During Year Four, CityLinks plans to implement its first App2Action Challenge to develop a smart application that will help address a water and/or sanitation hygiene (WASH) challenge identified by the local government of a selected beneficiary city and its USAID Mission. 

What is a smart app challenge?
A smart app challenge is a virtual competition of brainstorming and computer programming that spans several months. It draws together the talent and creativity of software developers, designers, and subject-matter experts all working towards the creation of a winning application. The winning application is then refined and piloted during an incubation period, allowing for a more fully-formed and sustainable tool.

Examples
Hackathons are a popular short-form version of smart app challenges. They are executed over the course of a few days and do not include an incubation period for the winning application. Two major international hackathons were USAID’s first global hackathon in 2012, Hack for Hunger, which focused on food security and the World Bank’s 2011 Water Hackathon, which showed the potential for a hackathon contribution to the water sector.
Winning applications from the World Bank’s hackathon, which was held simultaneously in 10 cities include:

• Nairobi - First prize went to a team working on a prototype for a mobile-to- web complaint system for utility agencies called Maji-Voice. The application was further developed with the water sector regulator and the Nairobi water utility and is currently in use.
• Bangalore - An application that acts as a portable and cheap water testing kit that connects to an Android device. A not for profit organization in Bangalore is sponsoring the winning team to take the prototype forward for funding.
• Lima - Hydrological data from the Ministry of Agriculture was made public for the first time on an open street map. The map includes all water resources—rivers, watersheds, lakes, snow peaks, etc.—and is now available through Map Box. This solution will also allow citizens to report water-related events (pollution, social conflicts, floods, etc.). 

In many cases, the main goal of a smart app challenge is to create a usable product such as a mobile application or website. However, the success of a smart app challenge does not solely rely on the product, but can include improved multilateral governance models, citizen engagement, and government transparency.

How does it work?

The App2Action Challenge is comprised of three phases that take place over a 6-9 month period:

• Tech Jam: A slightly formal brainstorming session, led by a facilitator and water sector experts typically from the local government to inform programmers on challenges the challenge aims to address. This involves a presentation to provide an overview of the major water challenges and breakout sessions between the programmers and subject-matter experts. The session aims to bridge language and knowledge barriers between water stakeholders and programmers. Local government officials will also have the opportunity to explore the role of open data and technology in government.
• App Challenge: A two to three month period during which participants work remotely to create a winning application based on problems and strategies identified during the tech jam. A video demonstration or PowerPoint presentation of the application will then be submitted online for review by a panel of judges. Judges will include local government officials, issue area experts, technical experts, and program staff.
• Incubation: A three month period during which the winning application is refined and piloted by the local government.

Stay tuned for the next post in our App2Action 101 series - Get to Know the Theme.