UoA Students Win Awards at FY2016 Aizu-Wakamatsu City Open Data Contest

On Friday, February 10, 2017, the award ceremony for the FY2016 Aizuwakamatsu City Open Data Contest was held at the Aizu-Keiko-Do Comprehensive Lifetime Learning Center in Aizuwakamatsu City. Aizuwakamatsu City has been engaged in open data initiatives since FY2012 with an aim of improving the transparency and reliability of its governance, as well as contributing to regional revitalization. This contest is for soliciting a wide range of applications and ideas that utilize open data and awarding the best of them.

This year, UoA students Satoshi KAJI (4th-year undergraduate) won the Grand Prize, while Takuro MATSUO and Yutaro TOBITA (both 4th-year undergraduates) were awarded Encouragement Prizes.

【Grand Prize】
Submission: "Plotting of a Population Mesh and Development of a User-Friendly Population Mesh Library" (Application/Service Division)
Overview: This application drops population data by date into meshed digital maps. If you click the map mesh, you can see the population of the surrounding area. By browsing multiple maps, you can visualize population fluctuations by date and by age group.
Awardee: Satoshi KAJI (4th-year undergraduate)
Comment: "My original idea for this application was to create a way for many people to easily understand open data. I hope everyone will make good use of it."

【Encouragement Prizes】
Submission: "Ai Photo" (Idea Division)
Overview: This is an application that lets users share the change, the beauty, and the splendor of the town in photos. The developers plan to construct an open image data platform that allows users to upload photos and pictures of Aizuwakamatsu's cityscape and scenery of bygone eras. This way, users can learn how the city has changed over the years.
Awardee: Takuro MATSUO (4th-year undergraduate)
Comment: "When I visited a fireworks display held in Aizu last year, I noticed that people of all ages and genders were taking pictures with their smartphones. It made me a little sad to think all those great pictures, each taken at a unique angle and time, are buried in the memory of a smartphone. That gave me the idea for this app. I would like to keep working to make this idea a reality."
Awardee: (4th-year undergraduate) Yutaro TOBITA
Comment: "Participating in this Open Data Contest was great experience for me. I am honored to have received this great prize as a result. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who helped put this event on, and also to my friends who helped us brainstorm the idea that led to this award. I hope to continue working to make this idea a reality."