Team presents Side Stream API, national park guest check in, and a
recreation tips system at U.S. Department of Interior hackathon
OLATHE, Kan. -- (Business Wire)
Six technologists from NIC
Inc. (NASDAQ: EGOV),
the dominant provider of eGovernment services, participated recently in
the myAmerica Developer Summit hosted by the U.S. Department of
Interior. The team was comprised of a chief architect and five
developers representing the company’s Montana, Tennessee, and Texas
portal subsidiaries.
Six technologists from NIC Inc. (NASDAQ: EGOV) participated in the myAmerica Developer Summit in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Business Wire)
At the event, the NIC team pitched three service ideas, developed
proof-of-concept solutions, and will soon be releasing the software
created at the weekend summit under open source licensing on the
summit’s official GitHub repository. NIC’s ideas specifically tap into
the valuable Recreation.gov dataset, which is commonly referred to as
the Recreation Information Database, or RIDB. The RIDB is the federal
government’s inventory of information and services for millions of
visitors to federal lands, historic sites, museums, and other
attractions.
“At NIC, we are always focused on making government interactions more
accessible to everyone through technology,” said Robert Knapp, NIC Chief
Operating Officer. “I am very proud of our team for volunteering their
time and talents as a public service to our country to help increase
citizen engagement around our public lands and waters. We look forward
to continuing to identify opportunities with the federal government to
deliver digital government services that drive efficiencies.”
The three proof-of-concept solutions pitched by the NIC team and
developed during the summit include:
RIDB Side Stream API and Reference Web Application:
The RIDB Side Stream API, or application program interface, allows
developers to pull recreation information from sources external to the
government, such as social media sites, photo sharing services, mapping
systems, and travel site ratings, using a single API. The information
can be retrieved using RIDB’s identifiers for recreation resources,
simplifying retrieval and integration of this information into websites
and applications.
Guest Book Check In with Beacons:
Beacons are an emerging technology which allow effortless interaction
between users with mobile devices and their surrounding location. NIC
created a virtual guest book system so that those visiting America’s
public lands and waterways can check-in and provide a short message to
fellow outdoor enthusiasts at the park. The check-in function utilizes a
mobile application to automatically check into the specific recreation
area once the mobile device detects a beacon for that location.
Recreation Tips API:
At the hackathon event, NIC created a tip system that could be attached
to the recreation resources represented in RIDB. The system was created
first as an API and then a reference web application was created to
demonstrate how the system could be used within both official government
and third-party recreation websites. Recreation tips are intended to
assist the visitor in packing for a trip and finding their favorite
recreation activity when they arrive.
Collectively, the solutions presented by NIC during the federal
hackathon demonstrate that by working together, government and
technology companies can create a richer repository of information about
public lands and waters and provide greater access to those seeking
recreational activities. The apps will soon be released into GitHub as
open-sourced software and will be available for anyone’s use.
The myAmerica Developer Summit was held April 11-12, 2015 in Washington,
D.C., to help promote and protect America’s public lands and waters by
expanding and exploring opportunities for citizen engagement and
industry partnership for the federal Recreation One Stop program.
About NIC
Founded in 1992, NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV) is the nation's leading provider of official
government websites, online services, and secure
payment processing solutions. The company's innovative eGovernment
services help make government more accessible to everyone through
technology. The family of NIC companies provides eGovernment solutions
for more than 3,500 federal, state, and local agencies in the United
States. Forbes has named NIC as one of the “100 Best Small Companies in
America” six times, most recently ranked at No.36 (2014), and the
company has been included five times on the Barron’s 400 Index.
Additional information is available at http://www.egov.com.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20150416006518/en/
Contacts:
NIC
Angela Davied, 913-754-7054
Director of
Corporate
Communications
adavied@egov.com
Source: NIC
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