The bright ideas of Queensland’s digital entrepreneurs can win national recognition and a $60,000 prize from Microsoft in the 2014 Premier’s Awards for Open Data.
The Premier’s Awards champion creative Queenslanders who find innovative ways to use the masses of information released by the State Government under its open data initiative.
Premier Campbell Newman said more than 1400 previously unreleased sets of raw data were now available for the general public and private businesses to access.
“Queensland is leading the way in the release of open data across the nation and the resulting digital innovations will help drive the economy of tomorrow,” he said.
“Last year’s inaugural awards showed the high calibre of talent out there in Queensland. We’ve seen apps to alert drivers when they enter a school zone, a one-stop online shop for farmers looking for land data and a way to plan bus and train travel – but this year there is even more data to build on.
“I put the challenge out to all Queenslanders to use their imaginations to come up with new and interesting apps and web services.”
Information released by the Queensland Government under open data covers a vast range, such as real-time wave height records, details of the state’s capital works projects and a breakdown of compulsory third-party insurance claims.
Categories in the Premier’s Awards include best use of open data, best commercial app and best community app. There will also be awards for the best submissions from Queensland students and public servants.
The State Government’s prize pool of $17,000 in cash will be awarded to entrants who demonstrate the most innovative and productive use of public data.
In addition, Microsoft will award a special prize of $60,000 to the entry which demonstrates the most start-up potential.
Nominations close 26 September 2014. The winners will be announced in December.
For more information visit https://data.qld.gov.au/data-event/premiers-awards
