Code For America: Recap

Over the weekend LVL 1 was host to the Code for America hackathon.  We had a great turnout, there were 18 teams in all.

 

Everyone was hard at work to produce a working model or prototype of their idea within the time frame.

“The task is to design or prototype an app that helps improve the quality of life in our city,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “No idea is too strange or too bold. We want to see interesting ideas and innovation at work.”

18 teams offered up some great ideas, from geolocating features in our parks, to a program to manage our power grid by tracking smart phone power usage. The ideas were judged by a 4 person panel and ultimately yielded 3 winners of $5000, $3000 and $2000 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. The winning ideas and code will be used by the city to bring the ideas to life.

Congratulations to the winning teams:

First Place: Your Mapper

  Who created "Safety Check" an app for the smartphone.  This app allows the user to see the crimes reported in the area around them.  It also give a safety rating.  Other features of the included detail about certain crimes and a way to notify the nearest police station to report a crime.

Team members include Michael Schnuerle and Eric Roland

Second Place: Forest Giants

 Focusing on bike riding and cycling, this team created an app that would allow the user to easily find bike route around Louisville.  With this app the user could also record their time, speed and route. After each ride the user could then share with other riders to challenge or encourage.  Using GPS riders can find the closest bike loops, view details for each loop, and even allows you to take a picture and report loop hazards. The app could eventually help the city's bike program determine what areas of town are most popular for rides which might determine where more infrastructure is needed for bike lanes and paths.

Team members include Dave Dveand, Chris Hawkins, Adam Richardson, Ryan Stemen and Ashleigh Chape

Third Place: Clean Up Team
Their app focused on cleaning up Louisville's graffiti and trash by letting the user take a picture of an area they think needs to be cleaned up.  Their example: if you are walking down the street and see graffiti, you can snap a picture with the app, share it with others and using the power of Facebook, form a team and create an event to clean up and remove the graffiti.

Team members include Troy Harvey, Ashley Revlett, Charles Waddell and Steven Trentham

From reporting crime to cleaning the streets to getting out an seeing one or all of Louisville's parks, one thing is for sure, Louisville has some bright citizens who want nothing but the best for their city and to be able to share it with all.