The US Department of State-funded Apps4Africa competition that began in 2009 has announced its theme for this year: Climate Challenge. Nine winners in sub-Saharan Africa will receive prize money for the applications with the most innovative solutions for solving climate problems.

The 2011 competition that brings NGOs, civil society, universities, and the private sector together with African technology gurus began on October 1st in West/Central Africa; it will later head to Eastern Africa and end in Southern Africa on March 30, 2012. It builds on the successes of last year’s Civic Challenge, which produced innovative apps such as the iCow that helps farmers manage livestock breeding.  The Climate Challenge is meant to “center around several strategic themes that coincide with policy decisions that will be debated…by world leaders” during the COP17 conference in Durban, South Africa.

The COP17 conference, or the 17^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), will take place from November 28- December 9. It is designed to assess progress in dealing with climate change and work toward the UNFCCC’s objective to “stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.”

The categories for the Climate Challenge applicants are as follows:

Entry Categories
Agriculture (Distribution)
Early Warning and/or Disaster Preparedness
Resource Management
Forestry/Deforestation
Transportation/Traffic/Emissions
Food Security
Livestock
Health and Sanitation

Application Types
Mobile
Mobile (smart phones)
Web
Desktop

Data
Open Data Source
Crowdsourcing/Public Participation
News Aggregation
Proprietary
Other

Interested in being involved with Apps4Africa but don’t live in Africa? Consider becoming a mentor and lending your expertise to applicants.

The winners of Climate Challenge will also receive a special congratulatory message from US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.