Minister Clement Promotes CODE Appathon with Vancouver Students

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Jan. 22, 2014) - Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

The Government of Canada is supporting and promoting its first national Open Data appathon, the Canadian Open Data Experience (CODE), slated for the end of February. Students, tech developers and Open Data enthusiasts will be challenged to turn valuable Government of Canada data into useful and user-friendly apps. The winning teams will be awarded prizes.

Treasury Board President Tony Clement is in Vancouver this week to promote CODE at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. CODE is part of our Government's effort to promote the kind of technological advances that lead to the start-up of new businesses, economic expansion and job creation, as well as social benefits, like using data to save time in our day-to-day schedules.

To fully harness the powers of Open Data, the Government of Canada is releasing datasets into the hands of entrepreneurs and other Open Data enthusiasts through data.gc.ca, Canada's federal Open Data Portal.

Quick Facts

• The Canadian Open Data Experience (CODE) is a 48-hour appathon taking place from Friday, February 28 to Sunday, March 2, 2014.
  
  
• CODE competitors can apply to participate at a centralized HUB in Toronto or they can participate remotely from their homes, schools, or their local coffee shop.
  
  
• At the end of the CODE appathon, participants will submit their completed apps online to be evaluated by a celebrity judging panel.
  
  
• The top 15 teams will be invited to the CODE Grand Finale event on March 28, in Toronto, where they will pitch their apps during a live judging event.
  
  

Quotes

"Appathons like CODE are increasing in popularity as a way to encourage data enthusiasts, coders, developers, and designers to find new ways to deliver value to Canadians. The skills developed at CODE will strengthen Canada's workforce by teaching students transferable skills that can be used in today's digital age."

Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board

"UBC is pleased to welcome Minister Clement and Ray Sharma from XMG Studio to our Vancouver campus. The CODE appathon is an exciting opportunity for UBC students to use entrepreneurial thinking to develop innovative tools to make government data more accessible to the public."

Stephen Toope, President and Vice Chancellor of the University of British Columbia

"We welcome today's announcement at SFU's Surrey Campus, where high-tech innovation is a cornerstone of our programming. The CODE appathon will provide participants a great opportunity to demonstrate their skills in translating data into beneficial applications."

Andrew Petter, SFU President