Full Submissions for Google Places API Developer Challenge Now Open!

Earlier this month we announced the Google Places API Developer Challenge, a 10-week application development event designed to spur the creation of applications focused on civic needs. We’re excited to see how you can find solutions to critical needs in areas such as transit, community engagement, education and city management by combining publicly available data sets with the power of the Google Places API. The developers of the winning applications will receive a VIP experience at Google I/O 2013.



Application submissions begin now and will continue through the end of October. The winning applications will be announced in mid-December. The judging and selection of applications will be performed by a distinguished panel of luminaries with backgrounds in geospatial technology, application development, and civic innovation, and they include:

• Bill Oates, Chief Information Officer, City of Boston


• John Tolva, Chief Technology Officer, City of Chicago


• Jay Nath, Chief Innovation Officer, City of San Francisco


• Adel W. Ebeid, Chief Innovation Officer, City of Philadelphia


• Mark Headd, Chief Data Officer, City of Philadelphia, and former Government Relations Director at Code for America


• John Geraci, Founder of DIYcity.org and Outside.in


• Adam DuVander, Executive Editor at ProgrammableWeb


• Jeanne M. Holm, Chief Knowledge Architect at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and Chair of NASA’s Knowledge Management Team


• Laurenellen McCann, National Policy Manager, Sunlight Foundation


• Ed Parsons, Geospatial Technologist for Google


• Paul Rademacher, Creator of the First Google Maps API Mashup and Creator of Stratocam


• Rob Gray, Global Marketing Manager, Google Earth and Maps

To hear more about the types of applications that cities need, check out the video above featuring Ed Parsons (Google’s Geospatial Technologist), Jay Nath, (CIO of San Francisco), John Tolva, (CTO of Chicago), Rachel Sterne (Chief Digital Officer of NYC), and Andrew Collinge (Intelligence Office of the Greater London Authority).



Developers have always impressed us with their innovative uses of the Google Places API, and we're excited to see that energy focused on helping our communities. If you have any questions or concerns about the API, please join our developer community on Stack Overflow. We look forward to seeing all of your great ideas and meeting the winners at Google I/O.



Posted by Justin Chu, Google Places API Product Manager