MRED Hacking It at Hack Chicago 2014

LISLE, Ill., Oct. 2, 2014 (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) and other technology companies at Hack Chicago 2014, a hackathon event promoting the City of Chicago's Data Portal.

The event is designed to encourage the development of creative apps to engage and serve Chicagoland's diverse community, while using government data from the City of Chicago.

Chris Lambrou, MRED's Director of Special Projects, is on the planning committee for the event. "It's important to raise awareness of city portals and bring the data closer to the consumer," said Lambrou. "The City of Chicago's API offers software developers a source of public data to innovate with and enhance the quality of life in the Chicagoland area."

Hack Chicago 2014 runs from October 1 through October 15, 2014.  Software development teams in three (3) different categories will compete for cash prizes decided by a panel of judges based on such criteria as overall design, efficient use of data from the Chicago API and innovative creativity.

Sponsors for the event include MRED, IEEE, Google, Motorola, and the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition.

"We've had overwhelming support from the Chicagoland IEEE and tech communities." said Lambrou. "The entire planning committee is excited about the process and can't wait to view the apps that evolve from this hackathon and interact with the development teams that submit."

More information can be found at the Hack Chicago 2014 website - http://stc-egov.ieee.net/links/hack-chicago-challenge.

About MRED

Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) is the real estate data aggregator and distributor providing the Chicagoland multiple listing service (MLS) to nearly 40,000 brokers and appraisers and 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 four 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.