MyMoneyAppUp by U.S. Department of the Treasury – $25,000
Submission period: June 27 – August 12, 2012.
Prizes:
1st: $10,000
2nd: $5,000 (2)
3rd: $2,500 (2)
From the webpage:
The MyMoneyAppUp Challenge, launched by the U.S. Treasury Department in partnership with the D2D Fund and Center for Financial Services Innovation, is a contest intended to motivate American entrepreneurs, software developers, the public, and students to propose the best ideas and designs for next-generation mobile tools to help Americans control and shape their financial futures. The Challenge calls for mobile app ideas (IdeaBank) and designs (App Design), with cash prizes awarded to the best submissions. Competitors are encouraged to propose mobile apps that incorporate data to empower consumers, as part of Treasury’s initiative to promote Smart Disclosure. MyMoneyAppUp competitors who want to take their winning ideas to the next step and develop prototypes may enter the FinCapDev Competition, a complementary competition sponsored exclusively by D2D and CFSI at the conclusion of the MyMoneyAppUp Challenge. Support for prizes and the administration of the Challenge by CFSI and D2D for the MyMoneyAppUp Challenge comes from the Ford Foundation, Omidyar Network, and the Citi Foundation.
Sounds like a place where topic maps could play a role.
From something as simple as integrating balances from specified accounts or drafts on those accounts, to provide users with projected balances. Could even include projected credit card balances with interest rates.
Need a kill switch for the credit card one, at least while you are buying me a book present online. No particular holiday required. 😉
It’s not a lot of money but a good opportunity to build street cred for topic maps.
Heterogeneous data structures are the rule in the finance community.
PS: When some friend of yours says, “Oh, but we can use X to map between heterogeneous data structures.,” your response should be: “Sure, and when you move up in management, how do we know why that mapping exists?” “Or add to it?”
Fixed mappings are useful, but also repetitively expensive.