This seems to be a pretty good example of the difference between the NSW and Victorian state governments: In NSW, the government threatens to sue you for using government info in the development of applications. In Victoria, they offer you $100,000 prize money…
The Victorian Government has launched the “App My State” competition, which offers Aussie developers the chance to win a slice of $100,000 prize money by using government data sets to create applications.
The comp is only open to Victorian residents, and the definition of App is quite broad:
App is short for application and refers to computer software that helps a user perform a certain task. An app may be a tool such as an online calculator, educational like an online spelling bee or entertainment such as a game. For the purpose of this competition we will not include stand alone applications – apps must be online including for websites, social networking sites such as Facebook or mobile devices such as iPhone. iPhone now houses a massive library of apps designed specifically for the iPhone. An app can also be a website itself, eg. the My School website.
Sure, this is a bit of a publicity stunt. And it’s potentially a very cheap way for the Victorian Government to bring its services into the 21st Century. But it’s also a great way to support and show off the talents of Aussie app developers too. The comp’s running until Friday, 23rd April, so you should probably start coding now, Victorians…