The Open City: NYC BigApps Winners

Architizer News

The Open City: NYC BigApps Winners

April 1, 2011

Last night, A flock of the world’s best and brightest tech entrepreneurs – ranging from the founders of Twitter and FourSquare, to Architizer co-founder and BMW iVenture manager Alex Diehl, and course, the O.G. of tech entrepreneurs, Mayor Bloomberg — descended on Frank Gehry’s IAC building in Chelsea to pick the winners of the 2011 NYC BigApps competition.

BigApps is more than a tech competition – it’s changing the very way in which we engage with cities. The winners, after the jump.

The mood in the room last night was, according to our source, ebullient. 300 of the city’s most influential policy-makers and tech entrepreneurs were gathering to discuss — of all things! — how to improve the lives of the ordinary New Yorker using mobile technology. The idea behind the city’s promotion of such initiatives is to create an “open government,” in which citizens actively contribute and engage in civic policy – by way of transparency on the part of the city, and collaboration on the part of the individual (for more on that, check out this excellent article).

The BigApps competition asks developers to utilize existing city databases to develop mobile apps – aimed at making New York City “more transparent, accessible, and accountable.” The competition is just one of the ways in which NYC is reorienting the role of technology in city government. Earlier this year, they made a young tech expert named Rachel Sterne Chief Digital Officer for NYC, and since then, mobile technology and web 2.0 have played a central role in new city initiatives. For example, those posted construction permits you see all over the city? They now are printed with QR Codes, so you can submit comments or complains directly from your phone after snapping the code.

The winners of the competition receive $20,000, though last night BMW announced they were doubling the sum. The announcement came on the heels of news that they were opening a NYC-based tech incubator focused on developing mobile and location-based technologies.

In short, it was a big night for both the Big Apple, and for the emerging “networked city,” in a global sense. NYC is paving the way for other communities to reap the benefits of a tech-oriented public policy – and for us, as citizens, to re-discover our cities through mobile means.

Here are the winners with the most obviously urbanism-oriented apps:

NextStop “tells you when the next train is scheduled to arrive based on your current location, selected station, or pre-defined favorites.”

Sportaneous “makes it easy for busy people to play sports by harnessing location-based technology to facilitate sports games at any time.”

cultureNOW‘s “Museum Without Walls” ”places information about hundreds of pieces of public art and architecture in the palm of your hand and comes complete with location maps, self-guided tours, and podcasts.”

DontEat.at sends you “a text message when you check into a restaurant that is at risk of being closed for health code violations.”

NYCPlanit “uses its proprietary algorithm to empower you to create and customize your trip based on your preferences, time, and budget; upon your arrival, the mobile component becomes your personal tour guides that helps you to navigate the city.”

Appetition allows you to “create, support, and promote location-based petitions.”