Hello everyone, Happy National American Indian Heritage Month! And Happy Veteran’s Day — we are eternally grateful to all Veterans who served and continue to serve our nation.
Here at BetaNYC, it’s been a fun-filled fall as we welcomed our amazing new cohort of Civic Innovation Fellows. Welcome, Nadia, Rashante, Samantha, and David! We’re over the moon to be working with you and can’t wait for what the next year brings.
In addition to a growing family, planning has been underway for School of Data and NYC Open Data Week. There are two weeks left to submit to the call for proposals — the early bird deadline is Wednesday, November 22. Please submit early to have your event promoted and published well in advance.
In exciting news, our dear friend Matt Stempeck, curator of the Civic Tech Field Guide, co-authored an essay on the collaboration between government and US civic tech groups and featured our work! Check out the full publication.
Lastly, today is election day, and all NYC Council Members are up for reelection. Not to mention, there are District Attorney races for three boroughs, Civil Court positions up for grabs, and more — get out and vote!
We wish you and your loved ones a happy Thanksgiving and a beautiful holiday season ahead.
With much gratitude,
— BetaNYC
Celebrating National American Indian Heritage Month 🎉
In honor of National American Indian Heritage Month, we pay tribute to the Native American and Indigenous peoples who have paved the road in STEM!
Andrea Delgado-Olson founded Native American Women in Computing, which provides mentorship for Native women in tech. She is also the Program Manager for Systers and GHC Communities at the Anita Borg Institute.
Kris Easton is a Senior Engineering Program Manager at Google and was a trustee for the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. He was crucial to the introduction of Tribal reservations on Google Maps.
Danielle Forward is the CEO and Co-Founder of Natives Rising, which aims to empower Indigenous communities through tech careers and networking opportunities. She is also a Product Designer and has previously worked on projects highlighting economic empowerment for Native people.
What’s New at BetaNYC?
Upcoming Open Data Ambassadors Class 📊
There are only two chances left to learn about NYC Open Data this year! Friday, November 17, is the next Discovering NYC Open Data Class as part of the NYC Open Data Ambassadors Program. This class is in partnership with the Office of the Staten Island Borough President — visit nyc.gov/discoveropendata for the full schedule.
Submit to the School of Data AND NYC Open Data Week 2024 call for proposals! ✅
The early bird deadline to submit a proposal is Wednesday, November 22. If you have an idea, please submit it early, even if it’s in the draft phase! Any submissions after this date will have a higher likelihood of rejection, as there will be less time to refine it with you. Learn more about what we’re looking for and share your proposals.
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 👀
Today is election day! Find your poll site and hours. It’s also the last day to postmark your absentee ballot and drop it off at your poll site. Note: if mailing your ballot, the Board of Elections must receive it by November 14.
President Biden signed an executive order on AI, requiring companies to be transparent with the government on AI systems that may threaten national security, among other actions. This action comes as the President established 31 Regional Innovation and Technology Hubs (Tech Hubs) to spur job development and innovation nationwide.
Mayor Adams announced the NYC Artificial Intelligence Action Plan as part of an effort to promote responsible use of AI. The plan comes amidst the launch of the MyCity Business site, which features the City’s first citywide AI chatbot.
The Office of the NYC Comptroller released a reflective report on New York City’s tech sector as part of the ongoing narrative on the City’s economy.
The Office of the NYC Public Advocate published a report addressing transit accessibility in the City and highlighted how to make the transit system fully accessible and inclusive.
A new monumental dataset: The MTA published a new dataset on the New York State Open Data Portal, illustrating the MTA vendors and procurement actions since 2018.
The NYC Department of City Planning updated NYC Street Map. This new version combines over 8000 components of the original map, along with additional street info.
‘Tis the season! Open Streets and business boon: The NYC Office of Technology and Innovation and Mastercard found that last year’s holiday open streets initiative led to an additional $3 million in spending.
Inside scoop on FOIL: THE CITY has helpful tips on how to file a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request and address roadblocks.
Want to investigate property records? Here’s an inside scoop on how to find more info on the buildings on your block.
Have you seen this detailed map of NYC’s neighborhoods? This accompanying guide does a walkthrough of how the information was compiled.
Upcoming Events 📆
Nov 8 FormFest 2023
Nov 9 at 6pm Storytelling in Architecture: Stories & Places
Nov 14 – Nov 15 Urban Tech Summit 2023 – Cities: Driving Decarbonization Technology
Nov 15 at 2pm The Intersection of Federal Privacy Legislation & AI Governance
Nov 16 at 12pm Data Talks: Local Housing Data 101
Nov 17 at 12pm Discovering NYC Open Data: Online Session Hosted by The Office of the Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella
Nov 27-28 New York City Technology Forum 2023
Dec 8 at 9am Nonprofit Tech Con
Mar 15-23 Open Data Week – Sign up for announcements
Mar 23 NYC School of Data – Save the Date!
Announcements, Job Openings and Opportunities 📢
Submit to this list by filling out this form and see our #Jobs channel in Slack for more posts.
- Bloomberg News is hiring a Data Visualization Team Leader and Data Visualization Reporter.
- Code for America’s 2024 Summit call for proposals are open until November 14.
- The Creative Bureaucracy Festival’s call for participation is open until December 15.
- The Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity is recruiting a UX/UI Designer and Content and Communications Advisor.
- Newlab’s 2024 NYC Founder Fellowship Cohort applications are open until December 5.
- The NYC Campaign Finance Board is hiring a Data Visualization Specialist.
- The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is seeking an IT Project Manager.
- The NYC Department of Transportation is recruiting a Mobility Data Program Lead, Security Analyst and a Senior Data Engineer.
- The Obama Foundation Scholars Program at Columbia University applications are open, and the deadline to submit is December 12.
- The Office of NYC Councilmember Lincoln Restler is seeking a District Director.
- The People’s Money idea submission phase for the new participatory budgeting cycle is open until November 19!
- The Urban Systems Lab at The New School has openings for several data analysis and data science positions.
Join our community! 🛸
- Slack (View more job announcements in our Jobs Channel!)
- YouTube (Open Data Week Videos are up!)
- NYC Civic Tech Facebook Group
- Mastodon
- Open Data Week
- GitHub
Like this newsletter and what we do? Donate $23 or more to our 2023 campaign and support employment opportunities for our Civic Innovation Lab, Civic Innovation Fellows and Apprentices to grow with us.
See you next month! Peace, openness and gratitude 🗽