10
Nov
Posted by cbriere in Apps Challenge, Ideas for apps, Links. 3 Comments
EPA’s Apps for the Environment Forum recognized the great contributions of developers and other important groups in the green apps community. The five winning app teams were honored, we heard some inspirational talks, and we had a chance to connect with people from diverse backgrounds.
Over 270 people attended this event, including federal agencies, universities, and the press. The inspiring speeches by Nancy Sutley (U.S. Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality), Aneesh Chopra (U.S. Chief Technology Officer), Malcolm Jackson (Chief Information Officer of EPA), and Lisa Schlosser (U.S. Deputy Chief Information Officer) confirmed that information has the power to address environmental issues at the national, state, and local level. We appreciated how Chris Dorobek kept things running smoothly and in good humor.
We heard some ideas for future directions in a panel led by Alex Howard (O’Reilly Media) and including Andy Rossmeissl (Brighter Planet), Erin Robinson (Earth Science Information Partners), Tom Lee (Sunlight Foundation), and Chris Thomas (Sierra Club). Eric Paulos (Carnegie Mellon University) and Peter Preuss provided ideas about innovation and personal sensors. Six breakout sessions allowed for discussions about environmental and information topics in more detail. And we could talk one on one with people at the 24 exhibits from Google to NASA to EPA programs to Esri. Keep an eye out for recordings of the plenary sessions in the near future.
The positive vibe in the air was contagious and the event lived up to its title, Building Innovation Through Partnerships. As Malcolm Jackson said “We will continue to build the green apps community that we are celebrating here and we look forward to your input.” Tell us how we can move green apps forward even more.
13
Sep
Posted by cbriere in Apps Challenge, Ideas for apps, Links. 1 Comment
The deadline for you to submit your Apps for the Environment is Friday, September 16, but EPA’s data specialists are available all week to help guide your app from idea to completion!
Throughout the competition, we’ve been watching people across the country share their ideas for mobile applications that use EPA environmental data to help communities; we’ve participated in code-a-thons to bring developers together to make these ideas a reality, and engaged each day online to help put the pieces together. Now, with the deadline rapidly approaching, we encourage you to reach out and let the community know what you need so you can go that final yard and join the challenge.
As @JamesGRobertson tweeted this weekend, “Ecstatic that I finally jumped a hurdle for my #greenapps submission. Still a lot of work to do, but so much closer now.” Keep it up James!
Just this weekend our own Bill Glenn, Chief of Environmental Information for EPA Region 9, joined the Cleanweb Hack-a-thon in San Francisco – where developers, designers, and business specialists completed 14 environmental and energy conservation apps. Please submit those apps to the challenge! We were happy to be on hand to help developers explore EPA data, and if online rumors are true that the event may become a monthly meet-up, then we’ll be glad to continue our support for this exciting new community.
On the other side of the country Monday night a DC Tech Meet-up in Washington, D.C. brought together almost 1000 techies, developers and innovators to discuss Mobile Technology. Our own Ethan McMahon was on hand to talk with attendees about green apps, and encourage developers to get their final submissions in for the challenge – even if it’s something they have already developed.
If you’re stuck on an obstacle, or just have a question on how to put the final touches on your idea, now is the time to leave a comment on this post or contact us at greenapps@epa.gov or 202-566-0359 so we can get you the answer you need, or tap into the diverse community of innovators you’ve helped us organize this summer. We’re in this together, and together we can help people around the country with a combination of your products and our data services. And remember, whether you submitted the app for another challenge or not, you can still submit it to Apps for the Environment as well –a free version of the app must be provided for the public for one year, but the app stays yours to build into a sustainable product.
Good luck, and as always you can reach out on Twitter as well using the #GreenApps hashtag!
1
Sep
Posted by cbriere in Apps Challenge, Links. No Comments
When we launched “Apps for the Environment” we aimed to better support the developer environment itself, as well as ask them to create innovate apps with EPA data to promote public health. Now that American University is hosting a hack-a-thon to support this effort and their own “the American Dream is Green” campaign, together we’re working to make remote participation easier for anyone who wants to be part of the team.
American University hosts their hack-a-thon Sept. 3 in impressive new sustainable-technology facilities that will allow apps development to be green from idea to installation, but it’s understandable that some who want to get in on the action won’t be in the District area. American University heard this request, and is working to foster online collaboration using tools including:
- Github
- UStream
- Twitter
- Google+ Hangouts
The goal is to help create an environment where you feel part of the team and have access to all the knowledge that will be shared at the hack-a-thon, even if you’re at home in Colorado avoiding mowing your lawn.
As Dan Melton, Technical Director of Code for America, pointed out on Sunlight Lab’s Google Groups page:
“Some of the EPA data is amazing. This summer a few of our coders played around with the epa data api online (http://www.epa.gov/enviro/facts/ef_restful.html). The data was a bit hard to work with/find, so we wrote a few client libraries to help out last month.
Hope they’re helpful at the event!
https://github.com/codeforamerica/epa_python
https://github.com/codeforamerica/epa_ruby
https://github.com/codeforamerica/epa_envirofacts_php
The folks over at Brighter Planet also have data resources they’ve used for their own submissions, that are open for other developers to take advantage of. According to their blog:
“We’re psyched to be submitting a couple of our own apps (Careplane, HootRoot, and Greener Pastures), but we’re confident that using CM1 you can create even better projects in the brief time left until the deadline. May the best apps win!”
These resources and contributions to the developer community hits the bulls-eye of the kind of support and spirit we hope to facilitate through remote participation at American University’s hack-a-thon, as well as overall through Apps for the Environment.
We’re doing our best to deliver what we hope is helpful support for developers, but no one knows how you work best better than you. How do you think we can help developers collaborate remotely for the hack-a-thon, and for Apps for the Environment? Take a look at our developer resources, and let us know how we can work together to create a more sustainable community!
24
Aug
Posted by cbriere in Apps Challenge, Links. No Comments
All of the files, transcripts and slideshows from our Data Discovery Webinars are now available online!
When we launched Apps for the Environment, we aimed to not only put out a call for apps, but to also find out what the developer community needs from EPA. Based on what we heard, we launched a webinar series that allowed EPA data specialists to talk directly to developers about our data and what they mean, and that helped to start the conversation about improving the data we have.
Please check out these topics in our webinar series, and let us know how we can continue to work together to improve our data and resources for developers!
- Developers and federal agencies: Can we talk?
- EPA’s Environmental Enforcement data
- EPA’s Superfund, hazardous materials, and brownfields data
- EPA’s Geospatial Developer Resources
- EPA’s WATERS System & the STORET Water Monitoring Data Warehouse
- Air Quality System and AIRNow
- TRI and Design for the Environment
- What is the EPA Apps for the Environment challenge?
