Anyone in the midst of the civic hacking movement knows that change is in the air. And this is not a bad thing. By far, it’s one of the most interesting times to be involved in this movement. Civic hackers are becoming more focused, more efficient with resources, and partnering with organizers where they can have the biggest impact. Continue reading
The ideas were flowing on Tuesday night, December 2, 2014 at the monthly Code for Raleigh Brigade meet-up. We had a great group of folks from City of Raleigh staff, Wake County staff, developers, citizen hackers, and a few new people ready to improve our government through technology. Our meet-up was held at the NC Innovation Center and by the end of the night, we had 11 projects ideas whittled down to a select few to begin working on for 2015. Continue reading
On Thursday, October 3, a small group of civic geeks gathered at the Raleigh Public Record space at the AJ Fletcher Foundation to host a conversation with the City of Raleigh CIO, Gail Roper during our monthly Code for Raleigh meet-up. She has just over 20 years of experience as a CIO, with past roles at Austin TX, Kansas City, MO, and now Raleigh, NC. Roper’s passion is around digital connectivity, inclusion, and how those factors impact lives. She also believes that access to information can change a persons view on things. Roper’s goal for the City of Raleigh is to not just be the most wired city, but to be the most connected city. Continue reading
Image credits: Laura Barnes Hamlyn
One of the key parts to open source is sharing. And that comes in many forms. On the software development side, that means sharing your code. But on the civic hacking side, it starts with sharing stories and lessons learned—both successes and failures.
Fellow Code for Raleigh co-captain Chad Foley and I joined a Code for America Google Hangout with Kevin Curry and Hannah Young to share our story. How Code for Raleigh got started. What’s working well for us. Where are we going next. Check out our Hangout and let us know what you think. Continue reading
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