A community bicycle application has taken top honours at this year's Green ICT Hackathon, presented by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Spanish operator Telef'onica, in Barcelona, Spain.
The contest saw developers from across the globe compete over two days to develop a 'Sustainable Energy for All' ICT application to help promote technology transfer worldwide. It also helped create a global network of green ICT developers advancing the use of ICTs to improve energy efficiency and enable tech transfer - two goals to be addressed at the Rio+20 conference on sustainable development later this year.
Running in parallel with last week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the awards ceremony saw the winners of the best applications receive cash prizes and new phones.
Asier Arranz, from Spain, was awarded the first prize of $3 000 and a Nokia Lumia mobile phone for his 'Bicing Gamification' application, which aims to encourage users of Bicing, the community bicycle programme in Barcelona, to deposit bicycles at under-served stations.
At present, moving vans have to be used to make sure bicycles are distributed optimally throughout the city. The app offers an efficient alternative by making use of geo-location to notify Bicing users of the stations in need of more bicycles. As an incentive for dropping their bikes off at more in-demand spots, Arranz suggests users receive micropayments in the form of deductions from their annual Bicing subscription fees.
The developer said in a statement that the application aims to help reduce costs and CO2 emissions, and encourage the use of a green transport system through a game-based approach.
Kevin Ng, co-founder of green social media marketing company Bennu, believes 'green gamification' initiatives are likely to be significant drivers in achieving behaviour change, as they make sustainability both fun and rewarding. “The concept of applying game thinking and game mechanics to greening is now the hottest trend in green marketing - and the most promising approach for expediting large-scale positive change.”
The $2 000 second prize and Nokia Lumia phone went to Dirceu Dirs, from Brazil, for the 'Easy Refuel' app, which targets drivers of both electric and petrol vehicles. When drivers need to fill up or recharge, they receive an SMS pointing them to the nearest, most affordable fuel or recharging station.
The third prize of a Nokia Lumia phone was awarded to US developer Aaron Franco for his 'Jatrobot' app. According to Franco, it's aimed at promoting the widespread production of biodiesel through consumer purchasing. The app is named after the Jatropha Curcas tree, the seeds of which can be pressed to yield an oil used to produce biodiesel. The app allows users to 'like' an environmentally friendly product, upon which a Web-connected robot plants the Jatropha seeds.
Telef'onica notes that the app is especially useful for supporting the creation of agricultural companies in developing countries, as the trees can both feed people and produce a sustainable form of energy. Bennu's Ng adds that consumers of green products are also likely to use social networking tools, which can be a highly effective way of engaging like-minded people across traditional boundaries.
“The socially networked consumer overlaps with the environmentally-conscious consumer, demonstrated by usage patterns on social media channels like Facebook and social games like Cityville. Essentially, social media is the language of the green consumer.”
In addition to the Hackathon, the ITU and Telef'onica are organising a Green ICT Application Challenge to find the most innovative concept paper for an ICT application under the theme of 'Sustainable Energy for All'. For more information or to send a concept paper, see the ITU's Green ICT App Challenge page.
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