The biggest example to date of contest-driven technology submissions for making government better hasn’t gone Philadelphia’s way.
Callowhill-based GIS software firm Avencia was Philadelphia’s lone representative in software application contest NYC BigApps, hosted by that city’ s government and aimed to foster more transparency and accountability. It didn’t turn out as they hoped.
Avencia’s Walkshed NYC, which, like its Philadelphia counterpart, allowed users to rate the ‘walkability’ of given neighborhoods by a host of qualities, able to be edited by the user, wasn’t one of a dozen winners or honorable mentions, chosen by public vote and a panel.
Many other cities, Philadelphia included, have discussed internally the possibility of such competitions, though they’ve been hard to come by.
A Brooklyn-based developer won first prize, which includes a $20,000 gift and lunch with the city’s mayor, with his WayFinder NYC, which finds the nearest train stations and gives directions to it.
Can real implementation and change be expected? Is this a novelty or something the city of Philadelphia should seriously consider?
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