Novelist Naomi Alderman, renowned angel investor Esther Dysonand Guardian’s Jemima Kiss join Judging Panel for AppMyCity!
• 10 international experts from private, media and non-profit sectors join AppMyCity! Judging Panel
• Panel to select 3 finalists for USD $5000 prize for world’s best new urban app, to be announced by Guardian Cities on May 21. Finalists to be invited to New Cities Summit, Dallas, June 17-19, for final stage of contest
• Apps from 11 countries and 4 continents have applied so far. Deadline for entries: April 18
Paris, France and Dallas, Texas, April 2, 2014 – The New Cities Foundation today announced the judging panel for AppMyCity!, an annual competition for the world’s best new urban mobile application, www.appmycity.org.
The 2014 AppMyCity! judging panel comprises 10 leading experts from the private, non-profit, cultural and media fields:
- Naomi Alderman, novelist, broadcaster and games designer
- Arun Bhikshesvaran, Chief Marketing Officer, Ericsson
- Esther Dyson, Chairman, EDventure Holdings
- John Egan, CEO, Sandbox
- Di-Ann Eisnor, VP Platform and Partnership, Waze
- Hussein Kanji, Partner, Hoxton Ventures
- Jemima Kiss, Head of Technology, the Guardian
- Anil Menon, President Globalization and Smart+Connected Communities, Cisco
- Christian Noske, Senior Associate, BMW i Ventures
- John Rossant, Founder and Chairman, New Cities Foundation
The New Cities Foundation’s AppMyCity! promotes and rewards mobile apps that improve the urban experience, connect people, and make cities more fun, fair, vibrant and sustainable places.
AppMyCity! was launched by the New Cities Foundation, in partnership with Guardian Cities, in March 2014.
John Rossant, Founder and Chairman of the New Cities Foundation, said: “AppMyCity! is a fun, inspiring showcase for the world’s most talented app developers, and a fantastic celebration of how mobile apps can enrich the urban experience. I look forward to working with my fellow judges from across the world to pick the three best developers who’ll join us at the New Cities Summit in Dallas this June.”
Mike Herd, Editor of Guardian Cities, the AppMyCity! 2014 media partner, said: "At Guardian Cities we're fascinated by the many ways technology might improve the life of urban citizens all over the world – and want our readers to be part of that process, highlighting any great new ideas they've come across. So we're delighted to be a media partner in this year's AppMyCity! competition, and look forward to giving our readers the chance to user-test some of the contenders for the grand prize. Judging by the entrants so far, it's going to be a tough call...”
AppMyCity! deadline and judging process
The deadline for AppMyCity! entries is April 18, 2014. 10 semi-finalists will be selected by the New Cities Foundation and announced on May 6, 2014.
The judging panel will then assess the ten semi-finalists and select three finalists, who will be announced on May 21.
The New Cities Foundation will invite the three finalists to the New Cities Summit in Dallas. Texas, on June 17-19. They will each have five minutes to present their app to the 800 thought-leaders present at the Summit. Following the presentations, the audience will cast a live vote to select the winning app. The winner will be announced during the Summit, and will walk away with the US$5,000 cash prize, to be used in further developing the app.
So far, apps from 11 countries and 4 continents have applied for the contest.
Applications and more information can be found at www.appmycity.org.
Ends
International press contact:
Marina Bradbury
Communications & Media Relations Manager
New Cities Foundation
mbradbury@newcitiesfoundation.org
+33 6 17 79 17 72
Neil Mac Lean
Press & Communications Assistant
New Cities Foundation
nmaclean@newcitiesfoundation.org
Local press contact:
Brunswick Group – Dallas
Daniel Harrison
+1 214 254 3790
About AppMyCity!
AppMyCity Timeline - 2014
- April 18: Submission Deadline
- May 6: 10 Semi-finalists announced
- May 21: 3 Finalists announced
- June 17/18: Winner chosen at the New Cities Summit in Dallas, Texas
AppMyCity! is organized by the New Cities Foundation.
Media Partner:
AppMyCity! judges:
Naomi Alderman
Naomi Alderman is a novelist, broadcaster and games designer. For her novels, which include Disobedience, The Lessons and The Liars' Gospel, she has won awards including the Orange Award for New Writers and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year. In 2013 she was named as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists in their once-a-decade list. In 2012, she co-created the top-selling fitness game and audio adventure Zombies, Run!, which was shortlisted for five Develop awards and won the FutureBook adult app award.
Arun Bhikshesvaran
Arun Bhikshesvaran is responsible for driving Ericsson’s global marketing strategy, which is focused on enhancing Ericsson’s role in the evolving Networked Society. With over 20 years’ experience in the communications industry, he previously served in a variety of roles including Multimedia and Infrastructure Solutions, Systems Solutions and Integration, Field Engineering, R&D and Global Product Marketing. Arun holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and has completed Post Graduate Executive Programs at Columbia Business School and Kellogg.
Esther Dyson
Esther Dyson (@edyson) is an angel investor who recently founded HICCup/WaytoWellville, dedicated to fostering and measuring the impact of critical-density health programs. Overall, she is fascinated by new business models, new technologies and new markets (both economic and political). She is also a director for a variety of companies, including 23andMe, Eventful, Luxoft (LXFT), Meetup, NewspaperDirect, PA Consulting, Personal Inc., Voxiva, XCOR Aerospace and Yandex (YNDX).
John Egan
John Egan is a multi award winning entrepreneur, economist, writer and CEO. He is currently a board member and CEO of Sandbox, a global network of millennial leaders and innovators. Previously he has started and sold businesses in the engineering sector and has written and spoken extensively on the future of banking.
