What’s the best way for cities to signal that they’re the place for technology startups to set up shop? Cities are making bold moves this year:
- This year New York City began developing a new applied sciences campus.
- This month, Chattanooga launched a “GeekMove” program which would pay tech startups to relocate to the city for five years.
- This month, St. Louis will welcome new businesses through ArchGrants to viable start-ups.
If you’re a city, how can you send a message to entrepreneurs – the student at a local university, a visiting business manager, a start-up in someone’s garage – a message to say that you understand technology? Put OPEN in big neon lights and display it proudly: on your website, your data, your strategic plans. Word gets around: “These guys have a ton of data online.” “This app will work with any bus system that has an API.” “Who do you think got the city on GitHub?” Either you’ve overheard things like this at a hackathon, or you ought to visit one.
Add Code for America to your city’s ecosystem, and bit by bit, byte by byte, new projects emerge. Our work has the potential to link citizens to their representatives, and make sense out of difficult government processes. It all starts with being OPEN.
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