Top 10 transformative applications and initiatives supporting such apps

This page presents ten transformative applications that address some of the most pressing challenges in our society, and five initiatives that support the development and uptake of such applications.

A new list is presented (in alphabetical order) every quarter, and all previously featured apps and initiatives are collected here. Use them as you like: Browse, download, apply, comment, nominate your favorite apps, or develop your own app and be part of the solution.

Today we are facing a number of converging trends and global challenges such as CO2 increase, urban poverty, income inequality, population growth, aging, geopolitical shifts, accelerated natural resource depletion, etc. There is a need for one of the most important tools, mobile applications, to help deliver solutions to address these challenges.

Some of the most creative people on the planet are engaged in app-development. This initiative celebrates those who make important contributions in this regard and aims to inspire others to use their skills and passion to create transformative applications. This initiative also hopes to inform groups working to address important global challenges on how they can make use of mobile applications in their work.

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Sweet’N'Spicy Indian Video Recipes

August 5th, 2012

Sweet’N'Spicy is the largest collection of Indian Foods and Recipes powered by fullmeals.com.

Sweet’N'Spicy has an total of 4000+ recipes and 400+ video recipes spread across three major categories Vegetarian, Non-Vegetarian to Vegan.

All the information has been organized and cataloged so that we can relate the recipes by Categories, Foods, and Ingredients.

The App also feature the first Calorie calculation engine for Indian recipes.

With Sweet’N'Spicy you can

1. You can browse through all the Categories, Sub Categories and find recipes in each of them.
2. Find the List of Ingredients, Instructions for each recipe along with previous user comments
3. You always have the flexibility to find Alternate recipes for every recipe in case if you don’t like one.
4. Calories and Allergies for the needy.
5. Search Recipes by Food Name, Category, Cooking Time etc. You can even search just video recipes.
6. Discover interesting and relevant cooking tips along each recipe.
7. You can find beneficial health tips (natural remedies) from the recipe ingredients.
7. Organize your favorite recipes in My Favorites.
8. You can Ask us question either related to a recipe or general cooking stuff.
9. New to Indian Food? Basics will be handy.
10. Checkout Community section to figure out what others do in Sweet’N'Spicy.
11. Rate and review recipes with pictures. Share recipes with your friends.

Also there is the “My Kitchen” feature which lets you to find out the matching recipes with the ingredients in hand.

1. Just search for ingredients and add to the basket
2. You need to have a max of 3 ingredients
3. Click on Search recipes to find out the best match
4. Recently used ingredients will also be listed for ease of use

http://fullmeals.com/home.aspx

“Exit Glacier” funded on Kickstarter

July 7th, 2012

This app could be transformative, if nothing else it could inspire artists to engage in important issues in creative ways. It is a long-shot but I’m happy to have supported the project and look forward to an interesting app. Look forward to the reward: “An augmented reality inuksuk (an Inuit stone landmark) personalized for you and placed anywhere in the world you want it.”. It should obviously be named “Transformativ- applications.net, but not sure where it should be placed… Anyone with an idea where a augmented inuksuk named transformative-applications.net should be placed?

Read more about the project on Kickstarter here

Or on Natan Shafer’s web page here

Last day of the first solar hackaton

June 10th, 2012

Will be interesting to see the results of the first Solar hackaton… The fact that the hackatons are becoming more specific is good, too many have just been “green” and just presented data in new ways without any thoughts of real world impact. Hopefully we will soon see open platforms that allow transformation solutions as well.

Would be good if someone could provide reosurces to develop best practice for the hackatons, and ensure that the impact can be measured a few months after the hacktons, it is not clear what happens with the ideas today in most cases. Would also be good to map the focus of the solutions (looks like it is mainly incremental with a focus on the US situation and it might be good to encourage other solutions as well.)

The link to the solar hackton is here.