Di-Ann Eisnor
Di-Ann Eisnor is Head of Global Partnerships for crowd-sourced navigation and real-time traffic system, Waze. A neogeography pioneer and serial entrepreneur, Di-Ann employs all means to increase the world’s citizen mappers. Prior to Waze, Di-Ann was Co-Founder and CEO of Platial, a widely adopted mobile and online social mapping service funded by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Ram Shriram and others. She holds a BS in Studio Art and Business Administration from New York University.
Hussein Kanji
Hussein Kanji heads up Hoxton Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm. He is also advisor to the Chairman of Eros International Plc (NYSE:EROS) and Different Capital, and helps the UK government with technology policy. He was formerly with Accel Partners, where he focused on consumer internet, financial technology and software investments including OpenGamma, Playfish (acquired by EA) and Dapper (acquired by Yahoo). Hussein holds an MBA from London Business School, and did his undergraduate studies in Symbolic Systems at Stanford University.
Jemima Kiss
Jemima Kiss joined the Guardian in 2006 and heads the Guardian's coverage of tech trends, gadgets, gaming and startups - helping translate and demystify technology for non-geeks. She is a permanent fixture on the Tech Weekly podcast and sits on the British Journalism Review editorial board. A proud graduate of Dartington College of Arts, Jemima has covered technology and media online since 2002.
Anil Menon
Anil co-leads Cisco’s globalization efforts and ‘Smart+Connected Communities’, which works with cities and rural communities around the world to use the network as the platform for driving economic, social and environmental sustainability. Prior to joining Cisco, Anil was with IBM Corporation from 2002-2009, holding several key senior global roles, with the most recent being Vice President, Corporate Strategy, IBM Growth Markets. Prior to joining IBM, Anil was a successful academic and business consultant. He was on the graduate faculty of Emory University (1995-2002) and was department head of the marketing faculty at Emory University’s Business School.
Christian Noske
Christian focuses on early stage investments in Navigation & Traffic, Smart Parking and Consumer Internet. He also manages BMW’s Incubator space in New York and is the organizer of the NY Future Mobility Meetup. Prior to joining BMW i Ventures, Christian was CFO for a digital agency that was acquired by WPP, and worked in Finance and Business Development for Robert Bosch GmbH in Germany and Asia. Christian holds a degree in Business Informatics from the State University Stuttgart in Germany.
John Rossant
John Rossant is Founder and Chairman of the New Cities Foundation. He is also Executive Chairman of Geneva-based PublicisLive, the global events management company responsible for the organization of the world’s most prestigious international conferences, such as the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He holds advanced degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and the American University in Cairo. A former journalist, John Rossant held several senior editorial positions at Business Week, including European Correspondent, as well as Paris, Rome and Middle East Correspondent.
AppMyCity! Rules
AppMyCity! applicants should ensure that their apps meet the following criteria:
1. Be Urban!
The app must have a clear focus on cities in categories such as mobility, sustainability, equity, citizenship, retail, art and entertainment, health, water, or other city-related topics.
2. Be New!
The app must have been launched after January 1st 2013. Updated versions of apps launched prior to this date can apply, but will have to be pre-approved by the New Cities Foundation. Apps in final stages of development may apply as long as final release on a major platform occurs prior to May 1, 2014.
3. Be Mobile!
The app must be downloadable on iOS, Android, or Windows Phone. Web-based mobile apps are also eligible.
The app itself can be in any language. Applications must be submitted online, and can be written in any language.
When applying, app developers are invited to opt in to having their app covered on the Guardian Cities website.
| www.appmycity.org | |
| Twitter: #AppMyCity |
About the New Cities Summit
Organized by the New Cities Foundation, the New Cities Summit is the premier global leadership event on the future of cities. Fostering positive urban change, the high level gathering advocates cross-sector collaboration through network building, cutting-edge forums and lively discussion. The Summit showcases and disseminates the best ideas on the future of cities and generates concrete, scalable solutions capable of being adopted and replicated across the world. Following the inaugural Summit in Paris in 2012, last year’s event was hosted in São Paulo. The New Cities Summit 2014 will be hosted in Dallas, Texas, USA, from June 17 - 19.
@newcitiesfound #ncs2014
About the New Cities Foundation
The New Cities Foundation is a leading global non-profit organization, with a vision to build more inclusive, dynamic and creative cities benefiting people and society. Its mission is to incubate, promote and scale urban innovations through collaborative partnerships between government, business, academia and civil society.
The New Cities Foundation hosts a number of leadership events on the most pressing urban issues, including its flagship event, the New Cities Summit, which takes place this year in Dallas, Texas, on June 17 – 19, 2014 (www.newcitiessummit2014.org).The Foundation also hosts smaller leadership events worldwide, such as Cityquest - KAEC Forum, a high level event focusing on the conception and building of new cities around the world (www.cityquest.net)
The Foundation’s applied research wing, the Urban (co)LAB, manages a number of projects including Task Forces, thought leadership activities and competitions. The Urban (co)LAB recently completed two Task Forces on Urban E-health in Rio de Janeiro and on Connected Commuting in San Jose, California. The Urban (co)LAB also manages the annual AppMyCity! contest for the world’s best urban mobile app, and seeks out the most talented urban innovators for the WhatWorks series of talks hosted at the New Cities Summit.
An independent, non-profit organization, the New Cities Foundation was created in 2010 and is financed by its members and partners. Overall, its members include some of the most forward-thinking companies, universities, cities and city organizations from around the world. The New Cities Foundation’s Founding Members are Cisco and Ericsson. The Foundation is based in Geneva and its head office is in Paris. For more information about the New Cities Foundation, please visit:
| www.newcitiesfoundation.org | |
| Facebook: /NewCitiesFoundation | |
| Twitter: @newcitiesfound |
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