After more than three months of hard work from Alexa developers around the world, the Alexa Skill Challenge: Tech for Good has concluded. The challenge invited developers to build Alexa skills that would have a positive impact on the environment, local communities, and the world. Last week, we held our final judging event to determine the grand prize winner of this challenge from the 10 finalists selected.

All of the skills we reviewed addressed a wide range of customer problems through the creative use of community engagement, specific calls to action, third-party resources, and more. On top of the great work everyone accomplished, the grand prize winner will also have the opportunity to direct a $20,000 donation from Amazon to one of 11 non-profit organizations.

Ultimately, our panel of judges chose the winners based on their creativity and originality, a great voice-first user experience, and the skill’s potential impact for engagement and habitual use. The judging committee was comprised of five Amazon employees and two external community members:

Judges from Amazon included:

• Beatrice Geoffrin, Director, Alexa Experience and Devices; and
• Kara Hurst, Director, Worldwide Sustainability;
• Carletta Ooton, VP, Health, Safety, Sustainability, Security, and Compliance;
• Alice Shobe, Director, Amazon in the Community (AITC); and
• Aaron Wilson, Principal Product Manager, Alexa Skills Kit.

Judges from the community included:

• Victoria Griffith, Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and
• Juan Lozano, Career and Technical Education lead at Highline School District and Professional Development Facilitator at Code.org.

And the Winners Are…

Grand Prize ($10,000 and direct a $20,000 donation to one of 11 non-profit organizations): World Mathematics League creates a global, interactive mathematics league. Customers from around the world can participate in 15 minutes of daily math questions to contribute to the score for their state or country. Try World Mathematics League.

Bonus Prize – Best Circular Economy Skill ($5,000): Recycling Center allows customers to easily find local recycling centers for specific items they may want to discard such as batteries or lightbulbs. Try Recycling Center.

Bonus Prize – Best Sustainable Transportation Skill ($5,000): Transport Me allows you to search for nearby bike shares across multiple providers within a 1.25-mile radius. Try Transport Me.

Bonus Prize: Best Natural Resource Efficiency Skill ($5,000): Cool My House taps into the National Weather Service API to let customers know if windows can be open to cool their house rather than using powered AC. Try Cool My House.

Bonus Prize – Best Disaster Relief Skill ($5,000): Safe and Well allows anyone to check on the status of close relatives or friends they may know in impacted areas. The skill ties in directly with American Red Cross’ Safe and Well API. Try Safe and Well.

Bonus Prize – Best STEM Education Skill ($5,000): Voice Coder allows you to discover computer science by building your own mini game by creating new rules through Alexa and seeing the results on a computer display. Try Voice Coder.

Bonus Prize – Best Skill by University or High-School Students in US or Canada ($2,000): Gluco Buddy integrates with Dexcom API to let customers receive a daily and weekly summary of their blood glucose levels to let them better manage their daily lives. Try Gluco Buddy.

Bonus Prize – Best Use of Open-sourced Data ($2,000): Cool My House taps into the National Weather Service API to let customers know if windows can be open to cool their house rather than using powered AC. Try Cool My House.

Bonus Prize – Best Skill for Echo Show & Echo Spot ($2,000): The Recycle Game allows you to compete for the title “Champion of the Environment” among friends and family by tracking of your recycling practices. Try The Recycle Game.

Bonus Prize – Best Alexa Voice Service (AVS) Integration ($2,000): Compost Professor allows customers to manage their composting efforts by tracking the temperature. Users can supplement the skill with build-it-yourself sensors and an AVS-enabled tablet that reads results at the press of a button. Try Compost Professor.

Bonus Prize – Best Use of Advanced Alexa Developer features ($2,000): My Talking Newspaper gives voice access to more than 500 talking newspapers and magazines in the UK, providing spoken-word local news and information to anyone who may be blind, partially sighted, or have any kind of print impairment. Try My Talking Newspaper.

Bonus Prize – Best Global English Skill ($2,000): EVIE Assistant allows you to search for electric charging stations nearby using a city name in the US, UK, and Canada. Try EVIE Assistant.

Congratulations, everyone!

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