A couple months ago, the city of New York launched the NYC Big Apps contest. In order to become more transparent, accessible, and accountable, the city opened up a large number of datasets and made them available for developers.
This flood of data and government support was a tremendous opportunity and we worked hard to make the most of it. We ended up with a vastly improved UpNext NYC app. Some highlights include, expansion into Brooklyn and Queens, greater visual details and additional data layers.
Take a moment to download the UpNext app for FREE on iTunes
But, this contest is exciting to us on many levels. First, the general movement towards open data by municipalities is something that will benefit all of us. As resident of this great city, only good things can come from more accountability.
Second, as a company that works with geodata, we have faced the cumbersome task of collecting data sets from cities. In an attempt to collect one particular dataset, I was yelled at 5 times, misdirected 3 times, mailed in 3 different forms and made 3 in person visits. Now we can just click on a link and download.
Third, we love data and making that data into something you can use. In essence, we take this raw data and build a digital version of NYC for easy use on your mobile phone. Roads, parks, buildings are all data elements that we utilize and enhance to create UpNext. Through the NYC Data Mine we were able to:
- Expand into Brooklyn and Queens (see screenshot below)
- Enrich UpNext NYC with greater visual details
- Improve our accuracy
- Add new helpful data layers
85 applications have been submitted to the NYC BigApp Contest. Seriously, 85 fantastic web and mobile applications that are all trying to make NYC a better city! We encourage you to check out the application gallery and see what these developers have created.
If you are a fan of UpNext, please take a minute to vote for us, UpNext.