Contest Seeks African Apps
August 31, 2010
| 11:08 AM
Those African developers who have a great idea for a technology application that can also help assist in solving some of the most vexing development problems facing Eastern Africa have until midnight Tuesday to submit their idea.
The "Apps 4 Africa" contest is offering cash and prizes for those who can build the "best digital tools to address community challenges in areas ranging from healthcare to education and government transparency to election monitoring."
The contest is organized by the State Department and the African technology groups Appfrica Labs, iHub and the Social Development Network. It is open to anyone from the East African nations of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
The apps, which can be used on any platform, will be judged on their usefulness to citizens civil society organizations or East African governments; their appeal from a "usability perspective;" and inventiveness and originality, according to the Apps 4 Africa Web site.
Among the app ideas that already have been submitted include one that would provide African farmers with real-time weather updates and a management system called "i-match" for use during crises that "allows people to post their haves and others to post their needs."
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