‘The teams behind the apps’ series: meet FROm Grey 2 Green (FROG2G)

'The teams behind the apps' is a series of videos made by the EU Datathon finalists. Get to know the people and their proposals for apps over nine episodes, once a week, in a run-up to the final event. At the competition finals in November the teams will pitch their apps to the jury who will select the winners.

In this third episode, meet FROm Grey 2 Green (FROG2G), an interactive visualisation tool to help make Europe greener. They are competing with two other teams in challenge 1: ‘A European Green Deal’.

The tool that they are currently developing will provide facts and statistics to help policymakers develop an informed strategy to encourage afforestation and make Europe greener, one tree at a time. It will also raise awareness of the importance of protecting and expanding forests, amongst all of us.

Gordana Vujovic, Biljana Vujovic, and Hajdana Milovic form the team behind FROG2G. They joined us for an interview in which we talked about the app, the idea that led to its creation, and the progress so far.

How are you doing with the app? What’s the status?

So far we have created a clear visualisation of how the app will look, using UI/UX design. While searching for and collecting datasets is still an ongoing process, we already created a dashboard for the visualisation of currently collected datasets. In parallel, we are developing the app, testing, and analysing recommendations. Of course, we still have a lot of work to do, but don’t worry, we won’t forget the deadlines and rest assured, everything will be done on time.

How did you come up with the idea for this app?

One of the members of our team, Gordana, was in the process of planning a trip to the United States. Considering that she is a very big fan of forests in general and likes to spend time in nature, she wanted to check which green areas in the cities were worth visiting during her upcoming stay. During the search, she was delighted by the thoroughness and completeness of the results, and how easy it was to access all the necessary data. This led her to consider whether the situation is similar in Europe, at least in big cities. By a happy coincidence, at this time she also saw the announcement of this year’s EU Datathon competition for innovative applications that would enable and facilitate access to already existing data. Thus, she brought together a team of friends who were equally motivated and ready to bring European forests closer to the widest possible audience through a new app, which would be modern, fun and easy to use.

What makes your app special?

We are not claiming that no one before us has dealt with this topic, but our app will use a user-centred design to provide an interactive data visualisation tool for street tree diversity throughout European cities. The final goal is to provide the client with a quality recommendation on preserving existing and sustainable expansion of new forest areas. In doing so, we plan to make the application very practical to use, designing it to be as much fun as possible. Although this app is primarily intended for public and private bodies such as municipalities, agencies, government bodies and private companies – basically those who have the resources and powers to make positive regulations and obligatory measures – it can also be used by ordinary, concerned citizens, who are certainly no less important. The more we spread awareness of the importance of preserving and expanding green areas, the more we can increase pressure on decision-makers to do something tangible

To find out more about FROG2G, watch the 1-minute video in which Gordana, Biljana, and Hajdana introduce themselves and present their app. 

Curious to learn more? Discover all teams and apps via the EU Datathon website, and follow updates on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, or via our newsletter.