• 2016, a year in review. a look at 2017 & its challenges.

    (This article is broken into two parts. If you are interested in what challenges 2017 brings, click here.) 2016, A year in review. 2016 marked BetaNYC’s seventh year as a community group. As we continue to expand our role in promoting civic engagement through technology, this was one of our most intense years. Community Membership BetaNYC…

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  • UPDATE – Last day to vote for CfA’s National Advisory Council – vote for Noel Hidalgo

    UPDATE: Code For America announced the winners of the National Advisory Council. (link) Thank you for participating; 800 ballots were cast. Jill Bjers, Code for Charlotte Jason Hibbets, Code for Raleigh Chris Alfano, Code for Philly Noel Hidalgo, BetaNYC Vyki Englert, Hack for LA Luigi Ray-Montanez, Code for Atlanta Harlan Weber, Code for Boston Neil Planchon, OpenOakland…

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  • 2016’s written testimony for NYC #opendata oversight hearing

    Wednesday, 21 September 2016 To the NYC Committee on Technology & Chairperson Vacca, Introduction. BetaNYC is a civic organization dedicated to improving all lives in New York through civic design, technology, and data. We envision an informed and empowered public that can leverage civic design, technology, and data to hold government accountable, and improve their…

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  • Emily Goldman – Why I’m coding for BetaNYC!

    Emily Goldman Assistant Director of NYC Civic Innovation Fellows Program The NYC Civic Innovation Fellows Program is empowering NYC’s Community Boards to develop digital and open data practices that are appropriate for the local constituencies they serve. This program is a partnership between the Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer, BetaNYC, and Fund for the…

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  • The Message – 2016.09 – Affordable housing: data, policy, people; open data hearing; geo data standards.

    #BetaTALK – Affordable Housing: Data, Policy, People   BetaNYC hosted a lunchtime #BetaTALK discussion at Civic Hall on July 8th, centered on the topic of affordable housing in New York City,  The motivation for the event was to share knowledge about this extremely important and complex topic, to stimulate more collaboration among people who work…

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  • BetaTalk – Affordable Housing: Data, Policy, People (report back)

    Affordable Housing: Data, Policy, People Introductory remarks: Noel Hidalgo, Executive Director of BetaNYC Moderator: Lucio Tolentino, Co-organizer of BetaNYC; Data scientist and Civic hacker Panelists: Caitlyn Brazill, CAMBA; Moses Gates, Regional Plan Association; Emily Goldman, Cornell U & BetaNYC; John Krauss, Carto & Accursed Ware Introduction to the Event: On July 8th BetaNYC hosted a…

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  • Give feedback on NYC’s proposed geospatial #opendata standards

    Since 2013, members of BetaNYC have advocated for the City’s open data to conform to open standards. Through our work trying to scrape the City Record, we unearthed headaches trying to define what is where. In a city as complex as the one beneath our feet, there are at least three ways to describe that location. Last…

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  • TreesCount Data Jam 2016 Report Back

      Event Report Back: On Saturday, 4 June, NYC Parks hosted its second Data Jam, unveiling NYC’s latest urban forest dataset, the most spatially accurate map of New York City’s street trees ever created. Together with BetaNYC, NYC Parks hosted NYC’s fourth National Day of Civic Hacking event. This is the first time NYC government…

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  • NYC TreesCount! Data Jam Challenges

    For the third time in the past 20 years, together with our hard-working volunteers and stewards, NYC Parks is conducting a comprehensive inventory of our street trees to improve NYC Parks’ ability to manage our urban forest. As part of TreesCount! 2015, NYC Parks has engaged with our voluntreers, tree-oriented community groups, and non-profit partners…

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  • On the release of alpha.nyc.gov

    Today, NYC.gov launched a new digital front door. We welcome this experiment known as AlphaLabs, civic tech office hours, and, all the other things that the Mayor’s Office of Digital Strategy is doing to make government more accessible. ALSO – We love that Alpha.nyc.gov is built on BetaNYC’s award winning ReinventNYC.gov hackathon idea!   Back when…

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  • Join us on Saturday, 4 June for NYC Parks’ TreesCount! Data Jam!

    Join us for NYC Parks’ TreesCount! Data Jam! On Saturday, June 4th, we will unveil NYC’s latest urban forest dataset, the most spatially accurate map of New York City’s street trees. Join NYC Parks, TreesCount! partners, tree care volunteers, and other civic hackers to learn about your urban forest and what impact street trees have…

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  • Statement of support for NYC’s Digital Services Playbook

    Statement of support for NYC’s Digital Services Playbook

    Today is a great day to be a New Yorker. With a straight forward vision of intentional inclusion, iterative design, transparency, flexibility, & mobility, New Yorkers have a Mayor and City Council who fundamentally support the use of technology, data, and design to build governments that work for the 21st century. “With the launch of…

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