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NEWS RELEASE
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For Immediate Release April 21, 2010 |
Ministry of Environment
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CLIMATE APPS CONTEST OPENS: READY, SET, CODE
VANCOUVER –The Apps4ClimateAction contest is now open to submissions for mobile and web applications in five categories, Minister of State for Climate Action John Yap announced today.
“The opening of this contest is a great opportunity for the province to tap into the talent of the tech-savvy software community to help us address a challenge that faces us all,” said Yap. “We’ve seen mobile and web apps change people’s behaviour in a myriad of different ways, and we expect that these apps will help do the same for climate change.”
The contest’s five categories are: best mobile app, best web app, people’s choice, best of B.C. and overall best app. The contest will be open for nearly three months, with the deadline for submissions being July 15, 2010.
Once the contest is closed, the public is encouraged to register to vote for the People’s Choice award for their favourite app until Aug. 20, 2010. Contest winners will be announced mid-September 2010.
“I’m pleased that we are using a cutting-edge approach to engaging the public on climate action,” said Citizens’ Services Minister Ben Stewart. “We want to inspire a new wave of apps to help all of us make informed, environmentally-friendly choices and reduce our carbon footprint.”
The Province has brought together climate-change data from a variety of sources under the newly created Climate Change Data Catalogue. This catalogue centralizes climate-change data sources and gives software developers a one-stop access point to over 500 data sets and supporting documents to brainstorm, design and populate their applications.
The contest has more than $40,000 in cash and prizes from sponsors. Contest sponsors include: 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.
Follow the contest on Twitter:
For a full listing of contest rules and prizes, go to:
www.apps4climateaction.gov.bc.ca
To check out the data catalogue, go to:
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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.
