Code for America has published videos of CfA Fellows demoing their apps during the Code for America Summit held October 13-14 in San Francisco.
Switzerland-based RedCut has released Citizen 2.0, a white paper of case studies that include 17 examples of social media and government innovation. We asked CEO Hadi Barkat to share his methodology and what he learned.
We asked new 311 iPhone app Commons co-founder Suzanne Kirkpatrick to share her thoughts on the new venture, 311 and trends in open government and Gov 2.0.
CrisisCamps are efforts by local communities to garner the collective skills of volunteers, particularly technology related, to support relief efforts during crises, such as natural disasters. Crisis Commons is the supporting organization whose mission is “empowering global citizens to save lives through technology.” Most recently, CrisisCamps have been active in supporting relief efforts following the earthquake in Haiti. Here’s an overview of CrisisCamp, CrisisCommons and how you can connect and get involved.
Spot.Us is a nonprofit effort from the Center for Media Change that supports community-funded investigative reporting. Citizens recommend and fund local news stories, which are then written by participating journalists and published on the site. Contributions are tax deductible and re-imbursed if a news organization buys exclusive rights to the content. The group currently operates ‘beats’ in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area.
GovFreshTV sat down with founder David Cohn to discuss his vision:
Jen Pahlka on her new role as founder of Code for America, the new role developers play in democracy and the importance of their involvement.
San Francisco residents can take full advantage of the city’s open data via Web and mobile applications featured at DataSF App Showcase. Apps offer crime updates, recycling locations, restaurant health inspection scores, BART/MUNI schedules and more. Developers can also submit apps for submission.
According to the site, DataSF App Showcase “celebrates the innovators and innovations who are championing the Mayor’s vision of a more collaborative and open government.”
Code for America founder and director Jen Pahlka discusses Citizen 2.0 (related: Four Steps to the (Gov 2.0) Epiphany: Better Government Through Citizen Development.
Quotable:
The line between citizen and consumer is shifting … it’s gotten a lot blurrier.
I wrote this post to explore a question: how could normal, everyday citizens be as passionate about and engaged with their government as they are with companies like Apple or Google? Here’s what I’ve come up with: government needs a Citizen Development strategy.
Local governments and federal agencies are leveraging crowdsourcing feedback tools such as UserVoice to gauge citizen feedback. Here are 6 examples.
What other agencies are doing the same?
Free-wheeling Government 2.0 discussion with hosts Steve Ressler and Adriel Hampton, guest host Ari Herzog, guests Alan W. Silberberg (You2Gov.org), Steve Radick (BAH social media lead), Andrea Baker of Navstar and Maxine Teller of MiXT Media Strategies live from SXSW, Jeffrey Levy and Marilyn Clark from the Federal Web Manager’s Council and Social Media Subcouncil, and social media expert Michael J Russell.
Voter ID and Civic Innovation
Since 2008, there has been a wave of voting law changes that impose barriers to the ballot box. Georgia Rep. John Lewis, a veteran of “Bloody Sunday,” called the new laws “the most concerted effort to restrict the right to vote since before the Voting Rights Act.” The right to vote is being chiseled away [...]