SINGAPORE - Imagine a local app that can plan a wheelchair-friendly route home for a user.

That is just one possible app that can be written using the Singapore Land Authority's (SLA) new OneMap application and location-based data.

OneMap is an integrated map system for government agencies to deliver location-based services and information.

On Thursday (July 20), the SLA announced the launch of the OneMap Ideaworks! campaign which hopes to encourage organisations to tap OneMap application and location-based data to solve problems. The campaign will run for three months.

The SLA said several technology and content providers have already signed up to work together to produce prototypes of applications with OneMap providing them with data such as base maps and routing.

The Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital has already thrown a challenge - it wants app creators to find a way to make transportation more accessible for wheelchair users.

The SLA said the OneMap application took more than a year to complete, and is more user-friendly and faster than the current web-based portal, which has been in use since 2010.

The effort is part of the Smart Nation initiative.

Mr Ng Siau Yong, the SLA's director of GeoSpatial and Data Division, said he hopes the campaign will build and strengthen the collaboration among different communities through the use of geospatial information science and technology.

Mr Melvyn Suan, who is a deputy director for software and innovation in Nanyang Polytechnic, said: "It is a good opportunity for the information technology students to hone their skills, as well as to promote social causes."