Congressional App Challenge

About the Congressional App Challenge

The Congressional App Challenge (CAC) is orchestrated by the U.S. Congress’ Internet Caucus to inspire high school students in America to learn coding by developing their own applications, thereby advancing STEM education. Supported by hundreds of companies that create, maintain, and provide global open standards for the Internet of Things (IoT), this challenge underscores the growing importance of these skills.

Eligibility for the Congressional App Challenge:

• There are no age restrictions, but participants must be high school students; graduates are ineligible.

• Competitors must enter within a congressional district that participates in the challenge. If a district is not registered, students are encouraged to contact their representatives to advocate for participation.

• Entries may be individual or in teams of up to four. If participating as a team, at least two members must reside within the eligible congressional district.

How to Register for the Congressional App Challenge:

• Registration is mandatory to participate. Within three business days of registering, participants will receive an email containing a submission ID, which must be retained.

• Required information for registration includes the 9-digit postal codes for both the school and students, and the name, state, and district number of the participating congress member.

• Team registration requires the above details from all members.

Submission Requirements for the Congressional App Challenge:

Application Details:

• Participants will answer questions about their app, including its title, the coding languages used, and a description of its purpose and motivations (up to 350 characters).
• Challenges encountered during the development process and strategies for overcoming them should be detailed (up to 1500 characters).
• Potential improvements for a hypothetical version 2.0 of their app (up to 750 characters).

Demonstration Video:

• A demo video between 1 and 3 minutes long must be created and posted on a publicly accessible platform like YouTube or Vimeo.
• A link to the video must be included in the Congressional App Challenge submission form.
• Videos exceeding 3 minutes may incur penalties at the discretion of the judges.
• Only one submission per app is necessary for teams.

Application Requirements:

• All submitted materials must be in English.
• An individual may only participate in one entry, whether alone or as part of a team.
• Entries must not contain obscene, defamatory, or overtly tasteless content, or disrespect public morals or conduct, or negatively impact the reputation of the congressional district.