Civic Startups

Lunch event with Ron Bouganim of the Govtech Fund

Daniel X. O'Neil

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.

122_8062_BC_0448

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. 

mRelief: Mobilizing social service relief in Chicago

Christopher Whitaker

Last week marked the launch of mRelief,  a site that simplifies the social service qualifying process with an easy-to-use form that can be accessed online and through SMS. Residents can check to see if they’re eligible for a variety of programs including food stamps, medicaid, WIC, and more. Here’s the press release by mRelief creators on day of launch.

mRelief is made by an all-woman team hailing from different backgrounds and walks of life dedicated to making an impact with technology. Smart Chicago has supported mRelief under our CivicWorks Project funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

mrelief

mRelief is already deployed at the Martin Luther King Jr Community Services Center. The Community Service Centers are run by the City of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services.  DFSS Community Service Centers help individuals and families in need access a wide range of resources from shelter, food and clothing to domestic violence assistance, job training/placement and services for the formerly incarcerated. Staff members are using mRelief to help streamline the process of evaluating their eligibility. The mRelief team has also partnered with Purple Binder to refer residents to other useful local resources if they are ineligible for public assistance.

Continue reading →

An Incomplete List of Chicago Civic Technology Groups

Christopher Whitaker

As part of our work, the Smart Chicago Collaborative makes a lot of introductions. Chicago has a deep bench of civic innovation talent with multiple organizations working in tandem to use the power of technology to help solve problems.  There are also a number of mailing lists and meetup groups that are in the civic innovation space. To help get people who are interested in the space more acquainted, we’ve put together a list of mailing lists, events, and resources for people who want to get more involved.

Englewood Codes

Demond Drummer gives out an award during Englewood Codes demo day

Continue reading →