Accela Launches App Challenge to Foster Civic Engagement

San Ramon, California (PRWEB) May 13, 2014

Accela, Inc., the leading provider of civic engagement solutions for government, announced the 2014 Accela Construct App Challenge, a contest in which civic-minded developers can leverage the Accela API and CivicData.com to build apps that help bridge the divide between government agencies and citizens. Grand Prize winners will be featured at Accela Engage, Accela’s annual customer event. Winners for Grand Prize, 2nd Place and 3rd Place will receive prizes totaling $25,000.

The challenge, which runs through July 8, 2014, will be judged by: Steve Ressler, Founder and President of GovLoop, Jon Walton, CIO of San Mateo County, and Jeff Stiles, Vice President of Marketing at Accela. The rules are simple. Submitted app concepts must address challenges for government workers, citizens or businesses as they work with agencies to complete a process or fulfill a civic need. Concepts must demonstrate how they will integrate with the Accela Civic Platform and must specify which Accela Construct APIs will be invoked. Participants are encouraged to leverage CivicData.com datasets and show integration with CivicID. To register for the 2014 Accela Construct App Challenge, please visit the Hacker League page.

“At Accela, we believe that engagement makes all the difference,” said Maury Blackman, President and CEO, Accela. “The goals of the Accela App Challenge are to stimulate the development of apps to improve or foster civic engagement, to help civic-minded developers build sustainable businesses by deploying apps on the Civic Platform and to grow the ecosystem of individuals interested in leveraging technology to connect government to citizens. We look forward to seeing what unique innovations come from the use of our open data and our API.”

Call for Entries begins on Tuesday, May 13 and runs through Tuesday, July 8. Submissions are free and open to anyone legally residing in the United States. Prizes will be awarded for Grand Prize, 2nd Place and 3rd Place in the Existing Civic App and New Civic App categories.
Important dates include:

•     Tuesday, July 1, 2014: Registration deadline
•     Tuesday, July 8, 2014: Submission deadline: Pitches must be submitted, along with prototype screens and app description
•     Tuesday, July 15: Judging deadline
•     Friday, July 18, 2014: Winners announced. Travel arrangements made for Grand Prize Winners to attend Accela Engage in San Diego, CA
•     Monday, August 4, 2014: Winners showcased during Keynote and Prizes Awarded

For more information on the 2014 Accela Construct App Challenge, please visit: https://www.hackerleague.org/hackathons/accela-construct-app-challenge-2014.

About Accela
Accela is ushering in a new era where democracy thrives when government works directly with the people, coming to citizens on their terms through mobile, social and open data. From streamlining basic agency functions like land management, licensing, asset management, and public health and safety, to citizen engagement capabilities like virtual town halls and mobile reporting tools, the Accela Civic Platform bridges the gap between agencies and citizens. We help build communities by powering thousands of services and millions of transactions daily for agencies of all sizes. At Accela, we believe that engagement makes all the difference. Accela is headquartered in San Ramon, California, with offices in San Francisco, New York, Melbourne and Dubai. For more information, visit http://www.accela.com.

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Media Contact:
Erica Harvill
Accela, Inc.
(925) 605-8178
eharvill(at)accela(dot)com

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