Last weekend I participated (as a volunteer) in the Longmont Hackathon, mainly because I’m good friends with Longmont’s webmaster, Susan Wolak. I helped judge the entries on the final day as well. I thought I would share a few of my thoughts. I enjoyed the experience a lot more than I thought I would. ItRead… Read more »
When disasters strike towns and cities, 911 centers quickly become inundated with calls beyond those that are truly life-threatening situations. The result is that emergency response is delayed which can sometimes lead to deadly consequences. A case in point is a story in the New York Post about how New York City’s 911 center wasRead… Read more »
Hurricane Sandy, the Super Storm that slammed into the Eastern Seaboard early last week, left behind a wave of destruction in its path. Cities like New York, Atlantic City, Hoboken, Philadelphia and hundreds more are dealing with flooding, power outages,and destructive fires as a result. The cost of the damage left behind is estimated toRead… Read more »
Recently for Blog Action Day, the topic revolved around the Power of We and how the continued interaction and connectivity between hundreds and thousands of people can change the world. Not surprisingly, one re-occurring theme that kept surfacing was how Civic Engagement is needed in order to facilitate that change and bring together people toRead… Read more »
Citizen engagement is one of the most popular topics today in municipal government. There’s not a city out there that isn’t trying to figure out a way to get their citizens more involved and it’s understandable why. A new study came out that showed cities and states that have higher levels of citizen engagement, actuallyRead… Read more »
The application of technology to government has evolved into an incredible environment of creative change. Just as Tim O’Reilly predicted, now is the age of government as a platform. Raw open data is being made readily available to the public, which has created new applications, tools, and ways to access information and services. The ThursdayRead… Read more »
In May, we kicked off something new: the CfA Salon Speaker Series. It’s not new – actually quite old – and we’re hoping you’ll help us dust off this tradition of discussion and lounging (in person for the Bay Area-based and here on the blog for the rest). At our first Salon in May weRead… Read more »
This post is the first in an upcoming series of posts about civic startups. What’s a civic startup? Find out. Code for America recently launched a civic startup accelerator to help promote and “turbo charge” civic startups. We’re accepting applications for the accelerator now through June 1. Apply: codeforamerica.org/accelerator Jonathan Wegener is founder/CEO of Timehop.com,Read… Read more »
Here’s a great little list straight from Peter Levine’s blog at http://peterlevine.ws/?p=8351… People interested in various aspects of civic education and civic renewal have a whole range of summer institutes to consider in 2012. At Tufts, we offer a Summer Institute of Civic Studies (a seminar with a strong focus on theory) followed by aRead… Read more »
People and organizations are flocking to social media. Governments are no different. These channels are perfect opportunities to promote your mobile app solution. Note: This will be much more effective if you have a dedicated landing page with instructions to download your app. CitySourced has assets and copy which we can provide you in buildingRead… Read more »