I’m heading over to the Open Gov Hack Night, a group of passionate folks working at the intersection of open government, cities, and technology. Smart Chicago is a steady sponsor of these popular nights, providing the space for them at 1871, based on our seats there. Here’s some updates that I am going to share, and thought I would put them here for link-love safekeeping:
$15,000 in prize money for a state-wide winner of the Illinois Open Technology Challenge
We are focusing on four areas of our state (Rockford, Champaign, Belleville, and the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association) for this program. We have $75,000 in total prize money, and will award $15,000 to developers creating specific apps that meets that needs of each of the communities. The remaining $15,000 will be awarded by the Governor in a state-wide prize. Apps must use state-wide data from data.illinois.gov. Complete details coming on January 30.
New data journalism radio series on WBEZ
I participated in a segment on the Morning Shift show with Tony Sarabia along with my Civic Innovation in Chicago colleagues Tim Akimoff and Matt Green. Listen for more data stories on that show. The entire Civic Innovation in Chicago project is made possible by a Community Information Grant from the Knight Foundation and the Chicago Community Trust. Additional support is provided by the MacArthur Foundation.
Hidden Civic Hacker
Last week I was in Rockford for the Illinois Open Technology Challenge and heard an amazing story of civic hacking going back to 1979. I wrote it up here.
Moar projects
I added some of my personal projects to the bottom of this spreadsheet of civic hacking projects. Add yours!
Open fare system?
The CTA is launching an “open fare initiative“. I think that means anyone can create a fare payment system that allows people to ride the train. Let’s do this!
