App Aid - Developers Unite with Charities For Greater Good

The Vodafone Foundation will host a unique ‘Hackathon’ event to unite app developers with Aussie charities plus the chance to receive a $30,000 donation.

The 48 hour event in September will see app developers collaborate intensively with selected charities to ‘code for a cause’ and create apps that will make a positive difference to the community.

Head of the Vodafone Foundation, Demelza Farr, said that this is the first time Australia has seen these two unique audiences come together with the goal to spark innovative ideas that will solve problems for the greater good.

App Aid will challenge 10 teams; each consisting of three members from one charity and four app developers, to produce a smartphone app that adds value to the charity and the community it supports.

“App Aid is a groundbreaking event that will unite app developers committed to helping make a difference, with Australian charities that might not normally be able to afford or access these services,” she said.

“We believe ‘apps’ offer charities a new world of possibilities to engage with their communities in an innovative, relevant and meaningful way. We are excited to create this melting pot, which brings together some of the brightest ‘app’ minds in the country, to help charities explore this new technology and its potential.”

All smartphone app prototypes developed at App Aid will be presented to a judging panel of experts and entrepreneurs for consideration, including Vodafone’s Chief Executive Officer, Bill Morrow who wills elect the two most innovative apps that add value to the charity and community.

The Vodafone Foundation will make a $30,000 donation to the winning charity’s app and $10,000 for the runner up.

In addition, Vodafone will offer marketing services to help promote the launch of the app.

The event will be held in Sydney between 20 – 22 September with applications closing on 22 August. 48 HOURS, 10 CHARITIES, 1 PURPOSE – TO CREATE APPS FOR GREATER GOOD.

Information for Charities:

Charities will need to complete and submit an application form detailing the objective of the mobile phone app they intend to build and how it would bring value to the communities that they support.

Charities selected to participate in App Aid will need to provide three team members to represent their charity at the event. Each charity will be matched with a group of developers to form teams. Successful charities will need to prepare a detailed plan on how they would launch and advertise their mobile phone app if their prototype was successful. The IP of the finished prototype will be owned by the Charity.

Shortlist timings for charities:
The Vodafone Foundation will shortlist these applications, and ultimately select up to 7 charities to attend the Vodafone Foundation App Aid Event. A further three will be short listed through a Facebook social media campaign. The final 10 Charities to attend the App Aid event will be announced on Friday 14 September.

Information for Developers:
Developers will need to complete and submit an application form detailing why they’d like to be involved in App Aid and share any experience they have with developing smartphone apps.

Shortlist timings for developers:
Up to 40 app developer applications will be shortlisted from 22 August until 31 August 2012, with the results announced on 3 September 2012. The shortlisted app developers will be placed in teams of up to four and allocated to one of the 10 charities participating in App Aid.

Criteria:

The App Aid panel will judge the working app prototypes based on the following criteria:

• The app adds value to the charity and community it supports
• The app is a highly engaging and innovative app that encourages regular use by its users – demonstrating features that make people want to keep coming back
• The app is not replicated anywhere in the current smartphone app environment
• The app has a clever user interface design that takes mobile device features into account, such as shaking, waving, gestures, voice activation etc

About the Vodafone Foundation
Since its beginning in 2002, the Vodafone Foundation has been creating opportunities for individuals to make a sustainable difference to the community. Their core purpose is to ‘Mobilise the Community to drive social change.’

For more information about App Aid and to apply as a charity or developer, click here.