RALEIGH – After ideation and six weeks of work to develop a minimum viable product and demonstration, three teams will compete at the NC Open Pass DataPalooza Finale on Thursday.

Earlier, eight teams pitched their open data solutions at the All Things Open conference.  We heard a range of ideas from a tornado warning alert system, to hurricane recovery mapping, to an open inventory system for fire companies, and to a platform helping with college applications.

Teams were given five minutes to present their ideas and progress since September 22.  The judges then had an additional three minutes to ask questions and learn more from the teams.

After reviewing all the presentations, the judges have selected BruVue, mConnect and NC Clear Path to be finalists at the 6th annual NC Open Pass DataPalooza Finale-Innovate Raleigh Summit kickoff reception on November 8. These three teams have the chance to chance to win a $5,000 cash prize and co-working space memberships.

The purpose of the DataPalooza open data competition is to bring together coders, designers, entrepreneurs, the public, and government to create positive change in the community through the use of open data. The finale is a chance for the at-large community to celebrate the progress made by the competing teams and see the winners.

Here are the teams who are pitching:

  • BruVue – BruVue is the only draft beer inventory management system where sensors can be ordered online, received in the mail, dropped on beer faucets and setup on a smartphone in minutes.
  • mConnect “Connecting Communities” – For rural communities that must currently rely on multiple formats to get timely information to residents, mConnect provides a single stop solution on resident’s handheld devices It allows users to access key information about a Town including real time alerts, phone numbers, local news, social media feeds, and public calendars all in one place, rather than having to search the web for it.
  • NC Clear Path – NC Clear Path will build upon and extend the concept of Chi Safe Path and AccessMap.io.Cities have made strides in creating equitable experiences for everyone by building curb cuts, ramps, and other physical infrastructure.  However, steep hills, broken sidewalks, badly designed curb cuts, out-of-service elevators, and poorly maintained paths still present challenges for people who use assistive technologies like wheelchairs, crutches, and canes.With the proliferation of smartphones and navigation applications, it is now possible to report, map, and plan around nearly anything.

This year NC Open Pass also has partnered with Innovate Raleigh to focus on solutions for first responders. Continuing with that initiative, we’ll be featuring a keynote by Chief Alvarez from the Fayetteville Fire Department on data dashboards, smart firetrucks and other uses of IoT technology. After we hand out the grand prize, networking will occur with attendees of the Innovate Raleigh Summit happening on November 9.

Event details: