Code for America is a network of people making government work for the people, by the people, in the 21st century. They are a non-partisan, non-political organization that brings technical talent to civic service that doesn’t naturally attract enough of it. We’re honored they are supporting TADHack-mini Orlando again this year.
Last year Thomas Howe created a winning hack Legal Aid. Extending social services through messaging to all stakeholders. Not only did he receive the Flowroute prize, he also received the Code for Orlando t-shirt for its social impact. This hack shows the power of programmable telecoms, and also how easy that power can be brought to bear in solving local community issues. Thomas went on to create a second hack over the weekend, but that’s just Thomas over-achieving as usual 😉
Also last year two of Code for Orlando’s brigadiers Ian Thomas and John Li participated and won with their hack Convergence. A service that helps you avoid giving personal information over the phone. Well done!
Code for America began by enlisting technology and design professionals to work with local governments in the United States in order to build public-service tools and promote openness, participation, and efficiency in government. It has since grown into a cross-sector network of practitioners of civic innovation and a platform for “civic hacking.”
In 2014 I reviewed an impressive start-up created out of a Code for America hackathon, Textizen. It’s great to see how Code for America has grown since then.
Code for America Brigades are volunteer groups that work on local issues to help make government work for everyone. Over 5,000 people in the US are involved in a Code for America Brigade. We’re excited to be working with our local Code for America Brigade, Code for Orlando at TADHack-mini Orlando.
Code for Orlando brings the community together to improve central Florida in ways government doesn’t. Volunteers from various disciplines are committed to using their technical talents to make a difference in the way the community, visitors, and local government experience Orlando.
To give you a few focus areas we are interested in (and perhaps some ideas!):
- Election and legislative;
- Need driven (problems that are identified by a specific and measured need);
- Emergency Preparedness and Safety; and
- Projects that show the usefulness, application, and need of more Open Data.
Allowing the TADHack teams to choose from a broad focus area gives them the freedom to explore a wide range of issues facing our communities. They suggest that teams also use local open/public data sets to try to solve problems. There are several sources below:
- City of Orlando Open Data Portal
- Code for Orlando’s Data Portal
- Tabs on Tallahassee Legislative Data (documentation) | Website
- City of Orlando GIS data
- Orange County GIS Data
- White House Open Data
For teams hacking in Orlando, use the TADHack sponsors’ APIs, follow the Code for Orlando focus areas and data sets above, and contact <erin@codefororlando.com> with your ideas or questions.
A weekend spent hacking at TADHack-mini Orlando not only promotes your ideas and skills to many North American enterprises through Enterprise Connect, you also make a difference in Orlando! We look forward to seeing you there.
Code for Orlando
Co-Captains Erin Denton & Andrew Kozlik