ICMA joins with Esri, the world leader in mapping technology, to announce The Esri Climate Resilience App Challenge 2014, calling all developers to create an app using the Esri ArcGIS Platform to help communities, see, understand, and prepare for climate risks. Esri will provide up to three winners with more than $15,000 in cash prizes or a software equivalent. The deadline is June 2.

Apps may help communities prepare for, react to, and recover from severe events caused by climate, or enable everyday changes to reduce our carbon footprint. They could address challenges in public safety, transportation, economic development, healthcare, and more. Apps will be judged on the creative and effective use of data, Esri apps, maps, services, and APIs.

GIS technology can help answer important questions related to climate change. For example: How are changes in weather patterns going to impact the world? How do we start preparing for these changes? What makes cities more resilient to climate change? Climate impacts reach beyond crops and wildlife. For example, what can city planners do to rethink infrastructure design? What impacts will climate have on public health, and what do health care providers need to do to adapt?

“We can answer important questions and solve some of these significant problems using a resilience app,” Dangermond said. “We encourage developers to explore the hurdles of climate resilience—from tools to manage drought, wildfires, and hurricanes, to safer communities, intelligent transportation, sustainable infrastructure, smart cities, and more energy-efficient buildings.”

The winning apps will be featured at the Esri International User Conference, where more than 15,000 Esri users come together to share ideas and do their part to transform our world.

For more information, visit esri.com/climate-app.