NYC BigApps contest winners announced; Avencia not included

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.

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Avencia’s Walkshed hits NYC BigApps Contest, asks for public vote

It’s a long walk from Callowhill to the 67th ward.

But Avencia, the geographic analysis and software development firm, is bringing Walkshed, its web application that uses advanced technology to calculate and map walkability, to New York City.

Avencia’s Aaron Ogle first developed the application for Philadelphia, as we previously reported, but now, using open government data from New York, the company has developed a version for the five boroughs and submitted it into the much publicized BigApps Contest, a municipally-sponsored initiative asking for software applicants that use the city’s NYC Data Mine.

Winners can receive $20,000 in cash prizes and a strategic lunch meeting with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

BigApps winners will be determined by a panel of judges, in addition to a public vote that runs until Jan. 7. Vote for Avencia’s Walkshed NYC, which may be the only Philadelphia applicant, here. A free registration is required. Currently Walkshed is in the running for first place.

Below, video from the October event in Manhattan that kicked off the competition.

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