Civic Data and Open Government: How Local Funders Can Get Involved

Civic Data and Open Government: How Local

Funders Can Get Involved

Community Engagement: Digital Strategies for Local Funders

Knight Digital Media CenterSeptember 11, 2014

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@danxoneil @smartchicago

April 10, 2023 2

Hello

• Me• Early civic tech experiments• EveryBlock• Open data movement• You?


April 10, 2023 3

Our PrinciplesTechnology

OpenEveryoneChicago

April 10, 2023 4

We’re all about technology

• Everything we do relates to technology

• We are of and about the Internet• We believe in the transformative

power of the Internet to change lives and build the economy for all


April 10, 2023 5

We are open

• Open source code• More importantly: open processes,

open minds, open methods• Allowing others “in”, wherever that

may be


April 10, 2023 6

Target market: everyone

• We believe in the power of the network

• The network needs everyone in it in order for it to be powerful

• We work on solutions that cover the entire city


April 10, 2023 7

Chicago is our middle name

• All of our work is done there• Unique and thriving ecosystem • But we serve as a model for others


April 10, 2023 8

The Strategy

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Access, Skills, and Data

Smart Chicago is a civic organization devoted to improving lives in Chicago through technology. We work on increasing access to the Internet, improving skills for using Internet, and developing meaningful products from data that measurably contribute to the quality of life of residents in our region and beyond.


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AccessIf you’re not connected to the Internet, it is difficult for technology to be of much use to you.


April 10, 2023 11

SkillsIf you can’t use the Internet, being connected isn’t going to be all that meaningful.


April 10, 2023 12

DataWe construe data as content. Because there has to be something meaningful to look at once you’re connected and skilled.


April 10, 2023 13

The Founders: 2 Philanthropies, 1 Municipality

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The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

• A center for ideation and conception

• Julia Stasch: 2007 report, “The City that NETWorks”

• Our primary source of funding


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The Chicago Community Trust

• Provides housing for the organization and is fiscal agent

• At the center of funding and knowledge for the region

• Critical financial, human resources, and other support


April 10, 2023 16

The City of Chicago

• The most important policy lever in the region

• Departmental relationships

• A critical partner for having impact and getting things done


April 10, 2023 17

The Funding

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Sources of Capital

• MacArthur: primary; essential• CCT: critical back-office support as well as grants• Sprague: on-target programs centered on health• Knight: an essential, growing partner focused on

civic engagement • Cook County: to do open data work


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We function as a tech development outfit.

April 10, 2023 20

The Work

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Focus on infrastructure

We make technology, programs, and initiatives that allow others to be more effective— to provide clarity and impetus


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Amazon Web Services

• We host dozens of apps for civic hackers

• At a moment’s notice & for as long as they want

• This allows us to be helpful at the moment of inspiration

• Eliminating stoppers, encouraging innovation


April 10, 2023 23

Project Work and Office Space

• We have three employees at Smart Chicago

• A deliberate strategy to spread revenue, power, and growth across the ecosystem

• We are founding tenants of 1871, going back to May 2012

• We’ve helped jumpstart a half dozen companies

• OpenGov Hack Night— an institution. There because of our seats


April 10, 2023 24

CUTGroup

• Civic User Testing Group as a new model for UX testing, digital skills development, and community engagement in civic tech

• 800+ residents are available• We’ve paid each of them a $5 VISA gift

card. When they participate in a test, they get a $20 gift card

• We help the developers design and implement UX testing and it allows us to be deeply engaged with communities while improving digital skills


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And we produce a lot of software.


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Foodborne Chicago

• We use computers & code to search Twitter for tweets related to food poisoning in Chicago

• We do as much as we can to automatically zero-in on the tweets we think are really about a possible food poisoning case and really coming from Chicago

• Then real humans review the tweets and @reply back to people with a link back to our site, hoping to generate legitimate service requests


April 10, 2023 27

Chicago Early Learning

• Easily find early learning programs near your home or work

• Compare programs side-by-side to select the highest quality option for your child

• Kick off the enrollment process


April 10, 2023 28

Chicago Works For You

• Citywide dashboard with ward-by-ward views of service delivery in Chicago

• Slice, dice, view, review• Sort by whatever interests you• Automatic, running totals


April 10, 2023 29

Chicago Health Atlas

• View citywide information about health trends and take action near you to improve your own health

• Our health programs are run by Kyla Williams• Also: Smart Health Centers


April 10, 2023 30

Chicago School of Data

• There is a Chicago School of Data emerging

• One that places people at the center

• One in the service of people


April 10, 2023 31

Chicago School of Data

• Chicago School of Data Days• Friday and Saturday, September

19 and 20• Let’s do this


April 10, 2023 32

Moar

• There’s always more• @danxoneil• (773) 960-6045• [email protected]


mailto:[email protected]