Now it is New York turn to host a green hackaton “Reinvent Green”

April 28th, 2012

Not sure if there are just vague or if they have not made up their mind what they should do. No specific date is given and the information on the webpage is not providing very much guidance. This is what is says:

“Want to change the world? Apply to be a part of the City of New York’s first Greener, Greater Hackathon. The weekend event challenges data scientists, developers and designers to use environmental data to create tools and apps that empower New Yorkers to live greener, greater lives. Join us Summer 2012.”

I hope they will look into opportunities for transformative solutions that deliver concrete results. So many of these “green hackatons” focus only on new ways of presenting old data, or tools for incremental improvements in existing systems. If I find the time I hope to do an assessment of the hackatons, what they focus on and what they deliver + what those who have hosted them have learned.

The fact that they write “Want to change the world?” gives me hope, so let’s keep our fingers crossed for a structure that can deliver significant results.

XTENDED DEADLINE: 31 MAY 2012 – 2nd Green ICT App Challenge

April 16th, 2012

Probably not enough participants so far…. But it should be as it is a great idea… Companies in the ICT sector should help promote this challenge as it is also a matter of credibility for the sector to come up with tangible examples on how ICT solutions, and in particular mobile applications, can help reduce CO2-emissions and support a resource efficient society.

More information here: http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/climatechange/greenict/201206/index.html

Report from the Broadband commission: The Broadband Bridge – Linking ICT with Climate Action

April 3rd, 2012

A report from the Broadband Commission highlights the role of ICT for climate action was just released.

Happy to see mentioning of “transformative” 16 times…

The potential for mobile application was however not highlighted very much, but as the target group is general policy makers it might be better to talk about solutions that are easy to understand. As long as the kind of solutions that are needed are encouraged they will be delivered.

Let’s hope that we will see more national strategies that integrate ICT/mobile connectivity to deliver both economic, social and environmental development.

Read the full report here.

Green ICT Hackathon in Barcelona, Spain, 28-29 February 2012 during the GSMA Mobile World Congress

February 22nd, 2012

Not sure if you need to be physically there to join (sounds stupid if you have to fly to Barcelona to develop smart ICT apps, but you never know… ;)) On top of that is not a lot of hackers or thought leaders attending GSMA Mobile World Congress, but click on the link to learn more.

Below is information and you can also check the ITU page: http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/climatechange/greenict/201206/index.html

Telefónica and ITU, will host a Hackathon in Barcelona, Spain, on 28-29 February 2012 during the GSMA Mobile World Congress.
The Hackathon is a marathon where developers create applications within a defined timeframe.
Developers coming from all over the world will gather and compete to propose and develop a “Sustainable Energy for All” ICT application.
The development of green ICT applications will help to promote technology transfer worldwide.
The best two green ICT applications will be awarded cash prizes on site on 29 February 2012:
1st winner: $3000
2nd winner: $2000

Call for Concept Papers for 2nd Green ICT Application Challenge before 13 April

February 22nd, 2012

It is not much information about the challenge, but if understand it correctly you should submit the information below before the 13 April 2012 at 12:00 PM CET

More info here: http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/climatechange/greenict/201206/index.html
Here is the page where you can submit: http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/climatechange/greenict/201206/submission.html

All submissions must be submitted in English in an electronic format at the address mentioned in 4 above and include:
1. a detailed Concept Paper (maximum of 6,000 words) describing a new and innovative ICT application that would help combat climate change and reduce global energy intensity. The proposed application may be any kind of software tool, platform or game, be it for the web, a personal computer, tablet or a mobile device;
2. screenshots and diagrams illustrating the application’s proposed features and functions;
3. an implementation plan for the development of the application;
4. an explanation of how the idea would help combat climate change and provide an ICT solution to environmental or sustainability issues.

The evaluation criteria will be the following:
1. Object achievements – Does the proposed application as developed in the idea submitted contribute to the development of innovative new technologies to combat climate change?
2. Impact – How greatly does the proposed application benefit the environment?
3. Innovation – How inspired and original is the proposed application?
4. Implementation plan – How good is the plan to implement the proposed application? Is the application feasible?
5. Business Model – Would the proposed application be a viable, marketable option for companies? Is the proposed application widely adaptable throughout industries? Usability – Is it user-friendly and does it demonstrate the potential for development?
6. Preferences will be given to proposed applications that may assist developing countries address their environmental issues.

