The document outlines various app challenges organized by Waag Society, highlighting the outcomes and impacts of hackathons aimed at developing applications for social good in Amsterdam and other cities. Key statistics include the creation of 47 apps within 30 days for a cost of €50,000, with an estimated generated value of €2.3 million. It emphasizes the importance of open data availability, citizen engagement, and the potential for new applications to address public needs and improve government transparency.

1. Apps Challenges
Ivonne Jansen, ivonne@waag.org
Waag Society

2. How many apps does a
challenge produce

3. How much effort does a
challenge cost

4. Is it worth it?

5. • Ivonne Jansen Dings
Project manager, Waag Society
• Apps for Amsterdam, Apps for Noord-Holland, Apps
voor Nederland, Open Cities, Commons4EU
• http://www.linkedin.com/in/ivonnejansendings

6. Waag Society

11. Apps for Democracy
• 47 apps in 30 days
• cost 50.000,-, created value estimated: 2.300.000,-
• 20.000,- prize money divided over 60 prizes
• 6 days launching time with social media
• Make as much raw data as possible available
• Set as few rules as possible
• Define registration, submission and judging
• Give lots and lots of prizes
• Don’t let the contest run to long

12. Apps contest

13. Quality of Apps
=
Quality of Data

14. WorldBank
Apps for Development

15. Nationale Databank
Wegverkeersgegevens

16. Developers

17. < 18 jaar

18. Students

19. Agencies

20. Start-ups

21. Developers about Apps4
• A need for services in their own lives, like information for people with a disability.
• Expanding professional network by participation in events
• Talking to policymakers gave inspiration to make Apps
• Many Apps (or app ideas) were born during the ‘hackathon’ coding event
• Getting experience with open datasets
• Creative outlet (hobby)
• Curiosity about the datasets
• The contest puts the developer in the spotlight
• Opportunity to expand existing app with new data
• Being a part of the global “Apps” movement •
• Closing the gap between government and ICT entrepreneurs

22. Apps for Amsterdam
• Amsterdam has ca. 780,000 residents • Of these, ca. 45,000 work in the IT
sector and ca. 48,000 in the creative industries
• Total out of pocket costs for kickoff event, hackathon event and award
ceremony: Euro 16,000.-
• Total hours spent on preparation and execution of the contest: ca. 900
(between the three partners)
• Total cost of the price money: Euro 14,500.-, divided over 21 prizes
• Funding throught Open Cities (project co-funded by European Union) plus
Economic Affairs Amsterdam
• 22 data sets made available by city of Amsterdam
• Total of 48 Apps submitted

23. City of Amsterdam 2011
• 22 data sets
• Open Data Council initiative accepted Centre District
• ACAM Accountancy en Advies • Dienst Stadstoezicht
• Afval en Energie Bedrijf • Dienst Werk en Inkomen
• Bestuursdienst • Dienst Wonen, Zorg en Samenleven
• Brandweer Amsterdam-Amstelland • Dienst Zuidas
• Bureau Monumenten & Archeologie • Economische Zaken
• Coordinatiestelsel Werken aan de weg • GGD Amsterdam
• Dienst Advies en Onderzoek • Haven Amsterdam
• Dienst Basisinformatie • Ingenieursbureau Amsterdam
• Dienst Belastingen • Ontwikkelingsbedrijf
• Dienst ICT • Projectbureau Noordwaarts
• Dienst Infrastructuur Verkeer en Vervoer • Projectmanagement Bureau
• Dienst Maatschappelijke Ontwikkeling • Servicehuis Personeel
• Dienst Milieu en Bouwtoezicht • Stadsarchief Amsterdam
• Dienst Noord/Zuidlijn • Stadsbank van Lening
• Dienstverlening en Facilitair Management • VGA Verzekeringen
• Dienst Ruimtelijke Ordening • Waternet

