Apps4NSW winners announced

Geography played the lead role in two applications which tied for first place in the Apps4NSW competition, announced this week.

Brad Spencer’s Demographic Drapes, one of the winning applications, allows users to overlay demographic information of the Australian population onto a map. Users can also zoom-in on locations of interest to examine specific data, such as, age, housing, marriage, religion, gender and citizenship of the population.

The Smart Mashups team created the sewinning app, dubbed Suburban Trends, that allows users to compare and contrast Australian suburbs with geographical indicators pertaining to different suburbs.

The application compares data including socio-economic standing, education levels and perceived safety levels, including crime trends for suburbs within NSW.

Minister for Science and Medical Research, Jodi McKay, congratulated entrants and said the competition was about finding new and innovative ways to deliver government information to the public via the increasingly popular web and mobile platforms.

“We know that more and more people are getting the information they need via mobile phones, computers and other mobile devices,” McKay said.

“Applications and ideas that allow people to access and compare information about their local communities were the big winners.

"The number of quality applications and ideas submitted by web developers, members of the public and school students for the Apps4NSW competition was fantastic."

The competition had 122 entries across three categories, including best applications, and general and student ideas.

The judging panel included industry and government representatives.

NSW MLC, Penny Sharpe, was a member on the panel and said usefulness, interface design, originality, and longevity and resourcefulness were taken into account when applications were judged.

The ideas category was taken out by Ronit Olovitz for his nsw4kids application, which Sharpe said would assist parents and caregivers with finding recreational activities and facilities for children in their preferred areas.

Corey Rosevear won the ideas for students category for his Closest Public Transport application idea.

The winners included:

Applications:

• $15,000 to Brad Spencer for ‘Demographic Drapes’
• $15,000 to Smart Mashups for ‘Suburban Trends’
• $10,000 to Bikey for ‘Bike Community Hub’
• $5,000 to Jack Zhao for ‘The School Hall’

Ideas:

• $3,000 to Ronit Olovitz for ‘nsw4kids’
• $1,500 to Andrea Lau for ‘bill sustainability/energy consumption
• $500 to Phillip Couch for ‘GPS enabled transport information and carbon footprint’

Student ideas:

• $3,000 to Hunter High School for the Performing Arts for Corey Rosevear’s ‘Closest Public Transport’ idea
• $1,500 to Model Farms High School for Anthony Eden’s ‘Transport Notification’ idea
• $500 to Tweed Heads Public School for April William’s ‘Cyberbullying’ idea.

People’s choice

• Appiphany – ‘Citytag’
• Yenfry Nieves – ‘SmartCare’
• Harrison Mitchell – ‘Statistical Overview of NSW’