Post on 06-Sep-2014
description
transcript
Andrew Thompsonathompson@azavea.com
@azavea@andrewbt
Your New Partners:Understanding Civic Hackathons,
Why You Should be Involved, and
How to Get Started
Community! Hackathons!
Azavea Makes Civic GIS Software
And we’re also a B Corporation…
…so we do things like Space Apps!
The International Space Apps Challenge? Second annual, two-
day hackathon Globally organized by
NASA Locally organized in
83 cities by Local Leads
Teams collaborate globally using data to design solutions to challenges developed by NASA
9,147 people, 770 solutions
“OK Andrew, that’s cool, but none of us work for NASA or have
a Space Station…”
“…What are some examples of great hackathons closer
to home?”
Apps4Septa / Apps for Philly Transit
Septa.org/hackathon
V3.Septa.mobi
From OnTheMap…
…to PHLWork!
Census API
Third Party Census API!
Github
Github Pages
Github GeoJSON!
School Transit Accessibility
TechCamp Philadelphia: Education
Schools + Budgets API from PDFs
PDFs…ugh! But at least it’s out!
Solar Sunflower: Funded by PA DEP!
Apps from hackathons are great, but they
are incidental to the real benefits.
“[One of] the best things I have heard a government official say at
a hackathon is, ‘I never thought about doing it that way.’”
-Mark Headd, Chief Data Officer
Think Different. We are all in our own silos, focused on
our own metrics. Hackathons help us break out of that.
– Outside “hackers” bring new people + ideas.
– Inside “hackers” from other departments bring other perspectives, conversations.
Collaboration sparks innovation.
Making Maps is Easy Now.
Data is the Hard Thing.
Hackathons Help You Prepare Data Events make good deadlines. Deadlines pressure. Pressure can make the difference
between releasing data, or delaying. Hackathons make you to think about,
prepare, and describe your data in a way fit for external consumption.
Hackers can provide feedback.
APIs Describe Data Well
You Can “Dog Food” Them Too!
Preparing Data Helps You Later
Use your data and APIs in your own applications.
Integrate with data and processes in other departments.– PGW and rental licenses
You get started by releasing data to civic hackers.
What Makes a Great Hackathon?
How do we get started?
“You get what you plan for” Research past events Plan as a whole organization
– “Buy in” Look for partners
– Apps for Philly Transit had several agencies come together.
Outreach, Outreach, Outreach– The best ideas come from diverse crowds.– Meetup.com– Press Releases
“You get what you plan for” Come up with interesting challenges.
Think big, but also think achievable. NASA challenges each had a Subject Matter Expert
who answered questions from teams.
Need a free, quick place to store open data? Use Github! GeoJSON!
Partnership – Show up at the event! Thank your volunteer
hackers!
“[Space Apps] is the result of government recognizing that we
can be more relevant for our stakeholders and intentionally
create a culture of openness. This is crucial as we attempt to evolve into a twenty-first century space
program for a twenty-first century democracy.”
Thank you!
Want to work with us? We’re hiring!
Azavea.com