LONGMONT — It’s time for Longmont’s “hackers” to step on up.

Online registration opened Monday for the city’s first-ever hackathon, a three-day competition April 12-14 to build the best Longmont-centered application. First prize is $1,000, followed by $750 for second and $500 for third.

Residents have been turning in ideas for apps since January, including an interactive map of the city’s public art pieces, an app that shows the wait time at local restaurants, and one that would allow easy reporting of graffiti or maintenance problems.

Longmont hackathon What: A three-day competition April 12-14 to build the best Longmont-centered application When: from 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, April 12; 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, April 13; and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 14 Where: Skyline High School, 600 E. Mountain View Ave., Longmont For more information: Visit longmonthackathon.com

As of Monday afternoon, 76 ideas had been turned in to the event’s website, longmonthackathon.com.

“I expect this to become a big deal,” organizer Scott Converse said. “This is just our first shot at it.”

The event is sponsored by the city and Western Digital. Other sponsors include Holland and Hart, Constant Contact and ESRI.

The name “hackathon” came out of the high-tech industry, where a marathon programming session could sometimes produce an entire Internet startup. Cities began getting into the game about five years ago, with volunteers creating killer apps that range from updates on the job market to “adopting” a fire hydrant.

The hard part for many cities, Converse said, is that a hackathon requires a lot of transparency.

“The point of a hackathon is to open up a city and turn it into an open data platform,” he said. “That’s a little uncomfortable for a city. … But if you can get a city to do it and you can get a city to do it regularly, amazing things can come from that information sharing.”

Longmont’s available data sets include planning and police data, sales tax numbers and even expenses rung up on the city purchasing card.

Converse said he’ll also be talking up the hackathon at the “New Tech meetups” in Denver, Fort Collins and Boulder, events where technology professionals come together and “show-and-tell” new technology. Those three events together have about 9,000 members and typically draw a crowd of hundreds, Converse said.

Scott Rochat can be reached at 303-684-5220 or srochat@times-call.com.