Year: 2014

Toward Estimating Value in Civic Tech

Smart Chicago

One of the great challenges of our work in open data is making a concrete case for value. For me, the question comes up all the time, going back to my time at EveryBlock and even before that, as a tech contractor trying to convince a municipality to open more data.

We often rely on important but somewhat vague successes around weather and transit, but we really lack demonstrative examples of direct economic development around open data.

Now comes the inimitable Waldo Jaquith, Director of the U.S. Open Data Institute, with a detailed blog post that shows one small path to understanding: “The Financial Value of Open Corporate Data to Government” .

Awesome Market at Germain and St. Jacques, Paris, February 2012

The regulation of businesses is one of the most essential government functions and one that generates critical revenue for government services.

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Lunch event with Ron Bouganim of the Govtech Fund

Smart Chicago

Ron Bouganim, managing partner at the Govtech Fund, will be in Chicago December 8th and will stop by Impact Engine for a lunch event at 12:30pm. Bouganim will talk about the Govtech fund and take part in a Q&A session moderated Christopher Whitaker.

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The $23M Govtech Fund is the first-ever venture fund dedicated to government technology startups. The Govtech Fund harnesses the power of transformers, technology, and capital to help government become more efficient, responsive, and better able to serve society.

You might be familiar with at least one of the companies that the Govtech fund has invested in. MindMixer is an engagement platform being used by the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District.

You can register for the event here. 

Launch of Chicago Health Atlas 3.0

Smart Chicago

Last week we launched our third major update to our Chicago Health Atlas project.  This is the most robust version of the Atlas released since its debut in 2012. The Atlas is funded and receives significant thought leadership from the Otho S. A. Sprague Memorial Institute. Sprague, and their Executive Director Jim Alexander, has shepherded this program for years.

Chicago Health Atlas, along with all of our other health products like Foodborne Chicago and Smart Health Centers, is managed by Smart Chicago Director of Operations Kyla Williams with lots of help from Program Coordinator Sonja Marziano.

Chicago Health Atlas 1.0

Chicago Health Atlas 1.0

The first version of the Atlas was a simple lookup tool for existing data. DataMade, a local firm that builds custom visualizations, deploys civic apps, and trains people to work with open data, has been an essential tech partner all the way through to this version. The site is based on the Derek Eder’s wildly influential and immensely useful Searchable Map Template. Derek was also important in helping me move from the Weave (Web-based Analysis and Visualization Environment) platform and set up a structure that met Smart Chicago’s vision for the site.

Last year we conducted a CUTgroup test on the Atlas and found that users were a little confused with the original navigation.

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