10 December 2010

The web-based walking track application designed by Daniel Pietzsch, has won the $10,000 Supreme Mashup award in the Great NZ Remix & Mashup Competition.

The application NZWalks combines Department of Conservation and Google Maps data and encourages New Zealanders and tourists to use the walking tracks by allowing them to easily view track route, type of track, length and elevation profile all in one place.

In the Outstanding Mashup category Cameron Prebble received a $5,000 prize for his Mashup application MashBlock, a tool visualising census data based on location-based queries.

In the Creative Commons award for the Supreme NZ Remix category Jem Yoshioka received a Macbook Pro and a MinoHD Flip video camera for her Remix An Opal Dream inspired by Katherine Mansfield’s The Opal Dream Cave.

Winners of the competition’s 9 categories and eight special awards were announced live online via Facebook and Twitter on Friday 10 December.

“The contest was a major success, with more than 200 remix entries and more than 40 unique Mashup entries from around the country,” said Andy Neale, Manager, DigitalNZ.

The judges were impressed by the entrants’ creative use of classic New Zealand content and the way diverse applications and data sources were used to create exciting, new and useful applications and content.

“We had everything from applications that visualise demographic census data and finding and exploring rental properties, to illustrating how your tax dollars are spent.”

The Great NZ Remix & Mashup Competition was organised by DigitalNZ, NZ On Screen, Creative Commons NZ, Open New Zealand, data.govt.nz and the National Library of New Zealand to demonstrate the benefits of making content and data publically available for remix and reuse.

The competition had a prize pool of more than $30,000 thanks to support from sponsors InternetNZ, Microsoft, Google, Creative Commons NZ, Boost New Media, Codec, NZ Transport Authority, Department of Conservation, DigitalNZ, National Library of NZ, NZ On Screen, Pixton and MusicHype.

Winning entries were selected based on their originality, showcasing of data and content, quality, usefulness and appeal.

The competition aimed to broaden New Zealand support for open and reusable digital content and data, reward development that uses Kiwi digital content and data, and strengthen relationships between producers, software developers and creative communities.

The competition judges included Tim O’Reilly, founder and CEO of computer book publisher O'Reilly Media Inc., Helen Baxter, Managing Directrix of Mohawk Media and XMediaLab mentor, and Nat Torkington, who ran the first web server in New Zealand in 1992 for Victoria University and started Kiwi Foo Camp (an American-style "unconference").

The public voted online for some of the awards, including the best alternate music video category, which asked entrants to create a video for a selected Flying Nun Records track using never-before-released Archive New Zealand film footage.

A full list of winners, and links to the winning entries, is available at http://www.mixandmash.org.nz/

Full list of category winners:

Special Awards

Supreme mashup – Daniel Pietzsch for ‘NZWalks’

Awarded to a mashup that best shows the value of open NZ data or content, is well designed, and is insanely great. Daniel Pietzsch received a $10,000 cash prize courtesy of Internet NZ.

Outstanding mashup – Cameron Prebble for ‘MashBlock’

Awarded to an awesome mashup that demonstrates the value of open NZ data or content, is well designed and is also insanely great. Cameron Prebble received a $5,000 cash prize courtesy of Microsoft.

Creative Commons Supreme NZ remix – Jem Yoshioka for ‘An Opal Dream’

Awarded to the most outstanding remix entry that includes Creative Commons licensed material. Jem received a Macbook Pro and a MinoHD Flip video camera courtesy of Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand.

Best use of Google cloud computing services – Cameron Prebble for ‘MashBlock’

Awarded to the mashup that best makes use of Google cloud computing services. Cameron Prebble received a $1,000 cash prize courtesy of Google.

Best use of Windows Azure cloud computing services – Robert Coup for ‘Yachter Mobile’

Awarded to the mashup that best makes use of Windows Azure cloud computing services. Robert Coup received a $1,000 cash prize courtesy of Microsoft.

Best school student remix entries – Carys Goodwin for Poetry Retake ‘War Drums’

Awarded to the best entries from primary or secondary students. Carys Goodwin received a MinoHD Flip video camera courtesy of Digital NZ.

Best newbie mashup – Amanda Dorrell and Nick Malcolm for Tax Receipt 2010

Awarded to the best mashup entry by someone who's never made one before. Amanda and Nick received a $1,000 cash prize courtesy of Digital NZ.

Judge’s discretionary award – Richard Best for ‘RFPMIX’

Mashup Category:

Best visualisation – Jeremy Arnold for ‘Grid Watch’

Awarded to the mashup that best helps people learn or understand something through visualisation and interaction. Jeremy Arnold received a $2,000 cash prize courtesy of Boost New Media.

Best geo application for mobile – Robert Coup for ‘Yachter Mobile’

Awarded to the mobile application that delivers the best location-based mashup on a phone, tablet or portable device. Robert Coup received a $2,000 cash prize courtesy of Google.

Best open government service – Southgate Labs for Open Government Service: MP Playing Cards iPad App

Awarded to the mashup that best encourages transparent, accessible, and accountable government at any level. Southgate Labs received a $2,000 cash prize courtesy of Microsoft.

Best search experience – Kim Shepherd and Joshua Smyth for ‘Home Sweet Home’

Awarded to the mashup that best helps people explore content and items found through New Zealand data sources. Kim Shepard and Joshua Symth received a $2,000 cash prize courtesy of Codec.

Best visitor experience using DOC data – Daniel Pietzsch for ‘NZWalks’

Awarded to the mashup that best helps visitors interact with the natural environment through web or mobile experiences. Daniel Pietzsch will receive a unique conservation experience worth $2000 courtesy of the Department of Conservation.

Remix Category

Best poster advert for 'the great kiwi summer holiday' – Phil Bartie and Nora Wang for ‘Abel Tasman’

Awarded to the poster design that best promotes a summer holiday in your New Zealand location of choice. Phil and Nora received a MinoHD Flip video camera and limited edition print run of their poster courtesy of DigitalNZ.

Best remix of kiwi cartoons by Brunswick – Heidi Busch

Awarded to the best remix of a kiwi cartoon from the selected frames from New Zealand cartoonist Grant Buist. Heidi Busch receives a MinoHD Flip video camera, Pixton+ membership, and has their entry lodged in the NZ Cartoon Archive courtesy of Pixton Comics Inc.

Best alternate music video – Thomas Gleeson and Emma Johansson

Awarded to the best Kiwi music video created for the selected track provided by Flying Nun Records. Thomas and Emma receives a MinoHD Flip video camera and a prize package from NZ On Air, MusicHype and NZ On Screen.

Best poem inspired by the New Zealand Poet Laureate – Jo Eaton and Thomas Scovell for ‘The Sun’s Beat’

Awarded to the most inspiring poem remixed from words and images chosen by NZ Poet Laureate Cilla McQueen. Jo and Thomas receive a MinoHD Flip video camera and a selection of New Zealand poetry books courtesy of the National Library of New Zealand.

About the Great NZ Remix & Mashup Competition

Competition partners:

Archives New Zealand
Creative Commons New Zealand
Creative Freedom
data.govt.nz
Digital NZ
Ministry of Education
National Library of New Zealand
NZ On Screen
Open New Zealand
Summer of Tech
webstock

ENDS

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