Eid Mubarak and happy soon-to-be Passover! For those who celebrate, many blessings to you and your loved ones. Spring is here, which means warmer weather (eventually!), blooming flowers, and lots of showers.
Last month, we were thrilled to see over 4,400 of you participate in NYC Open Data Week and NYC School of Data. Your involvement, whether as an event organizer, attendee, volunteer, or artist, made the week successful; thank you! Together, we witnessed how New Yorkers use open data to demystify public interest tech, empower communities, and hold entities accountable. For those who couldn’t make it, all recorded events will be available on open-data.nyc in the coming weeks. Thank you to Joly MacFie and the Internet Society New York Chapter for processing the recordings!
In the meantime, our Fellowship Team is heading to State of the Map to raise awareness of their ongoing Mapping for Equity on OpenStreetMap (OSM) initiative. Driven by our passionate Fellows, Mapping for Equity aims to document our urban environment data and empower local groups to create more equitable public spaces.
Please consider donating $24 (or a monthly donation) to fund their attendance so they can collaborate with potential partners, share their work, and learn about additional resources to strengthen NYC’s mapped data.
Thank you for being part of our journey for a brighter city; take care!
— BetaNYC ❤️
What’s New at BetaNYC? ✨
Hello from the other side of NYC Open Data Week and NYC School of Data! Last month, over 4,400 of you tuned into 104 events, with 444 of you participating in our School of Data conference. All events focused on NYC Open Data and empowered us to leverage this treasure trove to better support our communities and cities.
Thank you to the 271 speakers and organizations who highlighted topics ranging from education, cleaning data, immigration, and data journalism to ChatGPT, mobility and mapping, climate change, and much more.
At School of Data, we were fortunate to have 52 dedicated volunteers who braved a rainstorm to assist with event production. Thank you to everyone who volunteered! Your enthusiasm and support are the backbone of our community, and we are truly grateful for your support.
Stay tuned for a fuller recap, and look out for event recordings and information about next year’s festival at open-data.nyc.
Did you attend an event? Please share your feedback by completing this survey.
Did you attend School of Data? Please share your feedback by completing this survey.
Community News, Events and Announcements
Here are some content picks from our community. Share yours in next month’s newsletter.
Civic Tech and Legislation Updates 👀
Make your voice heard — Participatory Budgeting Voting Week is here! From now through April 14, you’ll get to vote on a local project from your district that you want to be funded. Learn more about Participatory Budgeting and start voting!
New York State budget negotiations: The New York State Assembly voted to extend a temporary budget through April 11. New to the budget process? New York Focus has a guide on everything you need to know for this year.
Congestion pricing update: The MTA approved the congestion pricing plan, and a New Jersey federal judge will rule on its fate in early June — just before the program is scheduled to go into effect.
Mayor Adams announced that autonomous vehicle testing would begin in NYC as part of a new permit program. Government Technology has coverage of the varied reactions.
For the first time in 27 years, the U.S. government will change how it categorizes people by race and ethnicity in its federal surveys and censuses.
Interested in calculating the blank ballots cast in the New York State Democratic primary? Check out this rundown of blank ballots cast statewide, citywide, boroughwide, and districtwide.
Want to locate amenities in a neighborhood? Nathaniel Henry and Henry Spatial Analysis built an interactive map visualizing walkable, bikeable, and transit-friendly neighborhoods!
What are the backgrounds of the NYC Council? Sebastian Hallum Clarke and Maximum New York conducted a research project delving into current council members’ ages, professional backgrounds, and employment histories.
Upcoming Events 📆
Apr 15 at 5:30pm Transit Techies #24: Digital Transformation & Electrification of School Buses
Apr 18 at 6pm The Data School New York – Meet & Greet April 2024
May 3 at 12pm Discovering NYC Open Data: Online Session
June 10-14 Pride Summit 2024
Announcements, Job Openings and Opportunities 📢
Submit to this list by filling out this form and see our #Jobs channel in Slack for more posts.
- The Administration for Children’s Services is hiring a Data Visualization Specialist.
- CUNY Central Office is searching for a Program Manager.
- Data2X, housed at the UN Foundation, is recruiting an Associate Director, Gender Data.
- The General Services Administration is seeking a Chief Technology Officer.
- Measures for Justice is hiring a Software Engineering Manager I/II Application Role and a Software Engineering Manager I/II Data Role.
- The MTA is searching for a Deputy Chief Data Research & Development.
- The New York City Campaign Finance Board is recruiting a Digital Operations Specialist.
- The NYC Department of City Planning is seeking a Senior Software Engineer (GeoSupport).
- The NYC Department of Finance is hiring a Data Analytics Specialist.
- The New York City Department of Housing Preservation is searching for a Senior Business Analyst.
- NYC Health + Hospitals is recruiting a Senior Analyst, Data Governance and Standardization.
- The New York State Office of the Attorney General is seeking a Data Scientist.
Join our community! 🛸
- Slack (View more job announcements in our Jobs Channel!)
- X/Twitter
- YouTube (Catch the latest School of Data and Open Data Week Videos!)
- Threads
- NYC Civic Tech Facebook Group
- Mastodon
- Meetup
- Open Data Week
- GitHub
Like this newsletter and what we do? Donate to our 2024 campaign. Your support will help sustain our apprenticeship programs, civic data research and assistance capabilities, and public programming in 2024.
P.S. Happy eclipse day! We hope you had fun viewing the solar eclipse. 🌕 🌑
See you next month! Peace, openness, and gratitude 🗽