Code for America
Encyclopedia
Code for America is a non-partisan, non-political 501(c)3 organization
founded in 2009 to bring web-industry professionals to work with city governments
in the United States
in order to promote openness
, participation
, and efficiency in municipal governments.
The New York Times described Code for America as “a new nonprofit project... which aims to import the efficiency of the Web into government infrastructures” and “[tries] to make working in government fun and creative.”
at the Gov 2.0 Summit
in Washington, DC. A conversation with Andrew Greenhill, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff of the City of Tucson, sparked the initial idea for Code for America, when he said “You need to pay attention to the local level because cities are in major crisis. Revenues are down, costs are up -- if we don't change how cities work, they're going to fail." The two began discussing plans for a program that eventually became Code for America, “a one-year fellowship recruiting developers to work for city government.” With support from web entrepreneur Leonard Lin, Tim O'Reilly
of O'Reilly Media, and technologist Clay A. Johnson, among others, the organization was launched in September 2009.
According to their website, “Code for America helps city governments become more transparent, connected and efficient by connecting the talents of cutting-edge web developers with people who deliver city services and want to embrace the transformative power of the web to achieve more impact with less money. Inspired in part by Teach for America, CfA works with city officials and leading web development talent to identify and then develop web solutions that can then be shared and rolled out more broadly to cities across America.”
The first year of the fellowship program began in January 2011. Twenty fellows were selected from 360 applicants, resulting in a 5.6% acceptance rate. Boston
, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Seattle were the four cities were selected to participate in the 2011 program.
, Seattle, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. Each city will partner with a team of five web programmers selected for the fellowship. Over 11 months, the fellows and city government will collaborate to develop a web application
to solve a civic problem identified by the city in their project proposals. The completed applications will be released as open-source
for any city government to use or adapt.
The Civic Commons
project was launched in September 2010. A coordinated effort between Code for America, OpenPlans, and the District of Columbia's Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), the project is focused on reducing public IT costs by helping government entities share code and best practices. In March 2011, Civic Commons helped make the Federal IT dashboard freely available to all levels of government, thereby providing local governments with tools to monitor project effectiveness and evaluate the allocation of resources.
Organization
An organization is a social group which distributes tasks for a collective goal. The word itself is derived from the Greek word organon, itself derived from the better-known word ergon - as we know `organ` - and it means a compartment for a particular job.There are a variety of legal types of...
founded in 2009 to bring web-industry professionals to work with city governments
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in order to promote openness
Transparency (humanities)
Transparency, as used in science, engineering, business, the humanities and in a social context more generally, implies openness, communication, and accountability. Transparency is operating in such a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed...
, participation
Participation (decision making)
Participation in social science refers to different mechanisms for the public to express opinions - and ideally exert influence - regarding political, economic, management or other social decisions. Participatory decision making can take place along any realm of human social activity, including...
, and efficiency in municipal governments.
The New York Times described Code for America as “a new nonprofit project... which aims to import the efficiency of the Web into government infrastructures” and “[tries] to make working in government fun and creative.”
Founding and History
In 2009, founder Jennifer Pahlka was working with O'Reilly MediaO'Reilly Media
O'Reilly Media is an American media company established by Tim O'Reilly that publishes books and Web sites and produces conferences on computer technology topics...
at the Gov 2.0 Summit
Gov 2.0 Summit
is an event created and hosted by Tim O'Reilly and TechWeb. The first conference was held in Washington, DC on September 8–10, 2009 and included two distinct sessions, the Gov 2.0 Expo and the Summit....
in Washington, DC. A conversation with Andrew Greenhill, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff of the City of Tucson, sparked the initial idea for Code for America, when he said “You need to pay attention to the local level because cities are in major crisis. Revenues are down, costs are up -- if we don't change how cities work, they're going to fail." The two began discussing plans for a program that eventually became Code for America, “a one-year fellowship recruiting developers to work for city government.” With support from web entrepreneur Leonard Lin, Tim O'Reilly
Tim O'Reilly
Tim O'Reilly is the founder of O'Reilly Media and a supporter of the free software and open source movements.-Life and career:...
of O'Reilly Media, and technologist Clay A. Johnson, among others, the organization was launched in September 2009.
According to their website, “Code for America helps city governments become more transparent, connected and efficient by connecting the talents of cutting-edge web developers with people who deliver city services and want to embrace the transformative power of the web to achieve more impact with less money. Inspired in part by Teach for America, CfA works with city officials and leading web development talent to identify and then develop web solutions that can then be shared and rolled out more broadly to cities across America.”
Fellowship Program
Code for America connects city governments and web professionals through the Code for America Fellowship program.The first year of the fellowship program began in January 2011. Twenty fellows were selected from 360 applicants, resulting in a 5.6% acceptance rate. Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and Seattle were the four cities were selected to participate in the 2011 program.
Projects
The inaugural 2011 fellowship program will launch four projects in BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Seattle, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. Each city will partner with a team of five web programmers selected for the fellowship. Over 11 months, the fellows and city government will collaborate to develop a web application
Application software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
to solve a civic problem identified by the city in their project proposals. The completed applications will be released as open-source
Open-source software
Open-source software is computer software that is available in source code form: the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that permits users to study, change, improve and at times also to distribute the software.Open...
for any city government to use or adapt.
