CEA Announces Apps For Innovation Developer Contest

from the go-for-it dept

The Consumer Electronics Association has been building up its excellent Innovation Movement effort -- designed to help educate people (most importantly: politicians) to be aware that regulations can have a serious (and potentially negative) impact on innovation. The goal is to get people to really think through the potential impacts on innovation of any new legislation. Given how rarely anyone in DC seems to really think about how all the legislation they pass will impact innovation, this is an important effort.

As a part of that, CEA is now launching an Apps for Innovation Developer Contest. The goal is to get developers to create one of two kinds of useful apps:
  1. Apps that illuminate with data how innovation and entrepreneurial activity are at work across America.
    Examples: An app that mashes up Federal Communications Commission broadband data over a Google Map to show the need for high-speed Internet deployment in rural areas. Or, perhaps an Apple iPhone app that uses Department of Commerce data to let people track how international trade agreements impact the U.S. GDP. Another option would be to create an app that measures the number of venture-backed start-ups in cities across America (hint: the National Venture Capital Association keeps that data).
  2. Apps that will help the members of the Innovation Movement advance policy goals that support innovation.
    Examples: This could be an app that allows members of the grassroots movement to better communicate with members of Congress -- or perhaps its an app that allows members to see how members vote on various policies that protect or hinder innovation. Points are awarded for creativity!
There are a variety of prizes, including thousands of dollars and a free trip to CES in January. It's a cool program, and I'm thrilled that CEA asked me to be one of the judges in the contest. I'm hoping to see some really creative and innovative apps!
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Filed Under: apps, innovation, innovation movement
Companies: cea


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  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 8 Oct 2009 @ 1:17am

    "The goal is to get people to really think through the potential impacts on innovation of any new legislation."

    The thing is that big corporations and politicians are generally aware of the harm that regulation and intellectual property causes on innovation and of the fact that it causes much more harm than good. But they don't want innovation because with innovation that means they must actually innovate and adapt to new innovations in order to compete in the free market and that requires work. What they want is to make money without doing any work and so our current system is designed to allow the rich and the powerful to make money without doing any work while the poor and the powerless work hard to make any money.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Mar 2010 @ 1:46pm

    There Enzyte are a variety of prizes, including thousands of dollars and a free trip to CES in January. It's a cool program.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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