Civic Tech and Data Collaborative

From 2014 to 2018, the Civic Tech and Data Collaborative (CTDC) brought together local government officials, civic technologists, and community data organizations across seven communities to explore how to harness data and technology to benefit low-income residents. Three national organizations with local networks - Living Cities, Code for America, and the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership – guided the initiative Local collaboratives in Boston, St. Louis, and Washington, DC created products that use data and technology in new ways to improve services or programs in their cities. Four additional sites - Cleveland, Pittsburgh, San Antonio and Seattle - shared lessons from exploring how to strengthen their civic tech and data ecosystems.

We have seen that when communities combine their technology and data expertise and resources, they can:

• Unlock data to shed light on issues and take action on what they reveal
• Creatively incorporate technology to enhance systems-level solutions
• Build government’s capacity to pilot and spread the use of civic tech and data across departments and externally
• Create solutions that involve low-income residents and improve their lives

Products

• Collaborating for 21^st Century Solutions: A synthesis tying together lessons from the experiences of the seven local sites and three national networks, with sections on engaging low-income residents; mobilizing for collective action; resourcing collaboratives, and sustaining the gain.
• Guide to Civic Tech & Data Ecosystem Mapping: A guide to mapping local civic tech and data ecosystems that includes examples from CTDC sites on the value of mapping, key questions for getting started, data collection methods, and ways to use the maps to strengthen community relationships.
• Local Case Studies: Briefs on how three local collaboratives created products that use data and technology in new ways to benefit low-income residents, plus lessons and advice for other cities.
  • Using Data and Technology to Link Boston Youth to Jobs
  • Harnessing Civic Tech and Data for Justice in St. Louis
  • Housing Insights: Bringing Open Data to Affordable Housing Decisionmakers
• Civic Tech and Data Toolkit: A curated collection of resources on Medium related to the ingredients of CTDC, engaging low-income residents, mobilizing for collective action, resourcing collaboratives, and sustaining the gains achieved.

Blogs

National Partners

• The Civic Tech and Data Collaborative: Who We Are
• Tech is Hard, Governing is Harder. Lend a Hand. (Code for America)
• The Power of Ecosystems for Problem-Solving (Living Cities)

Local Partners

• Boston
  • Meeting Youth Where They’re At: A User-Centered Approach to Boston's Summer Jobs Program
  • Employing Youth: Building a Summer Jobs Program with Young People
  • Boston organizations develop advanced algorithm to address city challenges
• Cleveland 
  • Powering Social Change with Data and Tech in Northeast Ohio
• Pittsburgh
  • Pittsburgh's Data Day: Using Civic Data to Spark Hands-on Community Engagement 
  • How to Recruit Leaders to Tackle Urban Civic Hacking
• St.Louis 
  • Engaging Hard to Reach Users in Designing Civic Tech
  • Court Data in St. Louis County: Sharing Sensitively
• San Antonio
  • Building a City-Wide Culture of Data in San Antonio
• Seattle/King County
  • 5 Lessons for Harnessing Data and Tech to Meet Community Needs
  • Leveraging Data to Address Community Needs in King County
• Washington, D.C.
  • User Input in Civic Tech
  • ‘Sprint’ for Volunteers: A Software Design Process for Volunteer Civic Tech
  • Reducing Time to Hello World
  • Can we get ahead of neighborhood change in DC?