DC Looking To Spur Some Local Innovation

I saw an a couple of exciting announcements today here in the DC area about a little friendly competition being put on by the Peter Corbett and iStrategyLabs in conjunction with the Office of the Cheif Technology Officer for the DC Government called Apps for Democracy.

I know Peter had been working on something exciting and I was happy to see it come to fruition today.  According to the About page

pps for Democracy will feature 60 cash prizes from $2000 to $100 dollars for a total of $20,000 in prizes. Developers and designers will compete by creating web applications, widgets, Google Maps mash-ups, iPhone apps, Facebook apps, and other digital utilities that visualize OCTO’s Data Catalog, which provides real-time data from multiple agencies to citizens — a catalyst ensuring agencies operate as more responsive, better performing organizations.

I had the pleasure of meeting with and spending a little time with the CTO, Vivek Kundra, and was extremely impressed not only with his wanting to make DC the place for local entrepreneurship and spur innovation, but also the innovation that he has already infused into the the local DC government. (More to come on this later) 

This competition intrigues me and I think it is a great idea.  As I have written about before, innovation inside governments, local, federal, or otherwise has been stifled since Kennedy sent us to the moon and back.  I really think that the new ideas and breakthroughs come from the private sector, and many times are the results of competitions, like the X Prize.   I think Peter has done a great job and great service to the local community by developing such an idea and I applaud Vivek Kundra for lending his support to it.

If you are interested, you should absolutely head over and get started.  Peter has even gone so far as to set up Innovation Labs over the next month for a little co working to get the juices flowing.

If you’re in DC/MD/VA we’ll be hosting “Open Innovation Labs” with snacks, drinks, and wifi for you to do the following:

1. find collaborators
2. work in a communal environment
3. have an excuse to get out of your house and have blocks of time dedicated to creating an app or two or three

There are a couple of places you can find out more info at http://apps08.ning.com/ and also on a Facebook Page as well.  Congrats Peter and good luck !