After a series of botched technology projects, the state has announced a $50,000 competition to attract new ideas and technologies to help Massachusetts government become more efficient, save money and engage with the public in innovative ways.
Although the MassIT Government Innovation Competition is open to any startup and is expected to have its own panel of judges, the one or more winners will be announced in October at the awards ceremony for MassChallenge, the world’s largest startup accelerator and competition, and will have access to the mentorship it offers, said Bill Oates, the state’s chief information officer.
“Our partnership with MassChallenge allows us to leverage one of the most highly regarded organizations around with a focus on innovation and take advantage of the companies it’s vetted,” Oates added. “But we’ve left (who applies) purposely wide open.”
The deadline for applications, which can be found at www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1772448/MassIT-Sidecar-Application, is Wednesday.
The competition comes on the heels of a string of costly technology disasters for the state. Only last week, officials announced they would seek another $80 million in federal funding for a new, state-based Obamacare website, bringing the total cost of the problem-plagued project to a whopping $254 million.
And in April, the Senate Post Audit and Oversight Committee released a report on the state’s botched launch of a new computer system for unemployment claims, as well as a Department of Revenue technology project so problematic that the agency fired its vendor after spending three years and $55 million.
