8 Jan 2014 - Participants as young as 13, developed more than 80 prototypes and applications that included apps to make recycling easier, help parents and students make more informed choices about choosing schools, and teach energy and money-saving strategies and techniques.
Singapore, 8 January 2014 | For Immediate Release
Participants as young as 13, developed more than 80 prototypes and applications that included apps to make recycling easier, help parents and students make more informed choices about choosing schools, and teach energy and money-saving strategies and techniques.
These were just some examples of apps and prototypes that were developed by over 200 people, from business developers and architects to designers and app developers, with the aim of making Singapore a better place through app development and government data.
Organised by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), Ministry of Finance (MOF), and Singapore Land Authority (SLA) under the data.gov.sg and OneMap programme, the Apps4SG Competition, launched in April 2013, aims to draw creative and fresh perspectives on the use of government data for the development of applications (web or mobile) to make Singapore a more responsive, sustainable and competitive city.
“This competition has shown that with good data and a great idea, anyone can create an app or service that could benefit our society, or even change the way we live and interact with each other,” said Ms Lim Soo Hoon, Permanent Secretary (Finance, Performance), Ministry of Finance, who was also the Guest-of-honour at the Awards Ceremony.
Mr Tan Choon Seng, 19, walked away with the top prize of $10,000 and the Most Favourite App as voted by the audience at the Awards Ceremony for his app- EduChoices that enables students and parents to leverage on education data to make informed decisions about choosing schools. Coming in at a close second and third were the apps Route My Day and Wheeling Freely which received $5,000 and $3,000 respectively for their submissions. The app Safety@SG received a special recognition award for good use of geospatial data. These apps will be considered for seed-funding for further development.
“Through such competitions we want to see greater innovation within Singapore and encourage the talented individuals here to showcase their capabilities. We also need a vibrant community that includes developers, businesses and venture capitalists who can work together to bring these apps to the next level,” said Mr James Kang, Assistant Chief Executive, IDA.
Other noteworthy developments from the Competition include the team RecycleIT, whose app by the same name has gone on to work with City Developments Limited to launch their app in one of their shopping centres. They were one of the winning teams at the “Data in the City” Hackathon held in August 2013.
WheelingFreely, an app that assists disabled persons by automatically identifying barrier-free routes for point-to-point travel has also obtained funding from the Singapore Totalisator Board’s Social Innovation Fund (SIR) and will launch a proof-of-concept in Ang Mo Kio.
To encourage the public to co-create new or improved public services using government data, a slew of activities from hackathons and workshops to mentoring programmes were organised as part of the Competition.For more information on the data.gov.sg programme, ‘Data in the City’ hackathon or Apps4SG Challenge, please refer to Annex A, B and C respectively or visit www.data.gov.sg.
JOINTLY ISSUED BY INFOCOMM DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE, MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND SINGAPORE LAND AUTHORITY
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About Ministry of Finance
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) seeks to create a better Singapore through Finance. This is done by focusing on three strategic outcomes: sound public finances, growth opportunities for all, and high performance government. We aim to collaborate with industry experts to make Singapore a world-class financial and business hub. For more information, please visit our website at www.mof.gov.sg.
About Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) is committed to growing Singapore into a dynamic global infocomm hub. IDA uses an integrated approach to developing infocommunications in Singapore. This involves nurturing a competitive telecoms market as well as a conducive business environment with programmes and schemes for both local and international companies. For more news and information, visit www.ida.gov.sg.
About SLA
Singapore Land Authority (SLA) is a statutory board with the Ministry of Law. Its mission is to optimise land resources for the economic and social development of Singapore. SLA is responsible for the direct management of some 14,000 hectares of State land and about 5,000 buildings. It is also in charge of land sales, leases, acquisitions and allocation, developing and marketing land-related information, and maintaining the national land information database through digitised land information services. SLA is also the national land registration authority for property transactions, and the issuance and guarantee of land titles in Singapore. It also manages and maintains the national land survey system, including the defining of boundaries or legal limits of properties based on a coordinated cadastre survey system. For more details, visit www.sla.gov.sg.
For media queries, please contact:
Malini Nathan (Ms)
Manager, Corporate and Marketing Communication
Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore
DID: (65) 6211 0660
Email: malini_nathan@imda.gov.sg
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