Tag Archives: Barcamp

Hey RTP: Get involved in open government

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open govt - Image credits opensource.com

Image credits opensource.com

I gave the latest iteration of my “Open source all the cities talk” (slides) at BarCampRDU on Saturday May 18, 2013. When I got to my slide on how to get involved, someone in the room asked me if this was posted on the web. And I was like….no, but that’s a great idea.

There are a number of events or ways you can make our local government in the Triangle region more transparent, enhance citizen participation, or improve collaboration between citizens and government or regionally between municipalities. Here are a few events coming up and some other ways to get started. Continue reading →

Writing a book about Raleigh being an open source city

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It’s about time to come out of hibernation mode and come out swinging for 2013. I’ve been quiet the last two weeks. Red Hat had their annual holiday shut down from December 24 to January 1 and I decided to extend that until January 3. I head back to the office this Friday.

Over the last two weeks, I spent some time with the family, did a lot of running (I made my goal of running 1,000 miles in 2012), and I played a little too much Skylanders Giants.

Before the break, I was contemplating writing a book about the open government movement in Raleigh with a focus on the characteristics of an open source city. I jotted down a few title ideas and drafted an outline in early December one Saturday morning. And I sat on that for a week or two. Letting the idea marinate. Continue reading →

Raleigh, NC—the world’s first open source city

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This article and interview with Raleigh’s Mayor, Charles Meekor, was published on opensource.com, where we are exploring how the principles of open source are applied beyond technology–to our government, education, and much more. It’s relevant to South West Raleigh because the culture of our creative class embodies the principles of open source–even if some of us don’t call it that. Think Sparkcon, Barcamp, Ignite, etc.

I started pondering what qualities would define an open source city a few months ago when my friend Tom Rabon mentioned it to me one day. I was curious how the city I live in, Raleigh, NC, could attract other open source companies and be the world’s hub for open source and a leader in open government. How could Raleigh be the open source capital of the world, similar to what Silicon Valley is to technology and Paris is to romance?

I think the answer can be found in both the government and the people. Continue reading →