During the 11-month program, fellows will receive a crash course in municipal government, and unparalleled networking, mentoring, and support throughout the year, while they work in teams to develop open-source applications for their assigned cities. CfA mentors, committee members, and faculty are drawn from the biggest names in the web industry and the Gov 2.0 movement. When fellows complete the program, they will leave behind not only a web application that will help all cities run more efficiently, also a legacy of innovation and openness within City Hall.

The program will be based out of San Francisco, where fellows will spend the majority of their time in order to share of resources across the teams, engage in training and development exercises, and connect with mentors and speakers from the Silicon Valley and San Francisco-based technologies communities. In the month of February, however, the fellows will be embedded on-site in their assigned cities, working with city officials hands-in-hand to understand their needs, as well as the needs of the community they suppor, and envision the project.

Fellows will also receive a stipend in the amount of $35,000, travel expenses, and healthcare benefits.

The 2013 Program Schedule

January	Orientation/Training: The selected fellows come together at the Bay Area headquarters for a month of training, team building, working on internal tools, and project research. A key element of this portion of the program is the guest speaker series; leaders in both government and the web industry provide inspiration and build the corps’ networks. The fellows are divided into teams of five, each team assigned to a host city and that city’s project.
February	City Residency: Next, the fellows visit their host cities for one month. Travel costs will be covered and housing while at the participating city will be paid for. Their job is to learn how city government works, build a network of contacts in City Hall, and identify where CFA can have the most impact. The city sponsor serves as host, orienting the fellows, setting up meetings for them with a broad array of stakeholders and answering questions. The goal is to be able to represent the needs of their host city when they return for the development phase.
March-August	Development: Each team returns to Bay Area headquarters and then has seven months to develop their application for their city. Teams work together sharing resources where appropriate. Ongoing training and guest speaker series continue through this phase.
September- October	Launch and Summit: At month nine of the cycle, teams launch their applications. In month 10 staff from all host cities, former and future CfA partner cities, and other interested individuals gather in San Francisco for the CfA Summit, where each team demos their project and builds their network. This is an opportunity for the cities to strengthen their relationships with each other and discuss common priorities, including common technology needs and open data standards.
November	Maintenance and Hand-off: In the final month, the fellows document their work while working from Bay Area headquarters, fix bugs, and add final features, and work with the city to transition maintenance of the application.