LISLE, Ill., Oct. 21, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), Chicagoland's multiple listing service (MLS), is participating with the Chicago section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE Chicago) and other technology companies at the Land of Lincoln Hackathon, an event promoting the public data found at the State of Illinois open data portal.
The Land of Lincoln Hackathon looks to promote awareness of the great resources for the citizens of Illinois and foster innovation from the academic and professional communities. The 2015 Hack Challenge is for those who submit software solutions that creatively utilize the public data found at the Illinois open data portal. Prizes will be awarded at multiple levels: K-12, Collegiate, Professional, and a special "Women Who Code" award for teams that feature one or more women on their project (designed to help promote women in STEM).
Registration is now open for this month long event. A team of judges will award prizes to be handed out November 2nd at the IEEE Chicago Symposium @ Motorola Solutions Schaumburg Campus.
Chris Lambrou, MRED's Vice-President of Special Projects/R &D, is Chairman of this year's event. "It's important to raise awareness of the State's portal and bring the data closer to the consumer," said Lambrou. "Events such as this give software developers the opportunity to utilize public data as a utility to innovate with and enhance the quality of life in the Chicagoland area."
Sponsors for the event include MRED, IEEE and CVSHealth.
"We've had overwhelming support from the Chicagoland IEEE and tech communities." said Vickie Peters, IEEE Chicago Chapter Chair. "The entire planning committee is excited about the process and can't wait to view the apps that evolve from the Land of Lincoln Hackathon and interact with the development teams that submit."
For more information about the Land of Lincoln Hackathon – visit http://ieeechicago.org/
About MRED
Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) is the real estate data aggregator and distributor providing the Chicagoland multiple listing service (MLS) to more than 40,000 brokers and appraisers and nearly 8,000 offices. MRED serves Chicago and the surrounding "collar" counties and provides property information encompassing northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin and northwest Indiana. MRED delivers over twenty products and services to its customers, complementing connectMLS™, the top-rated MLS system in the country for two years running according to the WAV Group MLS Technology Survey. MRED is the 2013 Inman News Most Innovative MLS/Real Estate Trade Association, and for five consecutive years the MRED Help Desk has been identified as one of the best small business centers in the United States and Canada by BenchmarkPortal. For more information please visit MREDLLC.com.
A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=37046