24. City of Amsterdam 2012
• Contest together with AIM, Amsterdam Innovation Motor
• Goal is 50+ sustainable data sets
• ACAM Accountancy en Advies • Dienst Stadstoezicht
• Afval en Energie Bedrijf • Dienst Werk en Inkomen
• Bestuursdienst • Dienst Wonen, Zorg en Samenleven
• Brandweer Amsterdam-Amstelland • Dienst Zuidas
• Bureau Monumenten & Archeologie • Economische Zaken
• Coordinatiestelsel Werken aan de weg • GGD Amsterdam
• Dienst Advies en Onderzoek • Haven Amsterdam
• Dienst Basisinformatie • Ingenieursbureau Amsterdam
• Dienst Belastingen • Ontwikkelingsbedrijf
• Dienst ICT • Projectbureau Noordwaarts
• Dienst Infrastructuur Verkeer en Vervoer • Projectmanagement Bureau
• Dienst Maatschappelijke Ontwikkeling • Servicehuis Personeel
• Dienst Milieu en Bouwtoezicht • Stadsarchief Amsterdam
• Dienst Noord/Zuidlijn • Stadsbank van Lening
• Dienstverlening en Facilitair Management • VGA Verzekeringen
• Dienst Ruimtelijke Ordening • Waternet

26. Applications as
a source of information

27. Amsterdam Analytics
City: Amsterdam
www.amsterdamanalytics.nl
Amsterdam Analytics shows on a map view
the dynamic of traffic flow in the city of
Amsterdam. Camera's in the city monitor
the traffic , where it comes from, where it
is going. The routes most active 'drivers' in
the city (probably busses and taxis) can be
viewed, giving insight in the mobility of
Amsterdam.

28. Open Spending
Currently data on 25 countries throughout
the world
www.openspending.org
Open Spending is about Mapping the
Money. The aim is to track every (public)
government and corporate financial
transaction across the world and present it
in useful and engaging forms for everyone.
We're exploring, structuring and mapping
out different kinds of public finance from
all around the world - state budgets,
spending reports, grants and subsidy data.
The goal is to create an interactive platform
similar to OpenStreetMap: it's your local
government spend.

29. OCO Scholenzoeker
City: Amsterdam
www.onderwijsconsument.nl/ocoscholen
The OCO-scholenzoeker is a useful app for
anybody trying to find a school in
Amsterdam. It gives the user different search
criteria, like type of school, level, educational
principles, distance, size of school etc. Using
a map interface the information is displayed
in a clear manner. Also parents (and children)
can give their evaluations about the school
using a rating system.

30. Sola
Available for the Netherlands
www.solidlinks.nl/ios/sola
Solar energy from your own roof is a hot
topic. Durable energy for the future is
important. But not cheap. Does it pay off to
put solar panels on your roof? Which roof is
the best? How much energy would they
produce? Are any subsidies available? Sola
shows the consumer how much he can save in
energy costs by installing solar cells. Simply
place your phone on your roof and Sola
calculates the incline, angle and sun hours
and possible subsidies you can receive.

31. Bikesharemap
Available for over 30 cities worldwide
www.bikes.oobrien.com
Showing the current state of bike share
systems in over 30 cities around the world -
from London to Barcelona, from Bordeaux to
Vienna from and Washington DC to
Melbourne. This application will make the
difference between arriving late and stressed
or calm and composed after cycling into work
by the river.

32. LinkBarcode
City: London
www.traintimes.org.uk/map/tube/
LinkBarcode is an Android application that
allows you to check by scanning a barcode if a
product contains ingredients you do not want
to eat. If you are allergic, vegetarian,
environmentalist or just a concerned citizen,
LinkBarcode will check whether a product
contains ingredients that do not suit you, and
if a scanned product isn't in the database the
user will be able to add it on the fly directly
from his phone.

33. Nomen est Omen
Available in Finland
www.nomenestomen.info
Nomen est Omen allows the user to analyse
the commonness, origin and social status of
Finnish surnames. This application utilizes a
wide range of public data sources, and using it
is easy.

34. E11
Available in Germany
www.e11map.de
Different sources of energy throughout
Germany are shown in the E11 map. With the
discussion on nuclear energy being an
ongoing issue, this map shows citizens where
their power comes from and gives them the
knowledge to make an informed decision.

35. Live London
Underground
City: London
www.traintimes.org.uk/map/tube/
The app plots the current positions of all
London Underground trains on a map, and
updates the map in real time. It provides a
stunning visualisation of the sheer amount
going on in the Underground network, the
constant movement, and a great overview of
one of the most famous transport networks in
the world. It also provides great interest
when compared to Harry Beck's iconic Tube
Map, by showing the network's geographic
nature.

