Next week (March 11-17) is Sunshine Week, during which journalists, activists, and bloggers raise awareness about the importance of open government and advocate for more transparency.

To celebrate, we are hosting a contest! We will give a $2,000 prize for the best “Web 2.0 Mashup” ^(wikipedia) that displays information about Congress:

Our judges–Esther Dyson, Jimmy Wales, and Craig Newmark–will select the winning mashup based on creativity and how effectively it displays Congressional information.

We are not looking for something complicated — simplicity is often the best transparency tool. Entries should have been created in the last six months.

The deadline for entries is April 15.

Confused? Wondering what a mashup is? A mashup is a website or web application that combines content from more than one source. You’ve probably seen a mashup even if you don’t realize it. Sunlight Labs made this mashup last year, taking an excel spreadsheet of earmarks in the Labor, Health and Human Service BILL and “mashing them” onto Google maps so that people could locate earmarks designated for their zip code:

Hundreds of citizens used that mashup to learn more about earmarking in Congress.