Update: The deadline for cities to apply for the Code for America 2011 Program Application has passed. Stay tuned for information about the 2012 program.

Cities are at the core of the CFA program.  Each participating city identifies the need for a project, and is assigned a team of five fellows who will develop that application for the city over the course of the 11 month cycle.  Beyond simply procuring a piece of software, the cities engage in a deep multi-directional exchange between the city government and the fellows, but also among the host cities.

For key dates for participating cities, see our timeline.

Participating cities should expect to provide:

1. Funding to cover the stipends for the five fellows assigned to their city
2. The business case for the application they want built
3. Hosting of the five fellows in their city for one month, including access to the relevant staff members and departments, education around how the specific city government works, and brainstorming the research and design of the application
4. Ongoing collaboration with the fellows throughout the development cycle
5. Participation in the CFA Launch Conference near the end of the cycle, including collaborating with the other Participating Cities on technology priorities.

Participating cities should expect to gain:

1. A web application built to their specifications
2. Access to other web applications built for other cities
3. Exposure to a team of savvy web professionals focused on identifying and solving business challenges for city governments
4. A deeper understanding of how technology can be put to use to make city government more collaborative, participatory, transparent, and efficient
5. A network of relationships with other cities facing similar challenges, with whom they can share solutions