Friday, 31 January 2014

Announcing the Winners of the Google Cloud Developer Challenge

Winning the Google Cloud Developer Challenge (#GCDC) certainly wasn't easy for these 12 talented winners, who worked hard in developer teams of up to three people to conceive of and build an original, world-class, award-winning application.  Join me in congratulating these winners by posting comments on the official announcement video from Google or on this video that summarizes the winners:


Last year's winners, selected out of an impressive list of finalists, set the bar very high for this year's participants.  In the latest 2013 Google Cloud Developer Challenge, the competition was fierce among the almost 500 submissions received, and the competition grew even tighter once the finalists were announced last month.  You can watch the video announcing the finalists here:


Developers then had about four weeks to incorporate the feedback from the impressive group of Round One judges and refine their applications, adding polishing touches and applying additional skills to help them cross the finish line as a winner!  

Applications were screened by technical experts, in-region judges and leaders in the fields of government, non-profit management, business services, social media, gaming and many other disciplines to gauge the applications against the following criteria:
  • Effective use of Google App Engine (Compulsory)
    • All submissions must have an appspot.com domain
  • Originality of concept
  • Relevance to region (Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, India, Southeast Asia, Middle East and Northern Africa, and US/Europe/Rest of World)
  • Polish and appeal
  • Accessibility
  • Usability on multiple screen sizes
  • Indispensability:  Is the application compelling and/or essential?
  • Amount of user interactions on their app (comments, +1s, FB Likes, etc...)
  • Google+ sign-In / integration (Not compulsory:  Bonus Points)
  • Creative use of YouTube and Google Maps APIs (Not compulsory:  Bonus Points)
  • Use of other Google platforms / APIs (Not compulsory:  Bonus Points)


Earlier this week, the following Google Cloud Developer Challenge winners were announced.  Links to their applications are included below and you can learn more about the developers and their apps by following #GCDC on Google Plus.  


Winners of the Enterprise/Small Business Solutions, Education, Not for Profit Category:

1) HealthMate, India


HealthMate is an application for patients and doctors to manage their prescriptions and appointments.

2) Farejador do Planalto, Brazil


Farejador do Planalto offers Brazilian citizens a way to track, monitor and compare the expenses and absence percentages of congressmen and senators, and share them on social networks.


3) Geo Sketch, Saudi Arabia


Geo Sketch lets you share your ideas, thoughts, comments, or annotations with friends, coworkers and students as a sketch on a map.

4) D.I.Y. Property, Singapore


D.I.Y. Property is a website that helps users to buy, sell or rent property in Singapore.

5) Tourbly, Ghana


Tourbly is a platform that allows tourists to meet up with reliable guides.

6) Grow, United States


Grow is a modern static site generator and content management system that is designed for the cloud.



Winners of the Social / Personal Productivity / Games / Fun Category:

1) Gdirect, India


Gidrect helps you find your way anywhere on the go without the internet.

2) Research Engine, Mexico


Research Engine is an application that helps researchers comprehensively manage their research projects and documentation.

3) Travellog, United Arab Emirates


Travellog is an open community journal of stories and images from around the world.

4) MishMash, Philippines


MishMash is a social game that turns people from your Google+ circles into different sets of challenges.

5) FunnyLeni, Nigeria


FunnyLeni aggregates hilarious local videos watched by you and your friends off YouTube and connects with your Google+, Facebook and Twitter account to discover videos watched by your friends.

6) Travel Journal, Romania


Travel Journal is an application that can help you plan your entire holiday.


I am personally fascinated by the prospect of watching these ideas and applications evolve over time and to watch future business leaders emerge as a result of the challenge.  Have an idea for a future challenge?  Grab a developer friend and start brainstorming an app or two.  Who knows?  Perhaps it will plant a seed for you to win the next challenge yourself and bring the world a valuable app that will make a difference like the great apps that won the Google Cloud Developer Challenge this year.


Monday, 27 January 2014

Who Will Win the Google Cloud Developer Challenge Tomorrow?

The past several months have been very exciting and productive for developers around the world who accepted the challenge to build a world-class cloud application. And their results have been phenomenal! 

As we approach the announcement of the winners of the Google Cloud Developer Challenge on January 28, 2014, I'd love to hear your predictions regarding which apps shown in this video will win in each region. 

 

The six regions include:
1) India
2) Southeast Asia
3) Middle East and Northern Africa
4) Sub-Saharan Africa
5) US, Europe and Rest of the World
6) Latin America

A winning app will be selected in each of two categories in each region:

1) Enterprise/Small Business Solutions, Education, Not for Profit
2) Social, Personal Productivity, Games and Fun

Watch the video now and post your predictions in the comments area for which apps you think will win in YOUR region! If you are competing, feel free to vote for your own app or to pick winners from the other category or regions.  