Cleanweb Hackathon needs a transformative filter for next year

January 24th, 2012

Great idea with Cleanweb Hackathon in New York. It is now over and the winners are nice but not transformative. It is all about incremental improvements. The winner, econofy, allow you to see the energy consumption of different products. Link to beta here: http://beta.econofy.com/

The others I have not been able to find in any working versions.
There is an screen shot of Green Carrot(only on flickr)

All the winners can be found here: http://cleanwebhack.com/hackathon/prizes/

It would be really great if next year could have a category with transformative impact. How to help people use virtual meeting instead of flying, encourage e-reading instead of dead-forest-reading, helping people to rebuild their houses/apartments so they become net producers of renewable energy, etc… We need these much more than we need those that help current bad solutions become slightly less bad… A 9 billion filter can be used to test them (what happen if 9 billion people would use the solution).

We need to move the “green/sustainable” hackatons from “nice” to “disruptive”…

e-Gov World 2012 will focus on Innovative Mobile applications for Public Services

November 4th, 2011

e-Gov World 2012 invites VAS providers, researchers, Telecom Players, IT Players , civil society organizations and all the stakeholders to submit innovative ideas , applications and solutions for presentation during e-Gov World 2012. The selected application developers, VAS providers and researchers will be invited to participate and present during the conference. The best idea/application will be awarded a trophy and cash prize of INR 25,000 as well as opportunity to showcase the applications at Mobile Applications Lounge.

Please rush you entries ASAP to the conference secretariat. The conference details are available at www.egovworld.org

For queries, please contact Vikas Kanungo Convener- e-Gov World 2012 at vikaskanungo (a) egovindia.org

Top 10 Applications 2012 Q1

Building Parallel Circuits (Lite)

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/building-parallel-circuits/id464587017?mt=8

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Composer of the Day

http://www5.wittenberg.edu/academics/music/app.html

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Dollarocracy

http://www.opensecrets.org/resources/dollarocracy/support.php

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Karajan® – Music & Ear Trainer

arajan® provides lessons for learning to recognize intervals, chords, scales, pitch and tempo (bpm) with detailed statistics. Karajan® is a great to...

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Life Cycle Cost Calculator

http://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/life-cycle-cost-calculator/id515908851?mt=8

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Oresome Elements

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/oresome-elements/id440461810?mt=8

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Roaming Hunger Food Truck Finder

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/roaming-hunger-v1.0/id423850578?mt=8

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Sweet’N'Spicy Indian Video Recipes

Sweet'N'Spicy is the largest collection of Indian Foods and Recipes powered by fullmeals.com. Sweet'N'Spicy has an total of 4000+ recipes and 400+ ...

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The Virtual Bacterial ID Lab

The purpose of the lab is to familiarize you with the science and techniques used to identify different types of bacteria based on their DNA sequence....

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WeChi

WeChi isn't just another social game; it's an empathy engine for your life. WeChi lets you earn points for being a great friend, and use those points ...

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Top 5 supporting initiatives 2012 Q1

Anonymous Analytics

Anonymous is a decentralized network of individuals focused on promoting access to information, free speech, and transparency. The group has made international headlines by exposin...

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Cleanweb Hackathon

The Cleanweb Hackathon is an upcoming gathering to demonstrate the impact of applying information technology to resource constraints. Join us as we bring together developers, desig...

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Freecycle

The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 5,055 groups with 9,008,944 members around the world. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting...

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Human Library

The Human Library is an innovative method designed to promote dialogue, reduce prejudices and encourage understanding.The main characteristics of the project are to be found in its...

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Thingiverse

Thingiverse is a place for you to share your digital designs with the world. We believe that just as computing shifted away from the mainframe into the personal computer that you u...

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