in content lists or on the content page.The winners of the Apps4Finland contest were awarded on 22 November in front of a full house in the Vanha ylioppilastalo. The contest, now staged for the third time, inspired a record number of citizens to develop new ways to utilise the open databanks of the public administration. The contest was organised by the Finnish Association for Online Democracy together with Forum Virium Helsinki.
A record number of 140 entries arrived for the contest, and the quality of the entries was extremely high. Jury chairperson Jyrki J.J. Kasvi was very pleased with the contest:
“The numerous interesting entries made this year’s jury duty a very interesting and inspiring process for the entire jury. The success of the contest is proof of the progress of open data in Finland among both the application developers and the authorities releasing data.”
This year’s entries dealt with moving in urban environments and in nature. Social and political visualisations made information easy to grasp, increasing the transparency of society.
This was the first time that the award ceremony took place in Helsinki, and the gala at the Vanha ylioppilastalo was fully booked. The total value of the awards was €21,000. There were four categories: Idea, Application, Visualisation and Data. In addition, a number of special awards were granted.
Pay for parking without coins and parking meters
The winner of the Application category was the ParkkiNappi by Neligrate Oy. It can be used to pay for parking without coins or parking meters. The application saves time and trouble when using a car in the city. The winner of the Application category received the largest single award of the contest, €3,000.
The other entries that received an award in the Application category were a recycling application and the Ihana Helsinki! application that constitutes a whole new way of getting information on what is happening in Helsinki. The entries in this category are functional applications that utilise open databanks.
The beauty of public transport in the metropolitan area
The winner of the Visualisation category (€2,000) was the Helsinki Public Transport Visualized video by Lauri Vanhala. The video is an impressive illustration of how public transportation comes to life in the morning. Many different data sources are utilised in the artistic representation. The video demonstrates effectively how the good coverage of public transportation makes privately owned cars unnecessary in the Helsinki metropolitan area.
Lauri Vanhala also received the second prize with his visualisation of municipal statistics. The third prize went to an illustration of the Finnish national economy by Hahmota Oy. The winners of this category were visualisations that utilise open databanks.
New mode of crisis communications
The first prize for the Idea category (€1,000) was awarded to Tilannekuva.fi by Kari Hintikka. The winning concept is a description of a crisis communications service that combines official crisis information, open data sources and citizen activity. Tilannekuva.fi paves the way to the future and improves availability of information in crisis situations.
Other ideas to receive awards include a consumer product information application by Heikki Wilenius and a smart town plan application by Matti Nikupeteri. The category looked for ideas and problems that need a solution.
Easier data utilisation
This year, an award was for the first time granted to a public sector operator for the best action to promote open data. The prize was given to the Economic and Planning Centre of the City of Helsinki for its REST interface that enhances the service map of the Helsinki metropolitan area. The interface makes a large amount of data available for application developers in a user friendly format.
For private sector, the first prize for promoting open data went to Leo Lahti‘s and Juuso Parkkinen‘s entry soRvi, an open data toolbox for R language It is a data user toolbox that makes it easier to use and analyse data.
Second prize in the category was given to the postal code API of Flo Apps Oy. The entries in this category improve the availability of open data in the public or private sector.
Special awards for bold applications
The Verokuitti tax illustration application by Pär Österlund, Kari Silvennoinen and Jon Haglund received the Helsingin Sanomat special award for information journalism (€3,000). The application shows the taxpayer how the money has been used in the state’s budget. The application shows the point of view of an ordinary citizen and helps find answers to questions of whether the money goes where the taxpayer would like it to go.
The Yle Hangman game by Ilkka Pirttimaa received the special award for the use of Yle data (€2,000). The application opens a new perspective to reading online news articles. The application was built in real time on the Internet, with an audience watching the process.
A special Maps4Finland location information award (€2,000) was given to the Karttaselain application of AccelBit Oy. The cultural data award (€1,000) went to Ari Hamara‘s HelMet libraries’ most wanted books visualisation. The Verokuitti tax illustration and the Helsinki Public Transport Visualized were favourites with the general public.
The Apps4Finland contest has now been organised for the third time. The contest inspires citizens to develop new ways of utilising open databanks of the public administration. Interest in the contest has increased rapidly: this year’s contest attracted 140 entries, while the number of entries last year was 30. The main sponsor of the contest is Helsingin Sanomat. Other sponsors include the Helsinki Region Infoshare, Kirjastot.fi, the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the National Land Survey of Finland, the Ministry of Education and Culture, Sitra, Ministry of Employment and the Economy, and the public service broadcasting company Yle.
For more information on the contest, see www.apps4finland.fi
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Apps4Finland
Twitter: http://twitter.com/
Apps4FiE-mail newslist: http://groups.google.com/group/apps4finland
Further information
Apps4Finland contest
Project manager Jaakko Rajaniemi
+358 50 339 1387
firstname.lastname@gmail.com