Governor O’Malley and Databay Partners Award $4,000 Grand Prize to Baybucks for Bay-Friendly App

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Nina Smith, Governor’s Office: 410-974-2316
Adrienne M. Diaczok, MDE: 443-422-8277

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

GOVERNOR O’MALLEY AND DATABAY PARTNERS AWARD $4,000 GRAND PRIZE TO BAYBUCKS FOR BAY-FRIENDLY APP

Hackathon Challenge brought together diverse groups to collaborate and innovate for Chesapeake Bay restoration

ANNAPOLIS, MD (August 28, 2014) — BayBucks, an application that uses an online reward system to track and encourage user contributions to a healthier Chesapeake Bay is the winner of Governor Martin O’Malley’s DataBay “Reclaim the Bay” Innovation Challenge. Last evening, Governor O’Malley along with judges Jana Davis, Executive Director, Chesapeake Bay Trust; Alison Prost, Maryland Executive Director, Chesapeake Bay Foundation; Asher Epstein, COO, Access Health Group; Guy Filippelli, CEO, Red Owl Analytics; and Vince Talbert, Board Chair, Network for Good, presented BayBucks with a check for $4,000 in recognition of the application they created to assist in Chesapeake Bay restoration.  

Governor Martin O’Malley said, “Maryland has been and will continue to be a leader in restoring the Chesapeake Bay watershed, making sure it is healthy and clean for generations of Marylanders to enjoy. The DataBay Reclaim the Bay Innovation Challenge brought together some of Maryland’s brightest minds and best technologies to create applications that make it possible for every citizen to have a hand in reclaiming the Bay.”

BayBucks offers incentives and discounts from Maryland business to its users in exchange for the actions they take to Reclaim the Bay. The application rewards users that participate with a fun and easy to understand point system. In the BayBucks app, a user might earn a discount at a coffee shop or free magazine subscription for installing a rain barrel in their yard.

The Challenge, held earlier this month, brought together more than 80 scientists, programmers, techies and other civic hackers to create data-driven applications that increase public engagement and aid in Chesapeake Bay restoration. Four teams: Bay Bucks, EcoSleuth, ChesaPeaks and MyBay were chosen to move on to compete in the finals.

Sponsors of the event included University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical & Natural Sciences and A. James Clark School of Engineering and the Chesapeake Bay Trust.

Partners included representatives from Office of the Governor, Maryland Department of the Environment, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, National Aquarium, The Future of Information Alliance, Hack Baltimore, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.

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