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BetaNYC staff and Civic Innovation Fellows stand alongside each other at the Fund for the City of New York's presentation.

The_Message: December 2023

Gabby Langston

Happy December and the end of the calendar year! 2023 has been adventurous — we kicked off the year with a larger Open Data Week and School of Data. We welcomed several new cohorts of Civic Innovation Fellows, expanded our digital services lab, and recruited more Open Data Ambassadors.

To close our year, we’re seeking two things. If you have the means, we’re looking for sustaining contributors. Please help us continue our work. Second, we are hiring a Data Analyst / Data Scientist Associate for our Civic Innovation Lab! 

Lastly, one of our Fellowship Associates, Naeema Haque, wrote a touching recap of her experience at this year’s PyData NYC conference.

We are blessed to be a part of your public interest technology family, and we wish you and your loved ones all the best this winter holiday season. We look forward to seeing you in 2024. 


— BetaNYC ❄️

Enjoy our newsletters? Support us today to sustain them!

Consider becoming a sustaining contributor and help us continue our work in 2024.

  • Our apprenticeship programs support and mentor NYC students in pursuing careers in public interest technology, data analytics, and design.
  • Our Civic Innovation Lab runs a civic research and data analytics help desk for local stakeholders, policy-makers, and community-based organizations.
  • Our data and literacy programs make engaging in civic society more accessible and more effective with open data and technology.

We’re looking for monthly contributions of $8, $16, $24, or you can set your contribution level. Thank you, we appreciate you!

“One takeaway I had from the fellowship program was that there were more options out there I enjoy that isn’t from my career goal and major. It definitely opened my mind into allowing myself the choice of other jobs I would enjoy.”

– Civic Innovation Fellowship Alum

What’s New at BetaNYC?

Four Days Left to Submit to the School of Data AND NYC Open Data Week Call for Proposals! 📊

Thank you to everyone who has submitted their ideas for School of Data and NYC Open Data Week! If you’re working on your proposal, submit it soon — the deadline is Monday, December 11 at 11:59pm.

Have questions about submitting a proposal? Wondering what happens next? We’re holding two virtual information sessions via Zoom tomorrow, December 8, and Friday, December 15, from 12-1pm. Register here, and see you on Zoom!

Through Naeema’s Eyes — a Recap of the PyData Conference 💗

Naeema, one of our Fellowship Associates, recently attended the PyData 2023 conference! She chronicled her experience in an insightful blog post, detailing the ambiance, keynote speakers, workshops, networking opportunities, and more!

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 👀 

Update on the City Budget: The NYC Council is considering other ideas for the budget in response to Mayor Adams’ recent announcement of budget cuts. The plan comes amidst the Council’s upcoming December 11 hearing on the current budget plan.

Upcoming Tech and Equity Hearing: The NYC Council Committee on Women and Gender Equity, jointly with the Committee on Technology, will host a hearing on online harassment against women, girls, and gender expansive people.

Speaking of the NYC Council, they passed historic legislation yesterday, accelerating bike lane installations across the City. Streetsblog has more details. 

Congestion Pricing Update: The MTA’s Traffic Mobility Review Board voted to approve the congestion pricing tolls, setting the stage for the program to begin in the spring. 

Voting Machine Controversy: Election advocates filed a lawsuit to prevent the ExpressVote XL voting machines from rolling out. The touch screen machines were approved by the Board of Elections earlier this year.

Two recent reports from the Office of the NYS Comptroller and the Fiscal Policy Institute illustrate a change in the wealthiest New Yorker’s migration patterns.  

The NYC Office of Technology and Innovation launched the Vulnerability Disclosure Program to streamline reporting potential vulnerabilities to the government. Check out their guidelines and share your thoughts.

Be a part of the NYC civic conversation! Columbia University and Bloomberg Philanthropies launched their Communities Speak Survey and want your input.

Did you see this map Stefan Bohacek created as part of the 30-Day Map Challenge? It features worldwide government agencies with a presence in the fediverse, according to Wikidata.   

Upcoming Events 📆

Dec 8 at 9am Nonprofit Tech Con

Dec 11 at 1pm KPMG Preparing Government for an AI-Driven Future

Dec 11 at 5:30pm December NY Tech Meetup

Dec 11 at 5:45pm Vision Zero vs Computer Vision: A New Playbook for Traffic-Calming Advocacy 

Dec 13 at 6:30pm NYC Mesh Harlem Happy Hour

Dec 14 at 12pm WEBINAR: From Raw Data to Insights: Simplifying Data Validation and Enrichment

Mar 16-24 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.

Join our community! 🛸

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.

See you next year! Peace, openness and gratitude 🗽