City governments have a lot of information which is useful to all of us. This ranges from maps of local parks to building footprints to real-time 911 calls. We all have an interest in our budget information, legistlative documents and other resources that we use in collective decision-making and deliberation. Not all of this information is currently available for all cities, even though much of it is public record. The “Open Data” movement is a way to work on getting information into machine-readable formats, allowing for easy publishing, sharing, and reuse.
We’re hosting DataCamps in CfA’s cities this year to build communities around making city data more open and accessible to allow citizens to help cities work better.
DataCamp is a event focusing on skill-building and collaborative work on city data. It is an opportunity for interested parties in a city to work together, and build a network of people with shared interested in improving civic communications and information management.
More information about the events is available on the registration pages:
- Boston: February 13; 1pm – 7pm (ET)
- Seattle: February 19; 10 am – 5:30 pm (PT)
- DC: February 21; 10am – 11pm (ET)
- Philadelphia: TBD
Check back for updates on DataCamps in Philadelphia and DC, and for information on what was accomplished at each event. We hope that Datacamps will become popular and that people will do more in their own cities!
