MindMixer is one of the seven civic startups in the inaugural class of the CfA Accelerator. Government is reeling, politics are gross, and citizenship is suffering. In the backdrop of this decline we are also witnessing a complete technological revolution that has forever changed the way we communicate. It is possible for the first timeRead… Read more »
“Put it on a map.” So often I hear this request when someone encounters an interesting set of civic data. Fortunately, that process has become fairly doable thanks to tools such as Google Fusion Tables, TileMill, and Esri. What about when you don’t have the data? How do you collect it and then map it?Read… Read more »
We started working on federal government social media communications more than four ears ago — before Barack Obama was president. And prior to that, we created “web 2.0″ (doesn’t it sound quaint now?) tools for presidential campaigns. Needless to say, the past few years have been a thrilling time to be at the intersection ofRead… Read more »
Do you care about kicking political corruption out of California with the power of open data? Do you have a bomb.com education app idea just waiting for the help of content experts and an awesome education API to make it a reality?? Here’s your opportunity: Data DeathMatch! hackathon November 2. November 2 from 6:30 a.m.Read… Read more »
It’s official. We’ve selected our fellows and government partners for the 2013 Fellowship Program. The applicants for each were incredible and whittling it down to these 10 governments and 29 fellows was a feet. (And we encourage all fellows and government applicants who we were unable to accept into the program this year to considerRead… Read more »
Code for America fellows and staff had the pleasure of hosting Aneesh Chopra, former CTO of the United States, here at the CfA office. Chopra gave shout-outs to the fellows as “innovators on the front lines,” and cited the Code for America fellowship as inspiration for the Presidential Innovation Fellows program. He also dived deeperRead… Read more »
Broken windows, caved-in roofs, and abandoned buildings have a negative effect on the way residents think and feel about their city. These — and other symptoms of blight — are more than just eyesores. Blight becomes everyone’s problem when it leads to increased crime and lower property values throughout neighborhoods. In New Orleans, blight hasRead… Read more »
Asked for a three word description of why she was in attendance at the Code for America Summit, city administrator in Savannah, Georgia, said, “Show up Macon!” When Mayor Ed Lee of San Francisco addressed the Summit, he cited his city’s position as the “number one city in America” according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek. When MayorRead… Read more »
At the end of July voters in the Atlanta region sent an clear message when 63 percent voted against the city’s tax-to-fund transportation proposal (in Georgia these measures are called SPLOST – Special Purpose Local Sales Option, this transportation specific instance is called T-SPLOST). I was particularly concerned about the vote for a few reasons:Read… Read more »
Have you ever seen a civic app and thought to yourself, “I want that app in my city!” I have. Snow covering fire hydrants isn’t an issue in Norfolk, Va. but storm water drains get clogged all the time and that’s a problem. As we debate and consider light rail in Virginia Beach I haveRead… Read more »