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.
Local beat: Crowdfunding community journalism
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:
Gov 2.0 Hero: Jen Pahlka
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’s app showcase highlights civic innovation
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’s Pahlka on ‘The Citizen Internet’
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.
6 government sites crowdsourcing citizen ideas
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?


















Four Steps to the (Gov 2.0) Epiphany: Better Government Through Citizen Development
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.
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