Energy Dept Starts Utility Monitoring App Development Competition
Site: Energy.gov
The Energy Department launched a competition Thursday, challenging participants to create a mobile application for putting commercial utility data into a format consumers can use to monitor energy use, FedScoop reports.
U.S.-based developers who are 13 years old or older can submit their apps to the department until May 15.
The grand prize winner will receive $30,000, according to the competition video.
The department launched the competition in partnership with Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Itron and Gridwise Alliance in order to promote use of Green Button data.
The Energy Department wants the solution to help energy consumers save and understand their energy usage, according to the video.
Competitors submitting apps are encouraged to include data in their solution from various sources in order to create a fuller picture of energy usage.
The competition is also open to U.S.-based companies and organizations.
The Energy Department said apps can be in any software application form, including for mobile devices, personal computers or web-based apps capable of running on publicly available software.
The Defense Department recently launched a similar contest asking for industry to submit mobile apps for supporting agency functions.
The Pentagon said it wanted mobile solutions for learning tools in science, technology, engineering and math education for grades K-12.