Clark Dever and Jordan Walbesser, the creators of Good Neighbor, a mobile phone-based app that gives Buffalo residents easy access to key data on services provided by the City of Buffalo, Erie County and New York state, as well as local non-profit organizations, were awarded the top prize in Mayor Byron W. Brown’s inaugural Civic Innovation Challenge – Powered by AT&T.
“This app embodies what I had hoped would come out of this competition. Good Neighbor equalizes access to city information for all of our residents. It also offers translation for those who do not speak English,” Mayor Brown said. “Anyone with a cell phone and this app can find the nearest police station or firehouse, get details on city services in their neighborhood, and much more. This is what the City of Good Neighbors is all about.”
"The quality of the innovative solutions developed for this challenge is extremely impressive and serves as an example of the vibrancy and creativity of Western New York's technology community," said Marissa Shorenstein, president, Northeast Region, AT&T. "AT&T is proud to have collaborated with Mayor Brown to host this visionary innovation challenge."
One hundred developers signed up to participate in the challenge, and 16 complete app entries were reviewed by a five-member panel of judges, which included Mayor Brown, Shorenstein, and Ulla Bak, president of Bak USA.