Apps for the Army Contest

The government doesn’t often hold contests or programs that reward its personnel’s innovation with recognition and cash.” The “Apps for the Army,” or A4A program gives Army personnel an opportunity to demonstrate their software-development skills that will could enhance Army operations as well.

The program is open to all Soldiers and Army civilians. The top submissions will be showcased at the LandWarNet Conference in August and the winners will be awarded from a cash pool totaling $30,000.

LTG Jeff Sorenson, Army Chief Information Officer/G-6 took questions during a bloggers roundtable held yesterday. The biggest point made is that this program can actually cut costs depending on the apps developed and can enhance Army operations. LTG Sorenson also made a point that there is so much talent internally that they should be given an opportunity to showcase that talent.

Knowing how active Army is on social networks, and many recruiting commands having a heavy presence on Facebook I inquired if the A4A program is something that could potentially make an impact on recruiting and on the Accessions Command. LTG Sorenson answered this question by explaining how Army is reliant on technology and this type of program is something that can be very helpful as far as the recruiting effort is concerned. The 17-24 demographic spends a significant amount of time interaction with technology, so developing apps that are targeted at them can prove to be very successful.

About these ads