Are you engaged in doing business locally, have ideas on how to improve this town, or been actively involved in positive changes in this community? Here's a chance to network with others and make a difference on a big scale. Join our local design and tech communities in a day of civic hacking at CityCamp Santa Cruz!
Help us build local applications, open up city and community data sources, and form networks that will help support community technology initiatives in the future.
Don't miss this chance to build a better Santa Cruz!Come check out and be a part of the first CityCamp Santa Cruz 2012, daylong civic hackathon at Nextspace (8am breakfast, event starts 9am), put on by Code for America on Saturday, February 25. You will collaboratively build software that matters to Santa Cruz. People who know and love technology (software developers, designers, students, etc.) will come together with city data to build and deploy: apps, visualizations, web sites, and more. Anyone can pitch an idea or problem; small groups will form to brainstorm solutions and start writing code.
Possible City Hall data sets to be used include:- GIS for the City of Santa Cruz- Business space available- Water conditions- Parking information- and more!
What's the format?
CityCamps are set up like a one-day conference, where the participants set the agenda in the morning, work on projects all day, and come back in the evening to present findings and share progress. CityCamps have been held all over the world. Here in Santa Cruz, the day's focus will be on having fun as we build and improve web applications using open data from local government.
Why hold this event?
Local communities of "civic hackers" around the world are building powerful open source applications that help city governments connect with their citizenry. We know Santa Cruz has a great number of dedicated and innovative technologists and designers that care about the community -- and this is your chance to shine.
Who is Code for America?
Code for America is a national nonprofit that partners with city governments to encourage technological innovation. This year, three Code for America Fellows -- Tamara, Jim, and Ruthie -- are collaborating with the City of Santa Cruz around clarifying and streamlining business permitting.Santa Cruz is hosting one of eight CityCamps on Saturday February 25th as part of a Code for America's nationwide Code Across America: A Day of Civic Innovation.
Everyone who participates will get a special prize.
More information, the day's schedule, and sign up can be found here: http://santacruzcitycamp.eventbrite.com/Spots are limited, so please sign up early and tell your friends and colleagues!