The Union Government, which has just begun to build an open data base of public information, has announced an App (mobile applications) competition. The Government has called for entries from developers to build apps for the database and help users access the data from a variety of mobile devices. The apps are aimed at building an enabling ecosystem to access the huge data that is piling up in the data portal (data.gov.in). A Facebook page and twitter account too have been created to constantly update on the new additions to the database. The National Informatics Centre and National Association of Software and Services Companies are conducting the competition. All the Government departments, agencies and statutory bodies are being asked to upload all the data sets they have in order to develop the portal. Departments of Agriculture, Rural Development and Education and Planning Commission have already begun uploading data. About 4,000 data sets have been uploaded so far on the portal. The OpenDataApps challenge announces prizes of Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 for the winning Apps in three different categories. Those interested need to register by August 31.

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