The Competition challenges participants to develop software applications related to one or more of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Submissions may be any kind of software application, be it for the web, a personal computer, a mobile handheld device, console, SMS, or any software platform broadly available to the public. The only other requirement is that the proposed application use one or more datasets from the World Bank Data Catalog available at data.worldbank.org.
Sounds like a good opportunity for an enterprising developer to get cash and publicity while doing the right thing. The Millenium Development Goals are:
- eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- achieve universal primary education
- promote gender equality and empower women
- reduce child mortality rate
- improve maternal health
- combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other diseases
- ensure environmental sustainability
- develop a global partnership for development
Those are pretty broad goals, so this should allow a lot of interesting apps. If you're looking for a project to work on for the next few months (students, listen up!), this may be a good target to aim for.