Google has thrown its weight behind the Victorian Government’s App My State competition announcement earlier this week.
The competition offers a pool of $100,000 in cash and prizes to local developers who create or suggest an application that will introduce new government services or help people access government information.
In post on Google’s official blog, engineering director Google ANZ, Alan Noble, said he was “thrilled” by the initiative and the release of 90 new Victorian Government datasets for public access and consumption.
“That's 90 new ways to kick start innovation,” Noble wrote.
“I firmly believe that there's no point keeping publicly funded, non-confidential public data (such as transit information, post box locations, recycling and waste collection information, public school catchment areas and countless others) locked up behind a Government firewall, of little use to anyone.
“I want to see this PSI [public sector information] freely available to all. It will promote great social benefits, not least the immense potential for innovative new products and services to be developed here.”
Entries for the competition close at midday on Friday 23 April 2010.