[open-economics] WB competition

Mon Mar 28 21:01:01 UTC 2011

Dear all,

Great news that we are admitted as finalists at the World Bank competition.
I just discussed with Guo the wording of the email and we are not exactly
clear what the presentations are for. This is worth knowing since:

There are 15 finalists and Guo spotted 7 prizes on their website. So it
seems we are just short-listed but have not won anything yet. So it might
all now depend on the quality of the presentation that we are invited to
deliver on the 14th of April.

We discussed if we could potentially push our case a bit by showing that
Yourtopia is "extensible"; that we already have a follow-up concept.
Remember, the suggestion was the content of
http://wiki.okfn.org/ProgressVote. Could we quickly discuss if we are
interested in that concept? In that case I could write it into a one-page
hand-out.

One idea to give them a dynamic incentive to support us with their prize
might be if we declare that the money -should they award it- might partly be
used for ProgressVote. And then ProgressVote could itself be the basis for
this group to contribute to the EU's JRC project and the German Enquête
Growth-Commission.

Another question is if we want to deploy the new question set uploaded on
bitbucket. Rufus rightly suggested that also myself should contribute to
implementing this, but I am unfortunately still incapable of programming. I
know this is a significant problem and has to change eventually, so that I
can contribute more meaningfully. For the moment I would be very grateful if
you could excuse me for this.

Also, we have not yet deployed the comparison to GDP-PPP and HDI-rankings
(both lists are uploaded in Bitbucket) and on the front page Stefan
Wehrmeyer's name is yet missing.

Given all the above (need to deliver an outstanding presentation and need
for final hacks on the website) I suggest that Rufus would be the best
candidate for the conference in Washington. Alternatively Friedrich. Guo is
in India at the time, as would I be. If Rufus and Friedrich would not be
available, however, I would cancel my flight to India on the 11th, and go
there after the conference. I still do suggest that I might not be the best
person since Rufus
1. knows the economic debate that we addressed, 2. has the least distracting
English so people consider the content of the presentation and not the
German accent of that talker, 3. knows the code; while only the first is
true for me, 4. did a major push with a good bit of day-and-night work in
January, the last of which was pretty much alone until Stefan gave a major
final boost.

My role in any case could be to prepare the hand-out, providing a view ahead
for this and making clear again -in case they did not fully get it- that our
app provides a solution to the index-problems that the WB research head
Ravallion pointed out last December.
I am in the midth of my finals but would be able to write this after my last
deadline on the 10th. So I could assure that -whoever goes- would have these
documents by the 13th.

What do you think?

With best wishes,

Dirk

----

Hi folks,

I'm delighted to tell you that we have been chosen as a finalist among
107 eligible submissions.

We are invited to the awards ceremony held at the WB HQ in DC on April

14th. They are paying for the flight and three nights in DC.
Unfortunately, I will be on fieldwork in India at that time - would
anyone else be willing to go? How about you Dirk?

Really happy that this worked out well!

Guo

On 28 March 2011 15:50,  <apps4dev at worldbank.org
<http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/open-economics>> wrote:
>* Dear Guo
*>*
*>* We are delighted to invite you to participate in the awards ceremony of the

*>* Apps for Development competition. The awards ceremony will be held at World
*>* Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 2011.
*>*
*>* The competition attracted apps from around the world and the 107 eligible

*>* submissions have been evaluated during two rounds of judging. From this very
*>* strong pool of submissions, 15 finalists have been identified. We are very
*>* pleased to let you know that your app, Yourtopia - Development beyond GDP,

*>* is one of the finalists.
*>*
*>* We are inviting the developer for each of the finalists to the awards
*>* ceremony. Prior to and following the event, there will be the opportunity to

*>* demonstrate your app to other software developers, members of the press and
*>* other invited guests.
*>*
*>* As the competition is still ongoing we kindly request that you do not share

*>* this information with members of the press or via any social media networks
*>* at this time.
*>*
*>* We are able to cover travel expenses for one person. Please see the
*>* attachment for the exact details of the expenses which we are able to cover,

*>* and important details related to visas.
*>*
*>* Could you kindly indicate by return email no later than April 1, if you will
*>* be able to attend. 2011. If you need more information on the Award Ceremony,

*>* or wish to confirm your participation, please contact Mr. Richard Murby
*>* (rmurby at worldbank.org
<http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/open-economics>) who will be
your main contact.

*>*
*>* With congratulations and best wishes from the entire Apps for Development
*>* competition team,
*>*
*>* Apps for Development Team
*>* Innovation Practice

*>* World Bank Institute
*>*
*>* (See attached file: TravelDetailsFinalists.doc)
*
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