Netbook Contest Category This Week: Twilio For Government

September 14, 2009
Written by
Danielle Morrill
Contributor
Opinions expressed by Twilio contributors are their own

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We’re busily judging the submissions for the Twilio + Windows Azure contest category of the Twilio Netbook contest that has spanned the past two weeks, and can’t wait to unveil the winner later today. Why make you make you wait to start developing on this week’s category any longer? Get started with this week’s category: Twilio for Government.

Mr.Lawson Goes to Washington

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Last week Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson attended the Gov 2.0 Expo Showcase, as well as the Gov 2.0 Summit in Washington D.C., where the focus was on leveraging the goverment’s public data sets open and accessible to software developers.

The Power of Open Communication in Government

The spread of ideas has historically been bound by the accessibility of the communication tools used to get the word out: written letters, telegrams, telephone, television, and now the internet.  These technologies become so ubiquitous that we no longer think of them as innovative – they’re just part of our daily lives.  It is with these tools that people join together to express the ideas that move the world.

Twilio takes a commonly accessible technology, the telephone, and makes it possible for web developers to do so much more than simply make phone calls.  The ability to customize the experience of a phone call and automate processes like canvasing, notifications, and community organization are now more accessible, at a dramatically reduced cost, than ever before.

Combine this with the increasing accessibility of government data and just imagine the kind innovation we’re likely to see among the .gov minded developers out there who are on a mission to change the world.  Make sure to visit Data.gov for a complete listing of public data sets being made available by the U.S. government.

Get Started With Your Twilio App Today – Win a Netbook

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We’ve got plenty of resources to help you get started with Twilio, and a special page exclusively for firing your imagination when it comes to imagining Twilio for government.  Check out some of these demos and How To documentation to ive you a head start with sample code:

Incoming Calls

Outgoing Calls

When you’re ready, submit your application to our contest for your chance to win a Dell mini Netbook.  The deadline is midnight on Sunday, September 20th.