Roll Up Your Sleeves, Get Involved, and Get Civic-Hacking

This summer, on June 1-2, 2013, citizens in cities across the Nation will join together to improve their communities and governments as part of the National Day of Civic Hacking.

Civic Hacking Day is an opportunity for software developers, technologists, and entrepreneurs to unleash their can-do American spirit by collaboratively harnessing publicly-released data and code to create innovative solutions for problems that affect Americans.  While civic hacking communities have long worked to improve our country and the world, this summer will mark the first time local developers from across the Nation unite around the shared mission of addressing and solving challenges relevant to OUR blocks, OUR neighborhoods, OUR cities, OUR states, and OUR country. 

National Day of Civic Hacking is a call to action for anyone who wants to make a positive impact on their town, city, and country.  A coalition of leading organizations, companies, and government agencies have banded together to issue this challenge with the goal of promoting transparency, participation, and collaboration among governments, startups, and citizens. These partners will support Civic Hacking Day by hosting activities across the country that invite anyone to become part of the civic hacker community—whether you’re a newbie or an expert—and by  connecting people in person or online during the weekend celebration. 

The event is taking place in conjunction with Random Hacks of Kindness and Code for America's Brigade meetings and is being modeled after the Innovation Endeavors’ Super Happy Block Party.  A number of Federal agencies, including NASA, the Census Bureau, and the Department of Labor, are participating by offering specific challenges for hackers to work during the event.  

This is an opportunity for citizens in every town and city across the Nation to roll up their sleeves, get involved, and work together to improve our society by cultivating an ecosystem for innovation and change.  Activities are already being planned in Augusta, GA; Alexandria, VA; Asheville, NC; Austin, TX; Bend, OR; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Grand Rapids, MI; Honolulu, HI; Lexington, KY; Miami, FL*; Oakland, CA; Palo Alto, CA; Portland, ME; New York City, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Sacramento, CA*; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; and Tucson, AZ. 

Ready to get involved in YOUR community?  You can learn more about the National Day of Civic Hacking at: http://www.hackforchange.org/.

Editor's Note: Cities with (*) have been added to reflect updates since this blog was posted.

Brian Forde is the Senior Advisor to the U.S. CTO for Mobile and Data Innovation

Nicholas Skytland is the Program Manager of NASA's Open Innovation Program