DOVER – Teams of coders from across the state will seek to harness the power of public data and develop innovative solutions to real-world problems at a weekend-long hackathon organized by Open Data Delaware.

The 2017 Open Data Challenge is the final event in a series of sessions focused on creating, designing and developing technical applications with open data in Delaware. This year’s challenge is based around the theme “Access to Hope through Innovation.” Two nonprofit partners, the Food Bank of Delaware and Network Delaware, will present challenge prompts that teams will work to solve with prototype solutions built over the course of two days of civic hacking.

Two teams will be selected as winners and awarded grants ($12,500 for first place, $5,000 for second place) to help them bring their ideas to fruition and produce useable technology for the public. The grants, offered by the Delaware Department of State, will be awarded in two stages to incentivize building, testing and launching the technical applications.

Coders, designers, civic advocates and those interested in making a difference in their communities may view more information about the event and sign up at www.OpenDataChallenge.com.

What: Delaware Open Data Challenge Hackathon Weekend

Who: Open Data Delaware partners including Technology Forum of Delaware, Tech Impact and the Delaware Department of State; Food Bank of Delaware; Network Delaware; Hackathon team members

When: Kickoff at 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 2;
Challenge competition takes place Saturday, June 3 through Sunday June 4, concluding with final presentations and awards
(Contact Dana Rohrbough for detailed schedule of events.)

Where: 1313 Innovation, 1313 North Market Street, Wilmington

 

Contact: Dana Rohrbough
Government Information Center
Delaware Department of State
(302) 547-3763
dana.rohrbough@delaware.gov

Dover – The Interactive Media Council, Inc. (IMC) has selected Delaware’s Professional License Search (PLS) application (http://egov.delaware.gov/pls) as the recipient of its Outstanding Achievement Award. The IMC is a nonprofit organization comprised of leading web content professionals.

The PLS tool allows a user on any mobile device or computer to easily look up the license status of doctors, accountants, realtors, plumbers, cosmetologists, and other professionals licensed in Delaware. The PLS online application is also available at the State of Delaware Mobile Application Directory (https://delaware.gov/apps/) .

“We are pleased that the IMC has recognized the PLS,” said Deputy Secretary of State James Collins, who oversees the Division of Professional Regulation (DPR). “One of our top priorities is to provide customers with convenient access to information that will help them make informed choices about professional services.”

The online application enables the public to conduct a search of the Division of Professional Regulation records to determine whether a given professional has a current license in Delaware, and if any disciplinary actions have been taken against that professional.

The PLS is one more example of the growing collection of online applications developed as part of Delaware’s eGovernment initiative which focuses on accelerating the number of online services available to Delaware citizens and businesses through the state’s official portal, Delaware.gov.

Earlier this month, Delaware received the 2013 Web 2.0 Award in the “Harnessing the Power of Civic Media” category from the Public Technology Institute (PTI) for its new Public Integrity Reporting System (http://egov.delaware.gov/lobs).

“Under the leadership of Governor Markell, Delaware state agencies are implementing innovative and exciting ways to better reach and serve citizens online,” said Government Information Center (GIC) Director Greg Hughes. “It’s gratifying to receive independent recognition by the IMC for the Professional License Search project and we welcome ideas from citizens and businesses on ways we can continue to improve our e-government services.”

To contact the GIC, send an email to: gic@delaware.gov.