Archive: Business & Technology

Syracuse, NY – The challenge was to solve local community issues and today, AT&T and its partners from Syracuse University, CenterState CEO, SUNY Oswego, Girls in Tech and Hack Upstate, announced four winners of the 2014 AT&T Central New York Civic App Challenge who met that goal. The awards, provided by AT&T and announced during a presentation and demo day at the SUNY Oswego Metro Center in downtown Syracuse, were given to a first and second place finalist in two categories: Existing Civic Apps and New Civic Apps.
 
The two-month 'virtual hackathon' challenged local developers, entrepreneurs, designers and technologists to leverage open data to build smartphone apps that serve the community's needs. Through the competition, participants addressed regional issues and demonstrated how mobile technologies can lead to the next generation of tech jobs and investment.
 
"The quality of mobile apps created through the AT&T Central New York Civic App Challenge demonstrates the vibrancy and talent of Central New York's technology and entrepreneurial community," said Marissa Shorenstein, New York president, AT&T. "We applaud our partners Syracuse University, SUNY Oswego, CenterState CEO, Girls in Tech and Hack Upstate for collaborating with us on an initiative that demonstrates clear demand for programmers, both amateur and professional, to create mobile apps that help our communities connect, build businesses and streamline our daily lives."

Existing Civic App (apps in development prior to the challenge)
PocketSights (Grand prize, $7,500): PocketSights is developing an interactive mobile self-guided tour app to act a catalyst for economic growth in Central New York by boosting tourism.  The app provides mobile users an authentic experience that encourages them to explore and learn about history and culture.
 
Play2Sign  (Second place $1,500 prize): Play2Sign is an Android application developed to help teach American Sign Language  to hearing impaired children, ages 4 to 10. It uses an immersive approach in a fun, interactive format to teach the signs of many basic words and phrases. This demo app teaches about 60 words; when released on the Google Play Store, it will teach about 250 words. An iOS platform release is also planned.

New Civic App (apps created specifically for the challenge)
TXT2EAT (Grand prize, $7,500): TXT2EAT provides a simple and fast way to find food resources. By sending a text to a phone number for a specific city, anyone can find an open food kitchen or food bank. If none are open the app will notify you when and where the next one will be open.
 
Page Turner (Second place $1,500 prize): Page Turner is a mobile-optimized web application designed to help low literacy adults and children. The app reads to users while highlighting what is being read. Using the HTML5 speech synthesis API it provides a cross-platform solution, and can lean on this technology to support nine languages out of the box.
 
"Winning this award is great recognition of our idea and what we are hoping to accomplish for the benefit of the community," said Stefanie Pinsley, board member of PocketSights. "We are grateful for this prize as it will enable us to further develop this app creating an experience for those that visit, or even live and want to explore, all Central New York has to offer."
 
"I'm honored that TXT2EAT was selected as a winner in the AT&T Central New York Civic App Challenge," said Stephen Shaffer, developer of TXT2EAT. "I look forward to taking my foundational application for allowing individuals to find food resources and turning it into a solution for addressing hunger issues in upstate New York and beyond."  
 
The winners, chosen from competitive entries submitted from across Central New York, were judged for their execution and creativity or novelty, and for their ability to address social and civic issues in the Central New York region. Challenge organizers were thrilled with the level of participation and amazed by the quality of the submissions, and look forward to sharing the apps with the greater Central New York community.
 
"We're very impressed with the creativity, care and collaboration evident in these submissions," said SUNY Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley, one of the judges for the mobile app challenge. "They show a wonderful desire to look beyond the screen and into the community to make where we live and work better places."
 
"It has been exciting for Girls in Tech to be a partner in the AT&T Central New York Civic App Challenge and to see all the remarkable innovation that it has spurred," said Kate Brodock, global president, Girls in Tech.  "Efforts such as this one are so important to the local ecosystem, and also give our regional developers and entrepreneurs an opportunity to get involved in their community. CNY has the talent, and this app challenge allows us to showcase that talent."

"The AT&T Central New York Civic App Challenge highlights the growing technology sector in Upstate New York," says Eric Spina, Syracuse University Vice Chancellor and Provost.  "The Challenge provided an opportunity for our students to engage in the community and to use their talents toward positive change in Syracuse."
 
The Tech Garden, in an effort to engage developers in the competition, held two weekend-long community-serving hackathons between September and November and partnered with HackUpstate on a third. These Hackathons attracted more than 200 participants and provided opportunities for teams to develop their ideas and test prototypes. Each of the three partner hackathons had judging rounds and awarded nearly $10,000 in additional privately funded prizes. By participating in any of these hackathons, teams were eligible for the larger 13-county AT&T Civic App Challenge.  
 
"We proudly support the region's top entrepreneurs and programs like the Civic App Challenge provide a unique opportunity for us to help them cultivate solutions and adapt technologies for a common good." said Seth Mulligan, vice president of innovation services at CenterState CEO. "We hope the competition's four winners will continue on the trajectory that was initiated by the competition and will continue to innovate effective solutions to the real challenges our community faces."

"It was a privilege to collaborate with an exceptional team of partners, and to work alongside Central New York's best and brightest," said Doug Crescenzi, co-founder of Hack Upstate. "The future is bright for Central New York's technology sector and we are thrilled to be a part of it."

The AT&T Central New York Civic App Challenge judges included local tech experts, community stakeholders and elected officials, who based their decisions upon the apps' potential impact on Central New York, execution and creativity or novelty.
 
"Central New York's growth as a technology hub is evident in the talented mobile app developers who participated in this challenge. The range of mobile apps not only meet, but exceed a variety of community needs," Senator David Valesky said. "Congratulations to all of the app developers on the innovation and creativity they have shown in the AT&T Central New York Civic App Challenge."
 
"As a judge of the AT&T Central Civic App Challenge, I congratulate all the creative minds that built the winning civic apps and I thank AT&T and all the community partners involved for collaborating to bringing this innovative event to Central New York," said Assemblyman Samuel Roberts. "This challenge has demonstrated the strength of the Central New York technology community and proves that this region is on the rise.  It is inspirational that local technologists have not just embraced new technologies such as mobile, but have begun to utilize it for entrepreneurial ventures in the region.  This innovative spirit benefits small and local entrepreneurs in establishing businesses, job creation and most importantly retaining our bright and innovative leaders, right here in the Central New York community."

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