The Government We Need talks with Code for America founder Jen Pahlka about how technology can be a force for civic change.
Hack civic hacking
For those of you who identify as civic hackers and are unaffiliated with political, governmental or corporate constraints, you have the good fortune of not needing to adhere to bureaucratic, organizational rules that stunt open, immediate impact and innovation.
Feds want to build better digital ‘front doors’ to government
Borrowing from Code for America’s Digital Front Door project, the federal government is riffing on the concept so that it can better assist those seeking government services.
Get 10% off Code for America Summit registration with GovFresh discount code
This year’s Code for America Summit is September 30 to October 2 in Oakland, California, and friends of GovFresh get a 10 percent discount.
GovDelivery expands government communications offering with Textizen acquisition
Government communications platform GovDelivery announced today it has acquired the civic engagement text messaging service Textizen to “promote citizen action, engagement, and behavior change.”
Submit your applications for the Code for America Technology Awards
Code for America has opened up applications for its inaugural Code for America Technology Awards to honor “outstanding products and implementations of government technology.”
Boston, St. Louis civic tech teams get $200,000 to improve the lives of low-income people
The Boston team will focus on connecting youth to summer jobs and the St. Louis team on making it easier to navigate the criminal justice system.
How you can get involved in the 2015 National Day of Civic Hacking
The 2015 National Day of Civic Hacking will be held on June 6. To date, more than 70 events around the world have been scheduled. The global hackathon, targeted to “urbanists, government staff, developers, designers, and activists,” is organized by Code for America and Second Muse.
Sofman joins SmartProcure as government sector EVP
Former Code for America Chief Program Officer Bob Sofman has joined procurement startup SmartProcure as government sector executive vice president.
7 characteristics of government technology startups
Code for America recently held a “Bay Area Government Technology Showcase” featuring ventures and investors pitching their ideas, and CfA’s Ashley Meyers and Dharmishta Rood opened the event with an overview of seven traits of the next generation of government technology startups.
Analytics and outcome-based government
Michael Flowers shares insights into his time as the former New York City chief analytics officer at the NYC Office of Data Analytics under Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the 2014 Code for America Summit.
Defaulting to open: A foundation for data-driven decisions
San Francisco Chief Data Officer Joy Bonaguro shares her vision for the city’s open data future at the 2014 Code for America Summit.
These 7 local governments will Code for America in 2015
Code for America today announced the next class of municipalities for its 2015 Fellowship Program that partners civic technologists with local governments for one year to “explore answers to local challenges by engaging with the community, building applications, and testing the results.”
7 things you need to know about the 2014 Code for America Summit
The 2014 Code for America Summit kicks off today in San Francisco and runs through Thursday. For most of you reading this, 99% of your Twitter stream will reference what has become one of the most important government technology events held throughout the year.
Join us at the 2014 Code for America Summit
The 2014 Code for America Summit is set for September 23-24 and registration is now open.
Calling .gov startups: apply for the 2014 Code for America accelerator
The program lasts four months and includes training and mentorship, network and publicity, in-kind services and support and $25,000.
Hack like Ben Franklin
Code for America’s Catherine Bracy has a great TED Talk on civic hacking and one of America’s greatest civic hackers, Ben Franklin, inspired a brigade of do-good developers across the world.
The politics of physics (and healthcare.gov)
Since last October the U.S. media, in full orgasmic throng, has been barking madly over the fate of the Healthcare.gov rollout. There has been overwhelming and obdurate polarization around positions on issues that would, in other arenas, be viewed through the objective lens of what most agree are facts.
OpenOakland 1.5: A year and a half in review
As we close out the year, I wanted to reflect on a few things to put our work in perspective and also to lay out the vision for where we want to go in the new year.
Apply now for one of the best gigs in civic technology
Code for America is looking for a developer relations engineer.
Breaking the wall in Chicago
Over the past few years, the civic innovation movement has grown tremendously. It’s exploded really. Ten years ago, who would have imagined that Chicago would be a national leader in open government data?
ArchiveSocial helps keep government social media on the record books
ArchiveSocial enables public sector organizations to embrace social media by minimizing risk and eliminating compliance barriers.
San Francisco: Driving the boundaries of open data
During last week’s 2013 Code for America summit at the Yerba Buena Center, officials from cities including Louisville, New York City, South Bend and New Orleans spoke about how open data had changed the complexion of their communities in public safety, citizen services and blight mapping.
America needs a .gov backup plan
Regardless of what’s happening between the opposite ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, why is America in this situation, and what can we do to ensure it never happens again?
Civic leaders, technologists set to convene for 2013 Code for America Summit
Registration is still open for the 2013 Code for America Summit set for October 15 to 17 in San Francisco.
Baratunde on how to code back
Internet Renaissance man Baratunde Thurston is the latest tech celebrity to pitch the Code for America fellowship program targeted to developers, designers, researchers, data enthusiasts, urban planners and entrepreneurs who want to make a civic difference.
