The Commons Coming Together Through Volunteers — Get Involved!

Stepping into a big room, no matter how familiar it is, and beginning to connect up our tools, review our program, and execute, is always mixed with a little anxiety. It’s then that we take a deep breath and imagine the moment that motivated us to get out and perform today; the vision of scores of people coming together and the satisfaction that follows from witnessing a community united by a shared passion.

Whether you’re the underground disc jockey dropping new beats, or the open data leader dropping new data sets, it’s the group of supporters and volunteers, as a community, that drive the momentum of any project. The success of Civic Commons is no different.

As part of my fellowship with Code for America, I am working on developing our Wiki so that it can become a comprehensive resource for government staff when they want to know more about the information technology solutions that are available to them, and the legal and procurement aspects of these solutions.

I’m already finding from reviewing the current state of our Wiki, a rich community of existing app catalogs like OSOR, organizations that provide infrastructure support for Government innovation like the New York City Open Source Solutions Lab, and organizations collecting and studying IT legal and procurement materials for the sharing of best practices like the Alliance for Innovation.

However, there is still a lot of research and development work that needs to be completed in order for the Wiki to reach it’s full potential. To that end, we’ve created a page in our Wiki entitled, “Volunteering for Civic Commons”, listing out some of the most important volunteer tasks we’re looking for help with in the near future.

It’s a big room, and the tools are finally connected up. I’m envisioning this room filled with vibrant citizens, technologists, policy and law scholars, and government staff, united by a shared passion to help government save billions of dollars by eliminating wasteful redundancies. Won’t you join us?

Photo Credit: Tim Koeth

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