Tag Archives: collaboration

Hey RTP: Get involved in open government

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 →

Raleigh Code for America brigade launches Adopt-A-Shelter web application

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One of the latest projects I’m involved with…

Citizens interested in maintaining and monitoring their favorite City of Raleigh bus shelter now have a helping hand: the Adopt-A-Shelter interactive web application. Adopt-A-Shelter instantly displays the adoption status of all city bus shelters. Code for Raleigh, a recently formed Code for America brigade in Raleigh that includes volunteers from CityCamp Raleigh, deployed the application for use in Raleigh.

Code for Raleigh advocates for existing applications and technology created by Code for America, a national non-profit focused on improving government through technology. Code for Raleigh has recently deployed an Adopt-A-Shelter application at adoptashelter.raleighnc.gov highlighting 184 shelters available for adoption in Raleigh. Citizens can easily sign up for a one-year commitment to help keep Raleigh bus shelters clean for Capital Area Transit (CAT) riders. Continue reading →

How SPARKcon uses open source

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Originally posted on opensource.com and licensed under Creative Commons BY-SA.

Image credits: h0tgrits, opensource.com - Licensed CC-BY-SA

Process over content. Aly Khalifa from Gamil Design and Designbox used this mantra to instill open source roots at SPARKcon—an annual event that showcases, celebrates, and influences the creative momentum naturally found in North Carolina’s Triangle region.

“I think at first it was hard for people to understand—it was hard for us to describe. Sometimes it was embarrassing—this commitment to process over content,” Continue reading →

Triangle Wiki Day a Huge Success for Open Source in Raleigh

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Image credits: Laura Barnes Hamlyn

Almost 50 people collaborated on February 25 at Red Hat headquarters, currently located on Centennial Campus in Raleigh, NC, to participate in Triangle Wiki Day. The event was a soft launch of trianglewiki.org, an effort to document the Triangle region and increase collaboration and knowledge sharing across the area. The wiki uses open source software, local wiki, as a content management platform that includes wiki pages, images, and mapping.

The day started off with a brief presentation [PDF] by Jason Hibbets on how the Triangle Wiki project fits in with the CityCamp Raleigh movement, as well as the larger open government picture and civic innovation week, Code Across America, by Code for America. Continue reading →

Creating a citizen movement for open government

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CC-BY-SA opensource.com

How do you get techies, govies, and citizens to identify, collaborate, and start creating solutions for your local government? Host a CityCamp.

It’s easier than you think. The first CityCamp Raleigh started as a conversation about citizen engagement, but we realized that we could do more than just talk about it. A dozen people came together over 12 weeks to make CityCamp Raleigh a reality. Over 225 people attended three days of collaboration, sharing, and encouraging openness–focusing on improving access to data and solutions for local government.

Three themes emerged over the weekend, all twists on open government: Continue reading →