36. Buurtkaart
Available in the Netherland
www.buurtkaart.nl
Buurkaart combines geografic, democrafic,
political and economic data, showing
citizens how their neighborhood compares
to others and which municipalities are much
like your own.

37. Berliner Wahlkarte
City: Berlin
www.morgenpost.de/berlinwahlkarte
When in september 2011 there were elections
for city council, the details voting habbits
were made public in the Berlin Wahlkarte the
same night of the elections. Being able to link
the data to unemployment en immigration
data the map gave great insight in the voting
in different areas.

38. Visualizing information

39. In The Air
City: Madrid
www.intheair.es
The project proposes a platform for
individual and collective awareness and
decision making, where the interpretation of
results can be used for real time navigation
through the city, opportunistic selection of
locations according to their air conditions and
a base for political action. In the Air is a
visualization project which aims to make
visible the microscopic and invisible agents of
Madrid´s air (gases, particles, pollen,
diseases, etc), to see how they perform, react
and interact with the rest of the city.

40. Where does my
money go
Available in the UK
www.wheredoesmymoneygo.uk
Where Does My Money Go? is an independent
non-partisan project run by the Open
Knowledge Foundation. The website tries to
make government finances much easier to
explore and understand - so you can see where
every pound of your taxes gets spent. A
beautiful and intuitive interface shows the
citizens exactly what they are getting for their
pounds.

41. Cursa De La Merce
City: Barcelona
www.bcn.es/cursamerce/ca/resultats.html
Visualizing data in the ""cursa de la Mercè""
2009 on the map of Barcelona. The
municipality of Barcelona gives access to any
person to the data of all participants. The
visualization shows the path of all
participants (approximately 8500) with
accelerated time, doing rollover on any of
them shows their name, gender, final
position in the race, and travel time. Upon
reaching the goal (marked as A) it shows up
the Gaussian distribution (typical) based on
the number of arrivals per minute.

42. Game Of Life
Available worldwide
www.appsfordevelopment.elimak.com
The developers wanted to see if it was
possible to translate the information from
the World Bank datasets into a playable
game to create awareness of different
countries while also keeping it accessible for
children, encouraging them to play and learn
at the same time. The game generates a
virtual random life based on all World Bank
data and challenges the user to make it
through.

43. Applications that
engage citizens

44. Open Elm Project
Available in the UK
www.openelm.org.im
The Open Elm Project is an Isle of Man based
public crowdsourcing project to enable the
public to contribute valuable data on the
location an health of the Island's elm trees.
Between 1968 and 1988 England lost 75% of
its elms, and even though Dutch Elm Disease
has reached the Isle of Man, effective control
has meant that we have lost less than 1% of
our elms. However, we need your help to
ensure it stays under control.

45. Adopt a Hydrant
City: Boston, USA
www.adoptahydrant.org
During the winter, storms often hide fire
hydrants under piles of snow making them
impossible to find quickly. Once they are
found, fire fighters must spend precious
minutes shoveling out hydrants before they
can starting putting out the fire. The Adopt
a Hydrant application was designed to
coordinate the effort of citizens to help, to
ensure that every hydrant in the city has a
“parent” to care for it.

46. Fix My Street
Available in the Netherland
www.fixmystreet.com
FixMyStreet is a site to help people report,
view, or discuss local problems they’ve
found to their local council by simply
locating them on a map. It launched in early
February 2007. After entering a postcode or
location, you are presented with a map of
that area. You can view problems already
reported in that area, or report ones of your
own simply by clicking on the map at the
location of the problem

47. Muralapp
Available worldwide
www.muralap.mobi
Public art can define the spirit of a city. It
connects people with a sense of history and
place. A mobile app can give people access
to information that helps them better
understand the world around them.
MuralApp helps you to not only find art, but
to get to know it. Who was the artist? What
was their thinking behind the piece? Was
there a different mural beneath the one you
see today and what did it look like? The
mural app is a way for city dwellers and
visitors to explore the art in their towns –
and discover the history of the art around
them.