Good luck to all of the participants in this year's Google Cloud Developer Challenge! Stay tuned to see the list of winners shortly and follow the hashtag #gcdc on Google+.

Sunday, 5 January 2014

Today is the Final Deadline for the Google Cloud Developer Challenge - Good Luck to All

Developers around the world have spent the last several months showing the world what they can do with the Google Cloud Platform! Developers in 6 regions across the world will win prizes that include Android devices and up to $20,000 USD. The challenge also highlights innovations of students and female developers.

Earlier this year, developers were given a challenge to build and submit an amazing application using Google app engine and addressing real-world issues in one of these categories:

1) Enterprise / Small Business Solutions, Education, Not for Profit
2) Social / Personal Productivity / Games / Fun

Be sure to check out the amazing finalists that were announced last month: http://www.google.com/events/gcdc2013/finalists.html . The developers of these apps have been working to improve them over the past month using the feedback from 80 expert judges, so please follow the hashtag #gcdc on Google+ and give them encouragement between now and the announcements later this month.

A winner will be chosen for each category in each region for 12 prizes in total, and today (January 5, 2014) marks the final deadline for the submission of revised applications, and we can't wait to see them! According to the Google Cloud Developer Challenge website, the time zone for submissions is Pacific time: "January 5th 2014: Semifinalist applications are due at 11:59 PM PT." (http://www.google.com/events/gcdc2013/faq.html )

Good luck to all the participants and please stay tuned for final winner announcements on January 28, 2014!

Monday, 18 November 2013

Tick Tock, Tick Tock - Get Your Google Cloud Developer Challenge App in on Time (or Early)!

Earlier today, Rahman Oloritun shared:
 
Tick tock, tick tock! With just a little over 2 days left for submission to  the Google Cloud Developer Challenge, the clock is ticking very loud. The Clock says it is time to submit your apps.
You do not want all that hard work to go to waste just because you missed the submission deadline. Remember to keep it simple,  "Done" is better than perfect. Please test, test and test your app after deploying to app engine.
Please review the submission checklists (http://www.google.com/events/gcdc2013/submit.html)  before submitting your entry. Try to make your description clear and precise since the judges will be seeing your application for the very first time.
Tip:  If possible include tooltip text, a short video describing your app and if possible a help page in your application.

Good Luck!

Thursday, 24 October 2013

Don't Miss This Hangout Tomorrow on UX Design for the Google Cloud Developer Challenge



Rahman Oloritun invited you
Tomorrow, Oct 25, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
What is User Experience (UX)? Why is UX an important aspect of App Development? If you want to know the answers to these questions and more, then hangout with us and our UX expert  this Friday! Also, great UX can give you an edge in the Google Cloud Developer Challenge.
This event will be a Hangout on Air with live broadcast available on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/TheRahmanoloritun/live) for participants who cannot get into the hangout. You can submit questions via google moderator at http://goo.gl/HqZ8Tg

Wednesday, 23 October 2013

Google Cloud Developer Challenge Submissions Now Being Accepted!

For those of you who got a head start on developing your killer cloud app for the Google Cloud Developer Challenge, you can now submit your app. If you're still putting the finishing touches on your app, you've got almost a month to keep working on it!

And even if inspiration just struck you recently, there's still plenty of time to explore  ideas (grab a teammate or two to brainstorm together!), develop a concept, and start hacking! Check out the hashtag #gcdc on Google Plus for great tutorials on Google App Engine and other tools that will help you succeed in the challenge.

Good luck and make sure to get those awesome apps in by November 21st!

Sunday, 20 October 2013

What Category Are You Entering for the Google Cloud Developer Challenge?

If you're following the hashtag #gcdc on Google+, you'll see that developers around the world are working on some really great apps for the Google Cloud Developer Challenge!

Developers are eligible for prizes of up to $20,000 (USD) in several categories, including:

Category 1:

  • Enterprise solutions
  • Small business solutions
  • Education
  • Not for profit
Category 2:
  • Social
  • Personal productivity
  • Games
  • Fun
One talented developer will be chosen as the winner in each category in each region for 12 prizes in total.  The regions include:

  • Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • India
  • Southeast Asia
  • Latin America
  • United States, Europe and ROW
We're all very excited about seeing the apps you're developing. So without giving too much away, comment on this post or on Google+ with just your region and the category into which you're entering your app so we can look for you when the semi-finalist winners are announced on December 5th!  

Wishing you continued inspiration and all the best in the challenge...