Get a Preview of Summit 2025

We’re two months out from Summit and we couldn’t be more excited about the amazing lineup of breakout sessions, lightning talks, and interactive activities this community has put together. This year, we saw hundreds of submissions that spoke to the enthusiasm and perseverance that continue to drive civic tech forward. Summit is shaped by the contributions of many, and we’re deeply grateful to everyone who submitted a session, shared ideas, or supported the process. We picked a few of our favorites to highlight here—and there will be dozens more announced soon on our Summit site.

The Emerging Technology + Innovation track is one of our more recent additions to Summit. Sessions in this track are all about how we can harness the potential of new technologies and methods—while making sure that integrating them doesn’t cause unintended harm. AI is obviously a big topic here, and we’re looking forward to seeing all the different contexts in which governments across the country are thinking about its use. Check out sessions from:

• The city of Boston, where they’re building a tool that uses a large language model to extract information from images of street signs to better distribute curb space for package and food delivery, passenger pick-up and drop-off, transit, bike lanes, and parking
• The state of Pennsylvania, where one agency took an old paper-based process and used an Azure Artificial Intelligence tool to digitize scanned forms, process the data inside, then catalog it in a CRM

The People Power + Community track is perhaps more necessary than ever. Sessions in this track focus on how people are creating change in their communities across the country, focusing on projects that both make it easier for people to access programs and services and make it easier to bring new people into the civic tech community. Check out sessions from:

• The city of New York, where BetaNYC is using open data to map public amenities like wheelchair-accessible play equipment, greenspace, and public bathrooms
• Montgomery County, MD, which will share tips on how to build an onboarding process for new civic tech teammates—and the presenters are guaranteeing you’ll leave with three new connections, (at least) two new tools, and the start of one awesome guide

The Policy + Administration track is about the nuts and bolts of how government gets things done—from writing and implementing policy to identifying the technology that would bring administrative decisions closer to their desired real-world impacts. Check out sessions from:

• The state of Arizona, where their team created an integrated benefits application that determines eligibility for five safety net program applications: SNAP, TANF, LIHEAP, child care assistance, and medical support
• The city of Raleigh, NC, which is building a new strategic planning process using human-centered design to encourage cross-departmental teams to contribute design research and develop actionable policy objectives

The Service Design + Delivery track considers how thoughtful design can improve the experience of people interacting with government. Sessions in this track focus on things like accessibility, efficiency, UX design best practices, and more. Check out sessions from:

• The state of Louisiana, where they’re modernizing software delivery to transform critical systems—this team will share how they’re dealing with legacy systems and resource constraints, and highlight their design system
•  Former members of 18F, who will share what attendees can take forward from their work to implement best practices for building better digital services

The Demo Lab is a brand new experience at Summit this year. Think of it like a civic tech science fair—an interactive opportunity to see pilots and demos of what governments around the country are working on. Attendees will get to ask questions about their process and tools, give feedback, and make connections with those doing similar work. Check out demos from:

• The city of Philadelphia, which will be demoing their service standards intended to capture best practices for creating, delivering, and improving public services
• The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, which is showing off an AI tool designed to reduce the burden on appeals examiners by improving the quality and consistency of decision letters

We’ve also heard that people are interested in more structured social activities, so this year we’re adding new ways to get to know your fellow attendees. Civic tech trivia will give you the chance to show off your knowledge of the field’s history, major players, and big projects. Or try out civic tech tarot, which will have self-reflection cards geared towards interrogating our power, position, and expertise to show up more authentically in our work.

Whatever interests you in the Summit lineup, we’re excited to see you there soon.