20th January 2017

Creating a Discoverfingal 2.0

By Cianán Clancy

Back in 2012, I led a small volunteer force to create DiscoverFingal; a reimagine brand for tourism in Fingal and an innovative mobile website that utilizes awards and incentives to encourage the public to visit local attractions. We tried with DiscoverFingal to use the power of open data, social networking, and gamification to turn Fingal into an interactive information playground.

The app was developed in 12 hours, as part of the Apps4Fingal competition. The app went on to win the Tourism category and the overal prize. DiscoverFingal was a simple HTML5 app powered by Fingal Open Data and it won first place in the tourism category, as well as the grand prize in the overall competition.

With DiscoverFingal, we have just one very simple example of how open data can be put to beneficial use, delivering economic value to a small town in Fingal county. Using the DiscoverFingal app, visitors and locals are challenged to discover three historical sites. If they succeed, they are awarded with a free tea or coffee voucher which can be redeemed at the award winning historical Skerries Mills.

Over the last couple of years, DiscoverFingal has grown quite organically. We received a lot of feedback from many visitors and locals using the platform. In response to that feedback, we did a complete refresh of the original DiscoverFingal site. We have tried to take the feedback on board and expand the site to include information that will enhance the experience of visitors and locals alike.

Today I am delighted to announce the launch of new native apps for iOS and Android as well as a brand new mobile responsive website. We have addressed the major customer feedback with the website by providing more information on local towns in the area, as well as helpful information on events and restaurants.

As always, your feedback is important so please keep it coming. New SurveyMonkey below.