Politics & Government

Top 10 Finalists Named in Palo Alto 'App' Contest

Top entries addressed pooches, parking, teens and wheelchair-friendly locales around town.

The Palo Alto Apps Challenge, part of the 2nd National Day of Civic Hacking, last week named its 10 finalists from 74 entries received.

The competition to help boost civic innovation attracted 30 percent of its entrants from those ages 18 and younger. On March 13, the judges announced the top 10, who will all move forward to the Challenge Finale on May 31. (Free tickets are available.)

An Apps Showcase Event is also set for April 27. (Free ticket information.)

Top 10 are listed below in no particular order.

1. Adopt Me! by Cynthia Typaldos
This is a solution to help easily share information about animals in shelters with social networks.

2. clickPA Mobile
 by the clickPA team
This will serve Palo Alto’s youth by offering one co-created place to find and share events and ideas, and to connect with peers and community.

3. Play Palo Alto by Francesco Ferrari
An app to raise civic awareness among residents & visitors by a series of challenges and games.

Find out what's happening in Palo Altowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

4. Dogs in the Neighborhood!  by Ruthellen Dickinson
This app allows dog owners to connect with other dog owners for information, support, play dates and more.

5. GO CO2 Free Palo Alto!  by Lisa Altieri
This is an app designed to encourage PA residents & businesses to lower their carbon footprint.

Find out what's happening in Palo Altowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

6. The Farm. by Oren Shneorson
This application serves the growers/gardeners/farmers/honey makers/ in the community of Palo Alto by providing coordinated planting seasons and seeds so that cross pollination is more successful.

7. Crowd Parking by Oren Shneorson
A mobile app directing drivers in Palo Alto to the nearest available parking space.

8. BikeWatch by Molly Munson
An app that highlights bike safety within the city. The app will detail several components of bike safety including detailed instances of bike theft; a detailed map of the bike paths of Palo Alto and alerts for biking hazards.

9. Tall Tree Teens by Sharon Chen
An app to display and share teens’ opinions on City issues.

10. Wheelchair Friendly Palo Alto by Michael Simkovic
This is an app that includes a crowd-sourced database of places accessible and not easily accessible for physically challenged citizens.

Prizes, in addition to civic pride, are:

1st Prize: $3,500
2nd Prize: $1,000
3rd Prize: $500

Winners will receive a commemorative plaque, and free incorporation services from Palo Alto legal firm WilmerHale will be offered.



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