Tag Archives: Code for America

Get Involved in a Brigade Action Team

A first version of priorities and a draft rally cry are some of the key items that Code for America Brigades should be excited about as we start 2017. But what’s really exciting for me are the opportunities for making connections across the brigade network. Which is why the National Advisory Committee needs brigade members to help us by joining some of our Brigade Action Teams.

As many of you know, I have the honor of serving on the Code for America Brigade National Advisory Committee or NAC for short. There are eight other passionate members of the group who have had several meetings over the last few weeks to help set priorities, draft a rally cry (see image to the right), and identify working groups we call Brigade Action Teams (BAT). We’ve worked closely with Code for America staff and an amazing consultant who helped us navigate several exercises to move the group forward. Continue reading

The new challenge for Code for America Brigades

20160924_161907Anyone 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

Adventures in Oakland with the SF Giants vs A’s

20150927_162518After a rainy few days in Raleigh, I escaped to the west coast. Oakland, California to be exact. I’m here for the Code for America Summit which starts on Wednesday (and includes a pre-summit for Brigade Captains on Tuesday). Since I came out a day early, I decided to have some fun and take in a ball game. Lucky for me, it was a cross-town rivalry game between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s. Continue reading

Are You Ready to Become a Citizen CIO?

Photo Credits: @snajmi

Photo Credits: @snajmi

Are citizen CIOs a threat to local governments or a blessing in disguise? With government IT departments producing more open data and participation from community interest groups and citizens on the rise, we’re beginning to see the start of a new movement within open government: telling our government which technologies to deploy. Citizens are identifying—and some are creating themselves—the next wave of applications and resources for their municipalities, such as a crowdsourced answering platform for city services, an open data catalog, and a civic infrastructure adoption website for fire hydrants and storm drains. With this, the role of the citizen CIO is beginning to emerge. Continue reading

Raleigh CIO Gail Roper Visits the Code for Raleigh Brigade

cfa_brigadeOn 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

Civic Hacking Lessons from Raleigh, NC

Image credits: Laura Barnes Hamlyn

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

We built this city on open source

Open Source City stickerIn February 2013, I launched an IndieGogo crowdfunding campaign called Open source all the cities to generate awareness for my book and to help raise money to get the first 500 copies printed. I was overwhelmed by the amount of support. There are still a few days left to contribute if you still want your name in the acknowledgements.

I finished my book today, The foundation for an open source city. As Zander said in the campaign video, “Good job Dad.” Continue reading

Open source city campaign update

Open Source CityWith 22 days left to go in the “Open source all the cities” campaign, we’re 94% of the way there with 73 funders. I’m very excited and thankful for all the support. I think we can get to 100 funders before the campaign is over. Can you help me get 27 more funders?

It’s been great to see supportive blog posts from folks like Anthony Pompliano, an entrepreneur in Raleigh interested in improving education, and Luke Fretwell from GovFresh saying, Continue reading

Open source all the cities – Indiegogo crowdfunding launch

Cover design option 2My book, The foundation for an open source city, is in the final stages of completion. I’m very excited. I know many of you have been eager to read the book and get your hands on a copy. And lucky for you, I’ve got a great way to reserve your copy before I release it to the general public.

I decided to launch an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign (think Kickstarter, but cooler, and much more inline with the open source philosophy). My goal is to raise $3000 to get the first 500 copies of my book printed. I plan on self-publishing through Lulu.com, Raleigh’s goto open source publisher! Continue reading

Book introduction: The foundation for an open source city

As a preview to the book I’m working on, currently in editing, I wanted to share the introduction to my book and get some feedback from some of my potential readers. Please let me know what you think. Good, bad, what you were expecting, way off the mark. You won’t hurt my feelings.

Update: I’ve launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the book. Show your support today! Read more about the campaign.

Here goes… Continue reading