48. Applications that
empower citizens

49. Citizen Connect
City: Boston
www.cityofboston.gov/doit/apps/
citizensconnect.asp
Citizens Connect is the City of Boston's
award-winning effort to empower Boston
residents to be the City's "eyes and ears"
throughout our neighborhoods. Through this
program, you can now use your mobile phone
in five different ways to alert the City of
Boston to neighborhood issues such as
potholes and graffiti.

50. BuitenBeter
City: Eindhoven, Tilburg, Haarlem, Zeewolde,
Huizen, Schiedam
www.buitenbeter.nl
There are many problems in streets and
neighborhoods that can be spotted by
citizens. Like a broken streetlight, a dirty bus
stop, or garbage that has been dumped.
BuitenBeter gives them the opportunity to
report the problem using their smartphone.
And helps the city to create a clean, safe and
healthy living environment.

51. MapyHazardu
Available in Czech Republic
www.mapyhazardu.cz
MapyHazardu is a crowdsourcing platform
showing open data on the location of public
buildings and asking citizens to map the
location of gambling slot machines. Within
the Czech Republic these slot machines are
not allowed within 100 meters from public
buildings. The application uses the helpful
information of citizens to help law officials to
enforce the law.

52. Bomenkap
City: Amsterdam
www.bomenkap.nl
The simple principle of the site is to show
information on trees in the city that are in
the permit process of being cut. Many
people care a great deal about keeping their
city green. It gives them the opportunity to
see what is happening in their neighborhood.

53. Illegal Dump Site
Available in Slovenia
www.register.ocistimo.si
Application recording of illegal dump site
locations, managing the logistics for their
field data collection and cleanup. By exposing
the locations of illegal dump sites, people can
force responsible institutions to clean the
data Government - it can use these data to
manage the process of illegal dump sites
cleanups, to educate the public and to
penalize the violations of the law.

54. Makkie Klauwe
City: Amsterdam
www.bramfritz.nl/makkieklauwe
This demo app confronts citizens with the
safety of their own property. The apps shows
thieves where in the city they can best steal
specific items. Combining data on income
numbers and charges being pressed per area

55. Applications that make
government more
transparant

56. Politiek Inzicht
Available in the Netherland
www.ZNasichDani.sk
The app Political Insight shows what the
politicians of the dutch parliament are saying
by showing word clouds of the most important
words said (per period) per politician.
Politicians talk a lot. It is often hard to keep
track of opinions and discussions in the
parliament. Our visualization makes it crystal
clear what the politician's most important
topics are. Also, it gives a good representation
of how the seats of the current politicians are
distributed in the parliament (who sits where).

57. Real Time Congress
Available for the USA
www.realtimecongress.org
Real Time Congress puts the U.S. legislative
process at your fingertips. Have key updates,
schedules, and key policy documents
delivered to your iPhone the moment they
are released by Congress and the White
House.

58. Politwoops
Available in the Netherlands
www.politwoops.nl
Politwoops saves deleted twitter messages from
politicians. This tools follows about 2200
politicians in the Netherlands and not only
promotes transparency, but also shows that the
memory of internet is extremely strong. Even
after you remove something, it often can still be
found. Politwoops has received much interest
from the international community which has
resulted in similar initiatives being started
throughout the world.

59. ZNasichDani
Available in Slovakia
www.ZNasichDani.sk
ZNasichDani uncovers who are influential
persons (owners, managers, statutories)
standing behind companies successful in
securing contracts with the state, thus helping
uncover conflicts of interest; it also shows
how large are the sums of contracts obtained
in this way.

60. Agent 34
Available in the Netherlands
www.agent34.nl
Agent 34 gives citizens a tool to find out if
they have been part of any secret
investigations by the Dutch Secret Service.
The site is currently a demo, but promises to
provide this information in a safe way,
according to the the article 34 of the law on
notification, so citizens can see if they have
been bugged or otherwise investigated.

61. Open Cities Challenge
• Pan European Open Data Challenge
• http://opencities.net/app_challenge
• Datasets from 7 European cities
• 30th of June submission deadline

62. Parallel track A2
• 15.00 - 15.30
• In depth about Apps for Amsterdam
Lessons learned and plans for 2012

63. Thank You
ivonne@waag.org