I am loving the unseasonably warm and non-snowy weather we are experiencing in Boston this December. But we all know what is coming and Code for Boston is helping us gear up for the winter. Earlier this week, I served as a judge to CFB’s #HackWinter Demo Night, along with Chris Osgood – City of Boston’s Chief of Streets, Holly St. Clair – The Commonwealth of Massachusetts’s Director of Data Services and Meghann Ackerman – Community Engagement Specialist from the City of Somerville. After 3.5 weeks of work, three teams shared some terrific solutions that I am hoping will be available for our use once the snow starts falling.
Harlan Weber, Code for Boston Brigade Captain, said, “Lately, we are developing more complex apps and it was great to see what the teams could come up with during a 3.5 week hackathon – the teams tacked more complex challenges and built richer solutions that they could have in a weekend. I hope to see apps like Snopes being used in Boston this winter.”
Last night’s demos included:
- Snow Ranger – An app to help pedestrians, especially those with mobility difficulties, navigate the winter streetscape after a major snowfall
- S’nope – “The Uber of Snow Shoveling” developed by Resilient Coders and CFB to combine the need for shoveling and snow removal with youth employment in an app to connect people who can shovel to people with snow.
- Enersave – An app to monitor energy use, encourage action, and incentivize energy saving. If Cambridge can reduce its city-wide energy use the most by the end of 2016, it could win the $5 million Georgetown University Energy Prize (www.cambridgeenergyalliance.org/winit)!
Congrats to S’nope on winning the coveted golden snow shovel award!
