportunity to have their apps featured on the World Bank Open Data website. Competition participants are encouraged to also use other relevant indicators and datasets, and to be creative in exploring approaches for realizing the goals.
About the Millennium Development Goals
The MDGs represent a collective ambition for our world. Simply put, the MDGs express a vision of a world in which extreme poverty and hunger have been eliminated, and the economic and human welfare of poor people worldwide has been tangibly improved. The MDGs articulate specific targets to be reached by 2015 related to poverty and hunger, universal education, child health and other crucial dimensions.
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How to enter
Interested participants must register for the contest on this webpage by creating an account between October 7, 2010, and January 10, 2011. Registrants will receive an email, which they must use to verify their account. Once registered, participants may enter their submissions via the Submit Application tab. In order to be considered, each submission must include: a link to the application, a video of the application, a text-based description of the application, and at least one still photograph of the working application.
The Challenge is open to all individuals from member countries of the World Bank (see: worldbank.org) who have attained the age of majority in their individual nations at the time of their entries, as well as companies with fewer than fifty employees. Organizations employing fifty or more employees are eligible for the Large Organization Recognition award.
In order to be considered for prizes, submissions must be original software applications solely owned by the entrant(s), which must use at least one of the World Bank datasets found at http://data.worldbank.org. We encourage you to view the Resources Page to find more information on the data and the MDG's. The text descriptions in the contest submission must accurately describe the functionality of the application, and all submitted materials must be in English, or include an English translation. Submissions must eschew indecency, defamation, violence, pornography, and obvious bad taste.
All entrants will retain all intellectual property ownership in their submissions. All interested applicants must read the complete version of the Official Rules document. The rules listed here provide only a brief introduction and overview, and do not constitute a complete list of all requirements and restrictions that apply to this competition.
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Important dates
Submission Period:
Start: Oct 07, 2010 12:00 PM EDT End: Jan 10, 2011 05:00 PM EST
Judging Period:
Start: Jan 31, 2011 12:00 PM EST End: Feb 28, 2011 05:00 PM EST
Public Voting Period:
Start: Jan 31, 2011 12:00 PM EST End: Feb 28, 2011 05:00 PM EST
Winners announced:
April, 2011
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Judges
Shaida Badlee
Director, Development Data Group, World Bank
Shanta Devarajan
Chief Economist, Africa Region, World Bank
Jussi Hinkkanen
Vice President, Government Relations and Business Environment, Nokia Middle East and Africa
Homi Kharas
Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, Global Economy and Development, Brookings Institution
Eduardo Lora
Chief Economist (a.i.) and General Manager, Research Department, Inter-American Development Bank
Craig Newmark
Founder, Craigslist, Inc.
Ory Okolloh
Executive Director and Co-founder, Ushahidi
Kannan Pashupathy
Director, Engineering, Google
Jean-Louis Sarbib
Chief Executive Officer, Development Gateway
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Judging criteria
Quality of the Idea
Including creativity and originality
Implementation of the Idea
Including user experience, design, and performance
Potential Impact on the Competition Objectives
Which are 1) raising awareness of, or 2) making progress toward achieving at least one MDG
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Prizes
First Prize
$15,000 USD
Second Prize
$10,000 USD
Third Prize
$5,000 USD
Honorable Mentions (5)
$2,000 USD Each
Popular Choice Award
$5,000 USD
Large Organization Recognition Award
The Large Organization Award winner will receive public acknowledgement, but no cash prize.