Team Niew Labs was crowned grand champions of CODE 2015 last week, claiming a $15,000 prize for an app called Career Path aimed at helping Canadian youth discover, research, and choose future career opportunities.
The team, consisting of Jigdel Kuyee, Rob McDiarmid, Daniil Shevelev and Lev Perelman of Toronto and Vaughan, also won the Youth Employment Category Prize of $5,000.
Their app was one of 15 finalists built from open government data. The 15 were originally selected from 125 built by over 300 teams that participated in the 48-hour appathon in March.
Billed as Canada’s largest such event, the competition drew developers, graphic designers, students and a host of first-time coders to try their hand at designing an application from the federal government’s open data to address one of three development themes: healthy living, business opportunities, and youth employment.
The event host, XMG Studio, screened the long list of apps to a short list of the most promising. Criteria included user experience, potential of the app, and use of open data.
In addition to the $15,000 grand prize, $5,000 awards were also given for development themes as well as a Fan Favourite award.
In the Business Opportunities Category, Team Farm Canada of Winnipeg won with an app using historical data and commodity prices that agricultural producers need to make informed decisions and keep current.
The Healthy Living prize went to Team Neighbourfood of Vancouver for an empowering Canadians to make healthy food choices as part of a healthy lifestyle, while encouraging them to engage with their local community.
The Best Student Team prize was captured by Team Simon Fraser University Data Crunchers for High School Down, Where Next?, an app to help students figure out how much a post-secondary degree will cost.
And the Richmond, BC, foursome known as Team Bear Paws was awarded the Fan Favourite prize, voted on via public voting and social media, for COFY – Career Opportunities for Youth – aimed at providing youth with insight into employment statistics and projections.
