CLOSED: Challenge: Apps for Communities
This forum is now closed. The Apps for Communities project has concluded.*
Apps for Communities is a joint project of the FCC and the Knight Foundation. The challenge is awarding $100,000 in prizes to developers who create applications for mobile and desktop use that make our cities and communities more livable. Leave your ideas below.
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An app allowing public transit users in Oakland give feedback on their good + bad experiences.
The app would allow the user to check in at a bus stop (like 4sqr) would let the user remark on the punctuality of the bus, as well as other objective benchmarks like - how crowded it is (or not), if they are able to get a seat, if they were able to bring their bike, if the driver was kind or sour (or driving safely) -- and share that information with other opted in bus riders and users.
43 votes -
Disaster Response App
An application to cull emergency response resources in a community following a natural disaster - shelters, food banks, medical services, etc.
This could be similarly used in instances of extreme weather that aren't necessarily emergencies (i.e., extreme heat or cold) but would disproportionately impact vulnerable populations.19 votes -
Create a platform/app that enables people to be part of the solution!
The app would: 1) Provide city & crowdsourced notifications of issues in their vicinity (like broken benches, potholes, etc.); 2) Provide resources people can tap into to help solve those problems (like grants, groups, etc.); 3) Show appreciation for the solution in a meaningful way (like using the money the city saved by having the "citizen volunteer" solve the problem to support the charity of the citizen's choice).
15 votes -
Elderly Village App
This app would be a portal to aging in place support services for the elderly.Components would include direct links to ( public and private) transportation services , food services and delivery, social nets virtual and local, and medical services.
14 votes -
11 votes
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Peace for Juarez app
Create an application that allows citizens and police of Juarez to see where violence is occurring so it can be mapped and tracked. The long-term goals to use social media to end the violence in the beautiful city of Juarez.
11 votes -
App to locate public wifi hotspots
Simple enough but not always easily accessible information. Another way to enable community broadband.
10 votes -
Media and Reference Resources
An application that aggregates public library, public university and community college collections to direct you to your closest location for information/research and various media.
10 votes -
Historic Site Notification
Particularly outside major cities, I would like to get a smart phone or SMS update when I am within, say, 10 miles of a national or state historic site. Ideally the app would have sensitivity settings, so I could set it to "several blocks" while in the city to "many miles" if driving through the country. A specific application I think of is driving through the country and being notified of interesting sites nearby.
9 votes -
9 votes
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Real-time congestion info
This app would get traffic information in real-time and notify a driver of the most efficient route to a destination.
8 votes -
Legal Assistance App
The court system can be overwhelming to navigate, particularly for those with financial or language/cultural barriers. An application with multi-lingual capabilities to link individuals to legal aid services, law libraries and public library legal resources, interpreter services, law school clinics, etc.
7 votes -
Food Desert Mapping
I'd like to know where "food deserts" are in a city or community, and get a sense for where my nearest options for good food are. As an example, I work in a part of Washington DC where there are no good supermarkets and few restaurants for many blocks. While definitions vary on what constitutes a "desert," it would be helpful to develop a guide to know where they are and how to navigate around or out of them.
7 votes -
Healthy Life Form
App to show form of health plan, with insurance, data access, and contacts anywhere anytime anyhow. A form will help public to stay healthy and alert to their scheduling for medical, billing, and an emergency listing of contact and an additional survey to report FCC.
6 votes -
5 votes
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Seasonal job posts to your cell phone
In Colorado Springs, CO, city and county offices have jobs that are seasonal or the hours vary throughout the year. But the job posts are divided between several pages and you have to search the sites everyday to see if there are new ones. I think a useful app would let you set preferences or jobs you were looking for once on a pc interface with the option of having those alerts sent to your phone via text message or mobile message.
5 votes -
Financial Literacy Map
An app that shows areas of banking/investing service droughts, or an app where geographical saving statistics can be used to match advisers with these areas to provide needed services (at steep discounts)...then link willing advisers with institutions which have been awarded grants for just that purpose.
3 votes -
language translator app
simplify complicated...like on an election ballot, or legal document...or translate foreign.
3 votes -
U.S., and American Chambers of Commerce Event App
Create an app that links all chambers and events together to help everyone increase tourism and awareness.
3 votes -
3 votes