Revelstone shares lesson learned from the civic startup trenches
After a few years in the civic startup trenches, Revelstone has learned a thing or two about building a new business targeting government’s analytical needs.
San Francisco makes open data city policy
Today, open data and its power to transform a city and a nation by engaging tech savvy citizens will be on display at San Francisco City Hall. And just as importantly, companies that have been successful because of forward thinking open data policies will testify to our elected leaders about its importance.
FreshWrap: Citizenville, EU and Japan data portals, NYC BigApps
Weekly wrap-up of civic news.
Captricity frees government data from paper captivity
Captricity solves the “paper problem,” unlocking digital, machine-readable data from paper.
Building civic ‘Startup Communities’
I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of a more structured approach to community with respect to the civic technology movement, which is why I picked up Brad Feld’s ‘Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City.’
Revelstone brings ‘Moneyball’ to government
Revelstone provides a web-based performance analytics and benchmarking platform to help local governments manage better.
How to join (or start) a civic tech movement where you live
For those of you interested in starting or joining the civic technology movement where you live, watch Code for America Brigade program director Kevin Curry discuss how designers and developers are doing just this everywhere across the United States.
These 9 cities will Code for America in 2013
Code for America announced the 9 cities that will participate in its 2013 fellowship program.
Wrapping up Code for Oakland 2012
Today, I had the opportunity to attend Code for Oakland 2012 and, as always with events like this, walked away inspired by the work of good friends and the enthusiasm of citizens and public servants wanting to do more for their communities. Big kudos to all involved engaging, organizing and sponsoring a great event in a great city.
Oakland gets its code on
Code for Oakland will be held July 21 at the Kaiser Center in Oakland, Ca. Steve Spiker, OpenOakland Brigade Captain and Director of Research & Technology for Urban Strategies Council, discusses Oakland’s open data progress and what attendees can expect from the event.
Fostering civic innovation in California
Alissa Black joined the New America Foundation in April to lead the newly-formed California Civic Innovation Project, focused on building “communities of practice within California’s local governments and identifies best practices to improving service delivery, opening new channels for public voices, and bridging the state’s digital divides.”
Help government communicate better
Measured Voice President Jed Sundwall writes “Why We’re a Civic Startup” on the company’s blog to highlight why it applied to the Code for America Accelerator program.
Opening Chicago with CTO John Tolva
Chicago Chief Technology Officer John Tolva joins us to discuss the city’s open data and open311 initiatives, as well as its work with Code for America.
Code for America launches accelerator to ‘turbo-charge’ civic startups
Code for America officially launched its Code for America Accelerator to “‘turbo-charge’ select civic startups by providing them an opportunity to amplify market awareness of their product, to access a wealth of business training and advice, and to be introduced to a broad network of potential investors and civic leaders.”
Pahlka: ‘Government really is the way we do things collectively that we can’t do individually’
Great TEDxPhilly talk by Code for America Founder and Executive Director Jen Pahlka. Really inspiring to see Jen articulate what’s happening around city and local government beyond the tech talk people like me are so in the weeds on.
Philadelphia Open Government 2011 Year in Review
The time of year-end reviews and top 10 lists is now upon us, so I’m compiling the details of a watershed year for open data and civic hacking in two cities where I’ve seen huge leaps made in 2011 – Philadelphia and Baltimore.
Big Code for America announcements and how you can get involved
Code for America made a number of announcements Wednesday that will have a big impact on the organization’s work in 2012 and potentially the future of government technology.
2011 GovFresh Awards entries and voting now open
Every day, tech-minded citizens across the country are doing good by their communities, literally geeking out about how they can help re-define the relationship government has with its citizens, using technology as a democratic tool to empower both.
13 ways citizen developers are coding a better America
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.
GovFreshTV: Q&A with Chicago CTO John Tolva
During last week’s Code for America 2011 Summit, I sat down with Chicago Chief Technology Officer John Tolva and asked him about his current IT initiatives, challenges and lessons learned.
Code for America: ‘In our own words’ (VIDEO)
Excellent Code for America video featuring the 2011 fellows discussing their work and CfA mission.
Code for America announces 2012 Fellows
Code for America Founder and Executive Director Jennifer Pahlka announced its 2012 fellows today at the Code for America Summit in San Francisco.
GovFresh on Gov 2.0 Radio: Open Honolulu with Deputy CIO Forest Frizzell
Honolulu Deputy Chief Information Officer Forest Frizzell joins GovFresh founder Luke Fretwell for the inaugural episode of GovFresh on Gov 2.0 Radio to discuss Honolulu open government and Gov 2.0, CityCamp Honolulu and the city’s upcoming partnership with Code for America.
Why Karla Macedo codes for America
Excellent Code for America video featuring CfA Fellow Karla Macedo, created by fellow CfA fellows MJ Mont-Reynaud, Anna Bloom and Scott Silverman.