From the beginning, Civic Commons has been a dynamic community initiative. What began in January 2010 as a simple wiki of open government policies and practices (originally called “OpenMuni”, domains for which were simultaneously and independently obtained by Code for America and OpenPlans), grew into a partnership between the two organizations to support the growing open government technology [...]
Engagement Commons: A new tool to empower civic engagement
Crossposted on KnightBlog.org With the explosion of open data, we’ve seen a proliferation of civic software aiming to get community information on everything from road closures to restaurant inspections into people’s hands. The apps have great potential for engaging people in improving their communities. But often the people closest to the data — city leaders [...]
Codifying Innovation in City Government
The following is a guest post from Logan Kleier, the Chief Information Security Officer of the City of Portland, OR. Welcome, Logan! – A stagnant U.S. economy continues to affect the fortunes of city governments. According to a September 2011 report by the National League of Cities, cities have experienced their fifth straight year to [...]
Marketplace Demo: Video
During the first annual Code for America Summit, a major piece of the event was held for demos — quick, focused presentations of real-world examples of impact. Two Civic Commons team members, Nick Grossman and Jeremy Canfield, took to the stage to demo the CC Marketplace (then in closed beta, now open for business!). If [...]
Civic Commons Marketplace: An App Store For Civic Tech
On December 20, 2011 the Civic Commons Marketplace opened to the public. Over the past two weeks it’s grown from cataloguing 193 in 58 cities to 220 apps in 86 cities. Though still in beta, the Marketplace holds the promise of a comprehensive catalogue where anyone, anywhere can find what’s out there and figure out [...]
Now Recruiting: Spring Research Interns to Help Disrupt Government IT
At Code for America and Civic Commons, we’re a small team with a big mission: we’re trying to change the way governments work, the way they leverage technology, and the way they interact with citizens. We think central to that effort is developing a deep understanding of the current environment — specifically around their use [...]
Civic Commons Marketplace Opens for Business
We’re happy to announce that the the Civic Commons Marketplace is now open for public use. The Marketplace has been in development for the past few months as our team worked to resolve bugs and polish the interface. Though still in beta, we invite you to come check it out: marketplace.civiccommons.org. At its core, the Marketplace is [...]
Marketplace Launches Publicly in Conjunction w/ GovFresh Awards
We are pleased to announce that the Civic Commons Marketplace, currently in private beta, will be open to the general public next Monday. The Marketplace will launch publicly in conjunction with the announcement of GovFresh award winners on December 19 – the Marketplace will display the award winners. If you haven’t already submitted your entries or voted in the 2011 GovFresh awards, [...]
Founding Organizations
Proprietary Lions and Bears in the Civic Commons Marketplace
Posted on February 3, 2012 by Andrew Hoppin in Commentary
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from CC Advisor and former New York State CIO, Andrew Hoppin (@ahoppin). We strongly believe that Civic Commons is a community-driven platform, and we not only welcome but encourage dialogue on how to make it most effective as a resource. If you have an opinion on any of [...]