Miami civic hackers from various backgrounds played with government data all weekend long.
More than 200 coders, designers and onlookers hashed out ideas on how to better use open data from federal and county sources as part of .
Participants can for the chance to share their ideas at a White House event in the fall.
Select proposals from around the nation will be presented in an exhibit called "The Art of Civic Hacking," says Richard Bookman, one of the organizers of .
Below are some of the ideas that were brainstormed during the two-day civic hackathon. Most of these apps and websites are a work-in-progress:
Is It Flooding?
As the name implies, this a mobile website that finds your location and tells you very simply if it鈥檚 flooding or not in your area with a yes or no answer.
Bryce Kerley, software engineer and one of the project developers, used rainfall data from the National Weather Service and FEMA Flood Zone designations from Miami-Dade to assess if locations are in deep water.
My H2O
As part of the , this app shows reported problems with local water supply based on your zip code.
Katherine Martin, one of the project鈥檚 team members, says the app will also share possible health effects contaminants can have on the body.
SkyWarn Mobile Reporter
This tool builds on the National Weather Service鈥檚 . Spotters can identify nearby hazardous weather by logging them through the app.
Andrew Heller, founder of local IT firm Yucaroo, says the program would allow users to see other reported activity in the area.
CityHub
This app interacts with locals and reports issues for the county as part of . The tool would provide community members a way to report neighborhood concerns, like pets found, and allow them to see the status of each activity on a detailed map.
Javier Carabeo, one of the team members in the project, says the app would improve response time and help raise community standards.
MiamiBusSMS
This is a text-messaging program for Miami-Dade public transportation. Locals can send a text with a bus number and bus stop to receive the next three stop times for that route plus alternative routes.
Aleyda K. Mejia, director for the Caplow Children鈥檚 Prize, says this system is beneficial for people who do not own smartphones and can鈥檛 use the county app available.
Iam1of.us
This gives a personal touch to U.S. Census data. Based on your location and answers to some questions, the tool provides a sharable infographic with interesting facts about you in relation to your county鈥檚 Census data.
, one of the project鈥檚 developers, says this app matches your demography with your geography.
Florida Bill Tracker
This website would highlight the progress of state bills through the House and Senate.
Rob Davis, one of the project鈥檚 team members, wants the site to explain bills that Florida media outlets have not covered.
Farm Markets
As a project for the challenge, this app locates nearby farmer鈥檚 markets with details on products using Bing Maps.
Robert Hellestrae, a Windows 8 developer who worked on the project, designed the app for Windows 8 and Windows Phone.
Safe Biking
Brian Lemmerman, a board member of the Magic City Bicycle Collective, from Miami-Dade County to pinpoint safe and dangerous areas for cyclists.
If data is available, this mobile app would determine bike-friendly areas of Miami, start conversations to make riding safer, identify accident-prone areas and share the quality of the commute with the cycling community.
