MetroStar Systems Launches Contest Platform to Advance Open Government Initiative

MetroStar Systems is fostering innovation in government by inviting the public to participate in video and essay competitions via a new online contest platform called Votridea.

By Avery Fellow | April 5, 2010

Reston, Va-based MetroStar Systems, an IT service provider for government and commercial clients, launched a contest platform specifically designed to encourage citizen engagement with government, advancing President Obama’s open government initiative.

The Obama Administration has stated that prizes and challenges can "motivate, inspire and guide others" to help an agency gain attention to important issues.

Answering Obama’s call for open and transparent government, ten year-old company MetroStar Systems developed a contest platform, called Votridea, designed specially for government adoption. The contest platform features online management tools including analytics and tracking that enable government agencies to easily build and manage online contests themselves.

MetroStar System’s latest project was the second installment of the ExchangesConnect video contest for the U.S. Department of State, which ran from November 2009 through January 2010 with the theme "Change Your Climate, Change Our World." The contest attracted more than 230 video entries from more than 50 countries, 167 of which were posted online. Entries focused around themes of economic climate, local recycling efforts, and advancing education, according to Johnny Nguyen, VP of New Media at MetroStar Systems, who helped get the contest up and running. An online audience then voted on the entries, submitting a total of 14,000 votes, and two winners in the United States got fully paid exchange programs overseas while two overseas winners were invited to participate in a U.S. exchange program as well as attend a film school.

The contest added thousands of members to the department’s ExchangesConnect international social network. The network had 14,000 members before the contest began and 23,000 after the contest’s completion.

With Votridea, MetroStar Systems is aiming to bring the contest platform to other government agencies. The platform enables agencies to structure contests around essays and photos as well as videos.

Nguyen said, "Our mission is to find better ways to engage people with government and use technology to do that."

"We’re continuously trying to get business from agencies wishing to promote more open and transparent government – who are looking for better and innovative ways to get ideas from people around the world."

"You can have the world as your audience with a Web application. Anyone around the world that has access to the Internet can participate," Nguyen said.

Votridea integrates with Facebook, Twitter, Ning and other online networks to attract maximum participation.

Nguyen called the State Department "very innovative" in adopting new media technologies, and said the Department of Education, Department of Labor and the White House were good at using new media as well.



Related Keywords : social media , Federal systems

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