World Bank Launches “Apps for Climate” Competition

Press Release No:2012/181/SDN

New Bank climate change data book also released in margins of Durban conference DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, December 2, 2011 – Software developers and development practitioners are being brought together by an “Apps for Climate” competition launched today by the World Bank. The competition, launched at the Durban climate conference, is asking entrants to use open data to create innovative software applications that can help solve some of the development problems that climate change poses. “The competition aims to discover new and extraordinary ways to use open climate data,” saidAndrew Steer, World Bank Special Envoy for Climate Change. “We hope to unleash the creative energy out there which will make “apps” that help create solutions to weather-related disasters, risks for agriculture, food and water supplies, rising sea levels and other climate related challenges.” “This latest challenge builds on our earlier “Apps for Development” competition which also drew some very creative ideas related to adaptation,” Steer continued. “One called “save the rain”,” calculates how much rainwater you could save based on your geographic location and the surface area of your roof! We’re hoping for similar ‘out of the box’ ideas this time around, too.” The “apps” for this latest competition can be created for the web, for mobile devices, for sms, for a desktop, or a tablet. The competition includes cash prizes to the winning entries. Apps must be submitted by March 16, 2012 (go to: http://www.worldbank.org/appsforclimate) At the launch of the competition today, Steer also released the latest edition to the World Bank’s Little Data Book series, The Little Data Book on Climate Change(http://data.worldbank.org/products/data-books/little-data-book-on-climate-change). This pocket size book provides summary national, international and regional data that cover the gamut of climate-relevant topics, including current and projected climate conditions, exposure to climate impacts, resilience, greenhouse gas emissions, climate finance, and current national and international efforts to take action. Read the detailed article at :- http://www.cdrn.org.in/show.detail.asp?id=22924