The Knight News Challenge accelerates media innovation by funding breakthrough ideas in news and information. Winners receive a share of $5 million in funding and support from Knight’s network of influential peers and advisors to help advance their ideas. The first round of 2013, which opens in February, will invite innovators from all disciplines to focus on tools for open government. In 2012, three challenge rounds, each focused on an emerging trend, drew more than 2,500 entries.
Challenge 1 - on NETWORKS: Winners were announced June 18.
Challenge 2 - on DATA: Winners were announced Sept. 20.
Challenge 3 – on MOBILE: Winners were announced Jan. 17.
Anyone, anywhere can apply for the challenge - whether for-profit start-ups or non-profit ventures. For more information on a variety of topics - from guidelines for for-profits, on intellectual property licensing, open source software and more - visit our FAQ.
1. What is your project? [1 sentence]
KidFriendly is a mobile app that will help parents with small children select the most appropriate restaurant to dine, at the current time, based upon real-time reports from other KidFriendly users.
2. How will your project use mobile tools and approaches? [2 sentences]
KidFriendly could potentially partner with an existing mobile app such as foursquare to allow users to report additional real-time details such as playground activity, noise level, and wait time. GPS data could be used to provide closest restaurant results that match the family’s current criteria.
3. Who will use it and why? [1 sentence]
Parents of small children would use KidFriendly in order to select the most appropriate place to dine at this very moment, and patrons without children would potentially use it to avoid the restaurants full of kids!
4. Please list three ways they would learn about your project.
1) Marketing in parenting magazines, partner restaurants, and pediatrician’s offices
2) SEO which would lead users to the supporting website
3) Social media strategies using Facebook and Twitter
5. What connections have you made, or will you make, with others [communities, organizations or networks] about your project? [2 sentences]
We would seek partnerships with local restaurants that are typically frequented by families with small children in order to increase visibility of both the app and restaurant. We would also seek out local children’s organizations in order to solicit parents to provide feedback and perhaps test early versions of the app.
6. What part of the project have you already built? [1-2 sentences, feel free to include links]
No parts of KidFriendly have been built at this time.
7. What does success for your project look like? [1-2 sentences]
Success is providing parents with a tool that will allow them to make the most of their dining experience on any given night. Parents of small children know that getting out the door for a meal together is hard enough; finding the right restaurant shouldn’t have to be.
8. What resources do you need to succeed? [1-2 sentences]
We would rely on the Knight Foundation for funding for development and testing of the app, in addition to assistance with establishing contacts within the community.
Additional details:
Please list who is on your team: scrum master, user experience expert
Expected number of months to complete project: 6 months
Estimated Project Cost: $200,000
Name: Jason Ward
Twitter:
Email address: jason.ward45@yahoo.com
Organization [if applicable]:
City: Macon, GA
Country: United States
How did you learn about the contest? Fellow co-worker Michael Rosario
