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NEWS RELEASE
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For Immediate Release Sept. 16, 2010 |
Ministry of Environment
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THE ENVELOPE PLEASE: A4CA CONTEST WINNERS ARE IN
VANCOUVER – Awards for the winning apps in the Apps4Climate Action contest were handed out at the Vancouver Aquarium, John Yap Minister of State for Climate Action announced today.
“It is a great pleasure to congratulate the creators of these exciting apps, and I think everyone should check out the contest website and see for themselves how B.C.’s open data was used to create awareness around climate change and inspire action,” said Yap. “Download one, two or all of them and see what they can do for your own carbon footprint.”
The contest was the first of its kind in British Columbia. It was the outcome of the creation of a 500-data-set-strong Climate Change Data Catalogue, which included five contest categories: best mobile app, best web app, people’s choice, best of B.C. and overall best app.
Sponsors included two government ministries (Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Citizen Services) one government agency (GeoBC) and eight private sponsors: SAP Canada Inc., Microsoft Canada Inc, Analytic Design Group, David Eaves Inc., Netscribe Communications, TELUS Corporation, Harbour Air Ltd. and Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre. Sponsors provided $40,000 in cash and prizes.
“Microsoft is a proud sponsor of the Apps4Climate Action contest,” said Barb Berg, director, Western Public Sector, Microsoft Canada. “The breadth of submissions and the depth of the innovation were impressive. Microsoft’s hope is that the winning submissions will inspire more developers to aid in open government projects to help define Canada’s future and have a positive impact on Canadians in their daily lives through the web, mobile devices and emerging technologies.”
The Apps4Climate Action website will continue to host a gallery for the winner in all five contest categories. People interested in downloading the apps can follow the links in the apps gallery.
“It has been a great experience to support this groundbreaking contest and watch the creativity flow,” said Kirsten Sutton, managing director, SAP Vancouver. “SAP congratulates all of today’s winners and we hope that this is just the beginning of a wave of cool new apps to increase environmental stewardship.”
A full listing of the winning apps can be found in the attached backgrounder.
Contest website: www.apps4climateaction.gov.bc.ca
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Media Contact:
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Suntanu Dalal Media Relations Ministry of Environment 250 387-9745 |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.
BACKGROUNDER
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For Immediate Release Sept. 16, 2010 |
Ministry of Environment
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APPS4CLIMATE ACTION CONTEST WINNERS
Category: Best Mobile
Winning App: Math Tappers: Carbon Choices created by Tim Pelton
· MathTappers: Carbon Choices is a mobile app that helps students examine the effects of their personal choices on climate change.
· As students track their bathing, eating, transportation and entertainment behaviours, their impact is assessed in terms of annualized kg of CO2 equivalents generated.
· This app is intended to support students, parents and teachers in building a sound understanding of the numeric values associated with greenhouse gas emissions.
Honourable mention: Green Money created by Ryan Nadel, and VanTrash created by Luke Closs
Category: Best Web
Winning App: VELO created by John Anzin
· VELO is a web app for businesses that encourages GHG emissions reduction through measurement and benchmarking internally and against peers.
· The app allows users to create visuals of an organization’s emissions by numerous parameters, e.g. geography, branch, division, year, etc.
· Businesses would have the potential to change their practices, which can have far-reaching effects.
Second Place: Waterly, created by Herb Lainchbury
Third Place: BCEmissions, created by Carson Lam
Honourable mention: ShowMeBC, created by Jan Hannemann, Save-the-Rain created by Mark Laudon and Smoggy created by Paul Yuan
Category: Best of B.C.
Winning App: Waterly, created by Herb Lainchbury
· Waterly is a web app that helps British Columbians reduce their water consumption when watering their lawns.
· The app provides information about water use and provides personalized reminders with relevant information.
· For example, it will let them know when watering is not necessary because of adequate rainfall, and will provide suggestions on how to assess their lawn's needs.
Second Place: BCEmissions, created by Carson Lam
Third Place: ShowMeBC, created by Jan Hannemann
Honourable mention: Save-the-Rain, created by Mark Laudon, The Climate Reports created by Dave Jarvis and Smoggy created by Paul Yuan
Category: People’s Choice
Winning App: VanTrash, created by Luke Closs
· VanTrash is both a web and mobile app that reminds people to take their recycling, organic waste and other garbage out.
· The app was built to help ease the tension of remembering collection day and which items are picked up.
· As new programs like food composting are introduced, VanTrash helps citizens become more aware of these programs.
Second Place: Green Money, created by Ryan Nadel
Third Place: ShowMeBC, created by Jan Hannemann
Honourable mention: Save-the-Rain, created by Mark Laudon, Smoggy created by Paul Yuan and Math Tappers: Carbon Choices created by Tim Pelton
Category: Best Overall App
Winning App: VELO, created by John Anzin
· VELO is a web app for businesses that encourages GHG emissions reduction through measurement and benchmarking internally and against peers.
· The app allows users to create visuals of an organization’s emissions by numerous parameters, e.g. geography, branch, division, year, etc.
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Media Contact:
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Suntanu Dalal Media Relations Ministry of Environment 250 387-9745 |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.
