“It is my hope that iApplied will reduce government staff workloads, encourage unemployment beneficiaries to apply for jobs and ultimately make more efficient use of taxpayer dollars,” said Tyron Foston of Park Forest, who developed iApplied. “If it improves unemployment benefit operations in Illinois, iApplied could be adopted by other states around the nation.” Foston decided to create iApplied after speaking with some of his unemployed friends and realizing a need for a more effective, streamlined system to verify eligibility for unemployment benefits. He consulted with businesses and municipal employees who provided positive feedback on the tool. Foston plans to use the award money to further develop iApplied to bring it to market.

1. Be it known that the judges and sponsors of the
Illinois Open Technology Challenge
on this date
June 24, 2013
have awarded the efforts of
Tryon Foston, Nikitta Foston, and Chris Beavers, iApplied
for creating a tool that acts as a centralized repository of records of people applying for jobs in
the State of Illinois.
We therefore confer the monetary prize of $15,000 to further the exploration and
development of this tool and to further the mission of the Illinois Open Technology Challenge
to bring governments, developers and communities together in a common mission to use data
to make lives better in Illinois.