Congressional App Challenge

The Congressional App Challenge was established by the United States House of Representatives to encourage student innovation and participation in computer science and STEM. This national effort allows students to compete against their peers by creating an app for the opportunity to receive national recognition.

The winning app will be featured on a display in the U.S. Capitol and on the House.gov and Congressional App Challenge websites. Congressman Hudson encourages all students to submit their app ideas and looks forward to seeing this year’s submissions from North Carolina’s 9th District.

If you would like to participate in the 2024 Congressional App Challenge, you may register and submit your app by visiting CongressionalAppChallenge.us by 12:00 pm ET on Thursday, October 24, 2024. Official rules and requirements of the 2024 Congressional App Challenge are available here.

ELIGIBILITY

AGE: Students must be in middle school or high school on October 24, 2024.
LOCATION: Students are only allowed to compete in a Congressional District which is hosting an App Challenge. Students may compete in either the district in which they reside, or the district in which they attend school. Participants may compete only in one single district.
TEAMS: Students can compete as individuals, or in teams of up to four (4) students.
- Any team with more than four (4) students is not eligible to compete.
- At least half of teammates on any team must live or attend school in North Carolina’s 9^th District.
PRIOR PROJECTS: Students may submit any app they’ve created after November 1, 2023.
ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER YEAR: Students may only submit ONE app per year. Multiple entries across multiple teams are not allowed.

ONLINE REGISTRATION

To register as an individual, students need:

A personal email address that is not their school email account.
Home’s 9-digit zip code, Congressional District, and Member of Congress
School’s 9-digit zip code, Congressional District, and Member of Congress
A parent or guardian’s contact information (name and email address).
Name and email of student’s coding teacher or mentor (optional).

To register as a team, you’ll need:

The above information for each team member.
One team may participate ONCE as a group.

APP PARAMETERS

TOPIC: The app can be about any topic.
PLATFORM: The app can be on any platform (web app, desktop/PC app, a web browser extension, robot, Ruby on Rails, mobile, etc.).
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE: Use any programming language: C/C++, Objective C, C#, Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP, Swift, “block code”, etc.
FUNCTIONALITY: The app must have some degree of functionality to be competitive.
CONTENT SUITABILITY: The app cannot be indecent, defamatory, in obvious bad taste, demonstrate a lack of respect for public morals or conduct, adversely affect the reputation of Congressional districts, or depict hatred, defame, or threaten a specific community in the society or incite violence. Contain pornography, obscenity or sexual activity are prohibited. The app must not violate the Intellectual Property, common law, or privacy rights of other parties.
ORIGINALITY: The app must be original and solely owned by the Contestant such that no other party has any rights or interest, whether known or unknown.

ONLINE SUBMISSION

Consult the Submission Checklist for guidance. After the Submission Period has ended, the Submission cannot be modified in any way. Students can register for the 2024 Congressional App Challenge atCongressionalAppChallenge.us. If competing as a team, one teammate should create the team profile, which will allow for that user to invite up to three other team members to edit the application. Students will need to complete a personal profile and eligibility quiz. If the team is eligible, they will receive an email allowing them to proceed with their application. The application is made up of a number of questions regarding their app. The most critical component is the demonstration video, which is detailed below.

Demonstration Video (max 3 minutes)

Students must create a demonstration video with the following information:

The name(s) of each participant.
The name of the app.
Clearly explain the purpose of the app. (Students should do this in one, clear sentence.)
Explain the app’s target audience. (Who is the app intended for?)
The tools and coding languages used to create the app.
Show how the app works.

The video should be 1-3 minutes long. Video submissions which do not adhere to the time constraints may be penalized by the judges at their discretion. This is not a video-creation competition. However, the judges view the demonstration video to learn about the app. The video should be as clear and compelling as possible. Upload the completed video to YouTube, Vimeo, or any other video-hosting site. The video must be set to “public.”

Questions

In addition to the demonstration video, the team will need to answer a series of questions similar to the following:

What is the title of your app?
Explain the app’s purpose in one sentence.
Short Description: What inspired you to create this app?
Short Description: What is your app trying to accomplish?
What technical/coding difficulty did you face in programming your app, and how did you address this technical challenge?

DEADLINE

The Congressional App Challenge will accept submissions received by 12:00 pm ET on Thursday, October 24, 2024.

EXIT QUESTIONNAIRE

Once the deadline passes, students will receive a link to the Exit Questionnaire. The data helps us improve the Congressional App Challenge.

Teams: ALL MEMBERS of your team must complete the Exit Questionnaire individually. Teammates can use the same link but must complete the form individually.

WINNER SELECTION

Demonstration Videos and Submission Answers will be reviewed and evaluated by a panel of industry professionals from North Carolina’s 9^th District. The winning app will be featured in the U.S. Capitol and on the House.gov and Congressional App Challenge websites.

OFFICIAL RULES

The official rules and requirements of the 2024 Congressional App Challenge are available here..