Yearly Archives: 2013


“Put the Coffee in the Pot, We’re Gonna Let it Percolate!” This Thursday At SIPA: The 2013 #PitchTech4Dev Competition

  We’ve all experienced those moments of inventive epiphany. Unexpectedly, innovation and inspiration will collide with need and a brilliant new app is born. They’re moments usually followed by the realization that the invention already exists, or that OMG a cat in a shark costume on a Roomba chasing a duck I must share this video with the world! In one of very few watchable scenes in The Internship, 42 year-old Google intern Vince Vaughn brings this moment to life with his on-the-fly pitch for […]


Introducing the Judges of the 2013 #PitchTech4Dev Competition

The New Media Task Force is pleased to announce the panel of expert judges who will decide the winners of the 2013 #PitchTech4Dev competition. Make sure to register your team before the October 30 deadline. Justin Kosslyn is a Product Manager at Google Ideas, exploring how technology can enable people to confront threats in the face of conflict, instability or repression. He led the strategy, development and launch of the Global Human Trafficking Hotline Network and has designed, prioritized, and previously launched new features and products […]


Subversive Game Takes Home Top Prize in 2012 NMTF Pitch Competition

Maria Hwang, a Columbia Teachers College student, entered her idea for an interactive game to teach children better eating habits at last year’s pitch competition.  Monster Appetite had been prototyped as a board game, but her idea for turning the board game into an app took first place. Click here to learn about #PitchTech4Dev and enter your own team for the 2013 competition: http://pitchtech4dev.wordpress.com/application-2/. Monster Appetite: A Subversive Approach to Teaching Good Eating Habits By Maria Hwang (LinkedIn) Around this time last year I heard about a competition that peaked my […]


Reflections from the Social Good Summit

By Rachana Kumar(LinkedIn) In late September, I attended the 2013 Social Good Summit in New York City. Held at the 92nd Street Y in partnership with Mashable, the United Nations Foundation, Ericsson and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Social Good Summit is a three-day global conversation on how social media and technology can help solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Organizers describe it as a space where “big ideas meet new media to create innovative solutions.” It is an highly intense three-day summit and […]


#PitchTech4Dev Winner Takes App from Idea to Reality

Ben Dean and his partner Dhwani Bafna, entered the 2012 #PitchTech4Dev competition. Not only did his team win second place in the competition, but they went on to actually develop and test their app. The following is a reflection from Ben on his experience with the competition and his efforts to take OurCommons from idea to reality. Click here to learn about #PitchTech4Dev and enter your own team for the 2013 competition: http://pitchtech4dev.wordpress.com/application-2/. OurCommons: A Kickstarter for Under-Funded Public Services By Benjamin Dean (LinkedIn) Last year, […]