The Civic Commons
Civic Commons
-External links:***...
project was launched in September 2010. A coordinated effort between Code for America, OpenPlans, and the District of Columbia's Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), the project is focused on reducing public IT costs by helping government entities share code and best practices. In March 2011, Civic Commons helped make the Federal IT dashboard freely available to all levels of government, thereby providing local governments with tools to monitor project effectiveness and evaluate the allocation of resources.
Board of Directors
- Tim O'ReillyTim O'ReillyTim O'Reilly is the founder of O'Reilly Media and a supporter of the free software and open source movements.-Life and career:...
, O'Reilly MediaO'Reilly MediaO'Reilly Media is an American media company established by Tim O'Reilly that publishes books and Web sites and produces conferences on computer technology topics... - Jennifer Pahlka
- Leonard Lin
- Monica Harrington
- Andrew Greenhill, City of TucsonTucson, ArizonaTucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
Board of Advisors
- Deb Bryant, GOSCON/Open Source Lab
- Ben Cerveny, bloom.io
- Peter Corbett, iStrategyLabs
- Kevin Curry, Bridgeborn
- Jascha Franklin-Hodge, Blue State DigitalBlue State DigitalBlue State Digital is a Washington, D.C.-based Internet strategy and technology firm. The company was founded in early 2004 by four former staffers of Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign: Clay A. Johnson, Jascha Franklin-Hodge, Joe Rospars, and Ben Self...
- Adam GreenfieldAdam GreenfieldAdam Greenfield is an American writer and designer, and is the founder and managing director of urban-systems design practice Urbanscale, based in New York. From 2008 to 2010 he was Nokia's head of design direction for user interface and services...
, Urbanscale - Nick Grossman, OpenPlans
- Clay JohnsonClay Johnson (technologist)Clay Johnson is best known for his role in advocating for open source information in the federal government and has been involved in a number of activities around making government data more transparent and accessible. He also started the first Internet Knowledge Exchange: knowpost.com...
, Sunlight Labs - Carolyn Lawson, State of California
- Michal Migurski, Stamen Design
- Abhi Nemani, GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
- Andrew Rasiej, Personal Democracy ForumPersonal Democracy ForumPersonal Democracy Forum is a website and annual conference that follows how the internet is changing politics, governance, and advocacy founded by Andrew Rasiej and co-Founder Micah Sifry.- Website :...
- Clay ShirkyClay ShirkyClay Shirky is an American writer, consultant and teacher on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies. He has a joint appointment at New York University as a Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and Assistant Arts Professor in the New...
, author, Here Comes Everybody - Tom SteinbergTom SteinbergTom Steinberg is the founder and director of mySociety the organisation which runs democracy and transparency websites in the UK, including TheyWorkForYou and WriteToThem...
, Director of MySocietyMySocietymySociety is an e-democracy project of the UK-based registered charity named UK Citizens Online Democracy, that aims to build "socially focussed tools with offline impacts". It was founded by Tom Steinberg in September 2003, and started activity after receiving a £250,000 grant in September 2004...
Staff
- Jennifer Pahlka (Founder and Executive Director)
- Alissa Black (City Program Director)
- Dan Melton (Technical Director)
- Abhi Nemani (Director of Strategy and Communications)
- Meghan Reilly (Operations Director)
Funders
- Knight Foundation
- Omidyar NetworkOmidyar NetworkOmidyar Network is a philanthrocapitalist investment firm established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam. To date, Omidyar Network has committed more than $290 million to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual...
- Rockefeller FoundationRockefeller FoundationThe Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
- O'Reilly MediaO'Reilly MediaO'Reilly Media is an American media company established by Tim O'Reilly that publishes books and Web sites and produces conferences on computer technology topics...
- ESRIESRIEsri is a software development and services company providing Geographic Information System software and geodatabase management applications. The headquarters of Esri is in Redlands, California....
- MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
- O'Reilly FoundationO'Reilly FoundationThe O'Reilly Foundation is a personal charitable trust set up in 1998 by media magnate, and former CEO of Heinz, Sir Anthony "Tony" O'Reilly. Its function is the funding of educational projects; the two main work areas are capital developments at Irish colleges and an annual post-graduate...
- GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
- Paul MaritzPaul MaritzPaul Maritz is CEO of VMware Corporation , and a past senior executive at Microsoft.Born and raised in Rhodesia , his family later moved to South Africa where he was schooled at Highbury Preparatory School and Hilton College. He received a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Natal,...
- Mike and Monica Harrington
- Sunlight FoundationSunlight FoundationThe Sunlight Foundation is a 501 educational organization founded in April 2006 with the goal of increasing transparency and accountability in the United States government....
- Case FoundationCase FoundationFounded in 1997 by AOL co-founder Steve Case and his wife Jean Case, the Case Foundation invests in individuals, nonprofits, and social enterprises aiming to connect people, increase giving, and catalyze civic action....
- Anne and Louis Abrons Foundation
External links
- Code for America official website
- Civic Commons
- Changing Government and Tech with Geeks, Nick Bilton, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, July 6, 2010 - How an Army of Techies Is Taking on City Hall, Anya Kamenetz, Fast CompanyFast Company (magazine)Fast Company is a full-color business magazine that releases 10 issues per year and reports on topics including innovation, digital media, technology, change management, leadership, design, and social responsibility...
, November 29, 2010 - Remaking Government in a Wiki Age, Chrystia Freeland/ReutersReutersReuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, August 18, 2011