NSW launches 'Apps4NSW' with $100,000 in prizes

Launched by the NSW Premier at NSWSphere on Friday, Apps4NSW is the first Australian public competition for reusing online NSW government data to create useful applications for the public.

Quoting the new site,

In the competition, individuals and groups will compete for cash prizes by creating ideas and software application prototypes that can be used on websites and mobile devices. This competition will foster collaboration between NSW citizens and the Government as well as promote and highlight innovation in the digital media sector.

There will be two competition categories:

* ideas for applications or services based around public or government data, and
* prototype software applications that demonstrate the idea in action.

This reflects the App for America competition that has been running for two years in the US, and a similar competition recently run in the UK via the site Show us a better way.

In conjunction with this announcement, the NSW government has also announced the launch of data.nsw.gov.au, a site that will shortly begin providing access to NSW government data feeds available for reuse online. It even has a Twitter stream at dataNSW that will provide notifications as data feeds are released.

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Data.nsw.gov.au announced - open NSW data feeds for reuse coming soon

The NSW government has announced the launch of data.nsw.gov.au, a site that will shortly begin providing access to NSW government data feeds available for reuse online. It even has a Twitter stream at dataNSW that will provide notifications as data feeds are released.

Announced at NSWSphere last Friday, alongside the release of the Apps4NSW public competition, data.nsw.gov.au will first release RTA data around the end of September - conclusively ending the controversy that began when NSW Rail threatened four developers with legal action for repackaged NSW rail timetables into applications for iPhones, breaching copyright.

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Gov 2.0 Taskforce launches brainstorming site - suggest your project ideas

The Gov 2.0 Taskforce has launched a brainstorming site (via Ideascale) to source ideas that will help the Taskforce meet its goals.

The first brainstorm is asking for ideas that consider the question, "How can the Government 2.0 Taskforce best meet its Terms of Reference?", however is also capturing related ideas.

There are cash prizes for ideas selected by the Taskforce, based on the brainstorm's Terms and Conditions.

So if you have an idea, or wish to vote on the ideas submitted, visit the Gov 2.0 Taskforce's Brainstorming site - or view the latest ideas submitted in the left column of my blog (eGovAU).

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If you can crowd source developing a car, what can't you crowd source?

Fiat in Brazil is currently crowd sourcing the development of an concept car for 2010, the Fiat Mio.

The concept is that the public (from anywhere in the world) can submit ideas for what they'd like to see in a car, these ideas can be voted and commented on by others and Fiat engineers will draw from these ideas when developing the concept car.

The site uses a translation tool to allow ideas to be translated into any of five languages with a click of a button, making it truly international in scope.

Already there have been thousands of ideas submitted and voted on and there's a very active discussion of the car on Twitter (largely in Spanish).

To top it off, the project is being developed under a Creative Commons license - making the ideas reusable by other car makers.

Please remember that all content will be free. Fiat believes that the information generated in this project should be shared without restrictions for use by simple users or engineers and manufacturers, and other vehicle manufacturers.

If an organisation such as a car maker, in a highly competitive and complex industry, is able to crowd source the development of a concept car, one of the most complicated machines used by man, think of the possibilities for crowd sourcing government initiatives, programs and policies.

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Follow the Gov 2.0 NSW Public Sphere today by video, audio or Twitter

If you, like me, aren't able to make it down to Parliament House in Sydney for Gov 2.0 NSW Public Sphere today, at least try to follow the Twitter stream (search on the hashtag #nswsphere), watch the video stream or listen to the audio stream for the day (details to be provided in the NSW Public Sphere site.

The more people who participate, in person or digitally, the greater the value of the event.

As a warm-up, here's a video Matthew Hodgson has put together for the NSW Public Sphere.

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