NZ Covid Tracer app among winners at 2021 NZ Open Source Awards

Photo / Dean Purcell

The Government's NZ Covid Tracer app was among the big winners at the NZ Open Source Awards 2021, announced overnight.

The app was developed by Rush Digital for $6.4 million and now boasts some 3.6 million users, according to Ministry of Health data.

NZ Covid Tracer can be used to record locations you've been to, as you manually scan QR codes, and people you've been in proximity with, as it uses Apple and Google's Bluetooth technology to automatically keep a log of people you've been in proximity with. The Ministry has made only very limited use of the Bluetooth functionality, however.

The awards recognise and celebrate the outstanding work done with free and open source software and the artistic, scientific, and social outcomes it delivers in New Zealand.

"Once again the these awards have uncovered some incredible work by an amazing a diverse group of people. The joy of open source is the joy of sharing, learning from others and building capability that can be used anywhere by anyone," says Don Christie, NZOSA judge and managing director at Catalyst.

"We've heard about project teams, developers, designers, testers and users. All of whom make sure that the phenomenal impact of open source software continues to make a profound contribution to our communities and societies."

The awards were scheduled to be announced at a gala dinner on February 8th, however the gala celebration was cancelled due to Covid-related event restrictions.

The 2021 winners:

Open Source Use in Government
Ministry of Health for NZ COVID Tracer Application

Open Source Use in Business
Te Hiku Media for Whare Kōrero

Open Source Software Project
Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand for LINZ Basemaps

Open Source Contributor
Evonne Cheung for contributions to the Mahara project: Graphically designing an open source project

Open Source in Education, Social Services and Youth
Deaf Studies Research Unit, Victoria University of Wellington & Ackama for NZSL Share

Open Source use in Science
Centre for Computational Evolution for BEAST 2

Open Source use in the Arts
Vicki Smith for Breathe – Artist contribution to urban waterway engagement

Open Source People's Choice Award
Te Kōwhiri a te Iwi

Service Awards
• Adam Hyde for Exceptional FOSS (free open source software) leadership, and
• Andrew Bartlett for his 20 year commitment to Samba.