The Race is on for Hackney Olympic App Competition

Hackney Council, Digital Shoreditch and IC tomorrow have launched the Race for Apps competition. The competition is intended to crowdsource mobile apps that can showcase what Olympic host borough Hackney has to offer ahead of the 2012 Games, and help visitors – including business leaders and journalists – to navigate the local area.

The competition is open to entries in five categories: Finding Your Way; Making Connections; Ctizen Journalism; Fun and Games; and Wild Card. The apps should run on Android, iOS, Blackberry or alternatively on the web, optimised for mobile viewing.

Competitors will then be given the opportunity to work with a network of mentors and investors, including Seedcamp; UKTI, the Government’s UK Trade and Investment agency; and Vodafone developer. The apps will be raced against one another to be ready by April 2012, and then judged by a panel of tech sector peers.

“Hackney’s creative tech businesses are world class and rightly deserve their reputation as being at the heart of UK innovation,” says Cllr Guy Nicholson, cabinet member for regeneration and the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. “Race for Apps provides the perfect platform from which to showcase this innovation and make a contribution to Hackney’s wider economy by encouraging and guiding visitors around the great town centres and neighbourhoods that make up our borough.”

Entrants can apply to join the competition here.