Startup Weekend GOV: Open NW Application Ideas

I want to be able to text messages and pictures to 911.

Get mobile alerts when a scam (like a door to door charity scam) is reported near me. Submit scam reports. Search recent and nearby scam reports.

Mobile game that shows pictures and/or gives clues about state, county, and city elected officials and staffers so I can learn more about them and earn points for guessing the correct name.

Make widgets (e.g. WordPress widgets) that let local blogs easily re-use and filter open data sets for display on their blogs. For example, show recent crime reports by zip code.

Based on my GPS location, connect me to the nearest neighborhood blog(s) and/or event calendars.

A mobile app that finds my closest neighborhood block watch group, lets me join, lets me see which shifts are taken, and lets me sign up for watch shifts.

Let me submit a tip (including an image) to the nearest neighborhood blog such as a crime sighting, an oddity, an impromptu event, etc. Create a widget to display these tips on blogs' sidebars.

I think this has been done elsewhere but it would be nice to text photos of various problems (a street light that's not working, a pothole, a damaged traffic sign, litter on a dangerous spot on a busy street, etc.) to a catch-all number and the app then routes that to the appropriate government agency to address. Then the app could provide feedback to all users - checking off projects as they are completed (all requests... more »

what many ideas already posted point to and could use would be a two-way data gathering and dissemination system like NYC's 311. I laugh every time I see an ad for King Co's "Links by Zip" How archaic! We need 311 to digest the data. Then apps to interface with it.

Perhaps this is bigger than an app, but an app might be a part of it: let the citizens be able to deploy a Mesh Network of Wi-Fi access points that would join the city's emergency internet backbone or route around it if it is down. Ideally, we'd be able to re-purpose existing wi-fi hardware to do so. Wifi was a big part of relief in Haiti and it could be just as useful here for coordinating resources from the ground... more »

During major emergencies, the cell network breaks under too much voice traffic. SMS requires way less bandwidth. So, why not anticipate the next big outage and work with cell carriers to limit the cell network to sms traffic, thereby increasing capacity by 10x- 100x. This ties in with text to 911 idea someone submitted--which would be an essential component if authorities chose to throttle voice and video traffic.

finds and describes development projects by location, and tells how to submit comments or ask questions. Names the neighborhood group/s the developer is communicating with.

A way to map reports from the street/field in a regional emergency. Residents could report what they know, governments/blogs/media could republish the pieces of the map specific to their communities.

Collecting good data on crashes, hazards and thefts helps make cycling safer and helps government improve transportation infrastructure. We have version 1.0 of this site -- Bikewise.org -- but there's a huge opportunity to build on what's there, add functionality and scale the user base. I co-founded Bikewise together with Cascade Bicycle Club and we'd be excited to have a startup team work on this. Contact me: phil@bikewise.org... more »

A mobile app that answers the question "What do I do with…?" a wide variety of items. Based on a simple keyword search or category selection, use GPS to provide mapping/directions and contact info for hundreds of businesses in the Puget Sound region that accept unwanted items for reuse, recycling or proper disposal. A website version of this already exists, but a mobile version would be much more useful for folks on the... more »