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September 16th - November 13th, 2015


#NJAppChallenge

         

About Civic App Challenge - New Jersey

AT&T, in collaboration with the New Jersey Technology Council, several economic development, educational and veterans resource organizations in New Jersey, will launch a civic app challenge in New Jersey - a “virtual hackathon” in which innovative thinkers, designers, artists, developers and entrepreneurs are encouraged to build and deliver apps and services that serve community needs with a particular focus on veterans and their families; connect and engage citizens with their governments; and demonstrate how mobile technologies can lead to the next generation of tech jobs and investment.

Purpose

The New Jersey Technology Council (NJTC) and AT&T, along with other organizations across the state, are teaming on the “AT&T Civic App Challenge - New Jersey,” a “virtual hackathon” for developers in New Jersey to leverage open data to build smartphone apps that serve community needs. The goal of the challenge is to encourage local developers to build and deliver apps and services that serve community needs with a particular focus on veterans; connect and engage citizens with their governments; and demonstrate how mobile technologies can lead to the next generation of tech jobs and investment. Special consideration will be given to individuals or teams who develop apps that serve the state’s military veterans and their families.

AT&T's commitment to technology innovation in New Jersey grows out of the company’s deep roots in the state and its multi-billion dollar nationwide investment in the mobile communications network of the future. By encouraging students, technologists and innovators in New Jersey to explore smartphone software development, we are spotlighting the enormous demand for developers and engineers needed to create the software that will drive our mobile economy.

$19,000 in prizes


A panel of judges will select one winner from each region (Northern, Central and Southern); each regional winner will receive $3,000. The grand prize winner as selected by the judges will receive an additional $10,000, plus the chance to work with a regional incubator that will provide business, leadership and other guidance.

WINNERS

Northern New Jersey ($13,000 Grand Prize)

The team from Northern New Jersey, led by Saurabh Kumar, submitted the Military Veterans Circle of Support (MVCOS) mobile app, a complete ecosystem of support for military veterans, families, and the organizations and governments that serve them. The platform consists of a native mobile app and services that the community needs.


Central New Jersey ($3,000)

The Central New Jersey winner is a team led by Manish Patel, whose mobile app, ColorsKit, is a comprehensive package of mobile apps designed to manage the complete range of cognitive development phases in the lives of children and adults with autism.


Southern New Jersey ($3,000)

Led by Joseph Proleika, a team from Rowan University is the Southern New Jersey winner. Their mobile app, Veteran Route Assistance, is a location-marking app geared towards military veterans with memory loss or PTSD. The team will receive $3,000.


Additional Prize ($1,500): Upon reviewing the results of the judging, a $1,500 award was carved out for Currant NEIGHBORHOOD, a mobile application that connects the dots in times of crisis. Inspired by the events after Superstorm Sandy, the app enables citizens to share critical information such as where to find gas, groceries, or shelter; residents can communicate issues directly to local governments when electricity may not be available, and first responders can receive real-time field data from those impacted the most. The team, led by Denise Spell, was on hand for the awards ceremony.

Grand Prize

$10,000

Eligible to a winner of one of the three regional prizes


Northern NJ Regional Winner

$3,000


Central NJ Regional Winner

$3,000


Southern NJ Regional Winner

$3,000

OUR PARTNERS




CRITERIA


Overview

The AT&T Civic App Challenge - New Jersey is a two-month virtual hackathon in which innovative thinkers, designers, artists, developers, and entrepreneurs are encouraged to build and deliver apps and services that serve community needs with a particular focus on veterans and their families; connect and engage citizens with their governments; and demonstrate how mobile technologies can lead to the next generation of tech jobs and investment and showcase innovation in the Garden State.


The challenge will kick-off with an event hosted by JuiceTank on September 16, 2015 at 11 a.m. JuiceTank is located at Davidson Ave, Franklin Township, NJ 08873. The contest concludes Friday, November 13, at 11:59 p.m.


Winners will be announced and apps will be demoed on December 4, 2015 at Rowan University. Regional prizes: 3 @ $3,000 each, and one grand prize: $10,000.


The three regions* are:

Northern Region: Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren counties

Central Region: Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset, and Union counties

Southern Region: Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem counties

*Counties for each region were identified based upon a NJ Department of Transportation map.

Judging

Apps submitted to the challenge will be judged on potential impact on the New Jersey (30 percent), execution and user experience (30 percent), impact on military veterans and/or their families (20), and creativity/novelty (20 percent).


While this contest is open to everyone who meets the eligibility criteria - from students to practicing engineers - the vision is to select apps that were created specifically for this challenge.


A panel of judges made up of tech experts, elected officials and community stakeholders will review apps pre- screened by an expert facilitator to determine to what extent each satisfies the submission criteria. Judges will rank finalists and assign prizes for regional winners, followed a selection of the overall winner. All potential intellectual property belongs to the product teams or individual.


To make this challenge truly Jersey-centric, the challenge is open to residents of New Jersey and/or postsecondary students currently enrolled in a New Jersey college or university listed on the New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education website. For teams, at least 50 percent of the team members must be either current residents of New Jersey or attend one of the state's colleges or universities. AT&T employees and immediate family members are not eligible.


CONTACT US


Send Us A Message:

Dan Langan, AT&T


#NJAppChallenge

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