Earlier this year, ICMA partnered with Esri on the Esri Climate Resilience App Challenge 2014. Developers were tasked with creating mobile apps that enabled communities to understand and prepare for a more resilient and sustainable future. Apps were judged on their innovative use of geographic information system (GIS) technology; data; and Esri apps, maps, services, and APIs. ICMA Executive Board member Jane Brautigam, city manager of Boulder, Colorado, served as a judge for the challenge.

Winners of the App Challenge were announced at the Esri International User Conference in San Diego on July 14, 2014. The three winners are:

First Place

Minnesota Solar Suitability Analysis—$10,000 Prize: Users identify the suitability of a location for solar panel installation by entering home or other location information and querying solar analysis data. With this information, solar installers can also provide better site assessments, and planners can identify neighborhoods for targeted solar projects.

Second Place

Flood Forecast—$5,000 Prize: Users receive short message service (SMS) messages alerting them to imminent flooding danger at their location. This unique app analyzes National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) flood advisories, identifies flood sensitive properties using federal 100-year flood standards, consumes data from forecast.io to provide accurate local weather reports, and transmits flood alerts and Disaster Assistance Center locations via Twilio.

Third Place

Save the Rain—$2,500 Prize: Users harness mapping tools and climate data to understand how they can conserve a limited water supply by capturing rainwater landing on their home to water plants and lawns, wash cars, and even flush toilets.

ICMA will be partnering with Esri on the further development of apps and other technology tools to build community resilience this fall at a White Boarding Exercise to be held on the Esri campus in Redlands, California. Members of the ICMA Sustainability Advisory Committee will participate in the exercise scheduled for October

Esri, the world leader in mapping technology, is a long-time Strategic Partner of ICMA.