Apidays New York 2024 - The Good, the Bad and the Governed by David O'Neill, ...
Your New Partners: Understanding Civic Hackathons, Why You Should be Involved, and How to Get Started
1. Your New Partners:
Understanding Civic Hackathons,
Why You Should be Involved, and
How to Get Started
Andrew Thompson
athompson@azavea.com
@azavea
@andrewbt
6. The International Space Apps
Challenge?
Second annual, twoday hackathon
Globally organized by
NASA
Locally organized in 83
cities by Local Leads
Teams collaborate
globally using data to
design solutions to
challenges developed
by NASA
26. “[One of] the best things I have
heard a government official say at
a hackathon is, „I never thought
about doing it that way.‟”
-Mark Headd, Chief Data Officer
27. Think Different.
We are all in our own silos, focused on our
own metrics.
Hackathons help us break out of that.
– Outside “hackers” bring new people + ideas.
– Inside “hackers” from other departments
bring other perspectives, conversations.
Collaboration sparks innovation.
29. Hackathons Help You Prepare Data
Events make good deadlines.
Deadlines pressure.
Pressure can make the difference
between releasing data, or delaying.
Hackathons make you to think about,
prepare, and describe your data in a way
fit for external consumption.
Hackers can provide feedback.
32. Preparing Data Helps You Later
Use your data and APIs
in your own
applications.
Integrate with data
and processes in other
departments.
– PGW and rental licenses
You get started by
releasing data to civic
hackers.
34. “You get what you plan for”
Research past events
Plan as a whole organization
– “Buy in”
Look for partners
– Apps for Philly Transit had several agencies
come together.
Outreach, Outreach, Outreach
– The best ideas come from diverse crowds.
– Meetup.com
– Press Releases
35. “You get what you plan for”
Come up with interesting challenges.
Think big, but also think achievable.
NASA challenges each had a Subject Matter Expert
who answered questions from teams.
Need a free, quick place to store open
data? Use Github! GeoJSON!
37. “[Space Apps] is the result of
government recognizing that we
can be more relevant for our
stakeholders and intentionally
create a culture of openness. This is
crucial as we attempt to evolve into
a twenty-first century space
program for a twenty-first century
democracy.”