Happy trails: Statewide contest seeks smartphone apps using state trail data

The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has a wealth of information about Pennsylvania’s trail system, from the trails’ GPS coordinates to the location of boat docks on waterways. And these tidbits would be very useful in the hands – or smartphones – of hikers, bikers and snowmobilers, the department thought.

Sounds like a recipe for a smartphone application.

So DCNR asked the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology for help developing an app. From there came the idea for a contest to see who could develop the best one.

“We know there are a lot of bright developers out there, and any app we could have come up with, they probably would have come up with something better,” says Charles Palmer, executive director of the
university’s Center for Advanced Entertainment and Learning Technologies.

The contest will be open to developers in Pennsylvania and students at all of the state’s colleges. It starts Jan. 18 and all entries have to be in by March 1. The winner will get an iPad.

Palmer foresees all sorts of possibilities for smartphone apps. Maybe users could rate different trails and make comments on them for others to see. Or perhaps an app could point out streams that are prone to flooding.

“We really don’t know what they will do,” he says.

Source: Charles Palmer, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen