We started this month highlighting how we choose to give thanks to all the unique opportunities that enable us to build community, and we give thanks to those who have helped us in the fight of good over evil. With National Native American Heritage Day and Thanksgiving next week, many of us prepare to share a meal, reconnect, and reflect. Next week presents a unique opportunity to discuss something that affects all of us but often gets overlooked: information security.
The next federal administration is telegraphing how it seeks to intrude on our private communications. Combined with the next NYPD Commissioner, we must build secure communication practices and teach our families to stay safe digitally.
By turning next week into a conversation about digital security, you can create a tradition of supporting each other in navigating an increasingly complex digital world. It’s a small step toward ensuring that everyone at your table — and beyond — is more informed and safer. To help you get started, the Community Resources section below contains essential tools and must-reads to support these meaningful conversations in the road ahead.
Community Resources 📚
- These two articles by Kelly Hayes include a listing of books, articles, and resources on the road ahead and a moving essay on how to survive, adapt, and take direct action. Also, Haymarket Books has one of Kelly Hayes’s books for free! We highly recommend Let This Radicalize You and the nine other books on tools for a better world.
- Stay informed with the latest digital security practices
- Resources on information democracy, privacy, and intellectual freedom
- Check out the Global Encryption Coalition
- The WIRED has a guide on how to protect yourself from government surveillance
- Learn more about what mass deportation in the U.S. means, and don’t forget the CIA’s guide to sabotage your workplace. 😉
- Review the Field Guide to Police Surveillance
- With Google dropping support for many privacy plugins, learn to bypass paywalls via Firefox and bypass paywalls clean. Also, you can use 12ft.io to help bypass paywalls.
This Week in NYC Civic Tech / Gov Watch 🏛️
- Even with the rain, we are still in drought. Also, global warming is REAL.
- Our very own Naeema Haque paid tribute to GIS Day in this riveting blog post, and Dimitri Mimy wrote a review of our McCarren Park Stewardship cleaning and mapping event.
- City of Yes is on its way to a full City Council vote!
- The MTA announced the finalists and winners of their first-ever Open Data Challenge!
- Elif Ensari Sucuoglu (an Open Data Ambassador!) and Benjamin Arnav had their research on using AI to monitor the NYPD’s response to parking complaints published in the Vital City Journal.
- The New York League of Conservation Voters created a map that visualizes the NYC buildings with water coming through lead pipes. Gothamist has a recap of the lead pipe hotspots.
- NYC Parks wants your thoughts on its greenways and drives! Visit the NYC Parks E-Pilot Map Input Tool to share your feedback.
Jobs Alert and Announcements (for more listings, check out #Jobs) 💼
- BetaNYC is hiring a Public Programs Consultant.
- Data & Society is seeking a Community Manager, Public Technology Leadership Collaborative.
- The Fund for Public Health in NYC is looking for a Data Equity Analyst.
- The Office of the NYS Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli is recruiting a Data Analyst.
- Pentagram is seeking a mid-level to senior Graphic Designer.
Upcoming Events 📅
Note: All times are listed in EDT
- November 26 Queens Tech Night 2024
- December 4 at 6pm Discovering NYC Open Data: Online Session
- December 15 at 11:59pm Submission deadline for NYC School of Data
- March 21 to April 6, 2025 Data Through Design’s Corpus: Bodies of Data
- March 22 to 30, 2025 NYC Open Data Week
- March 29, 2025 NYC School of Data
In closing, we want to thank Alice Hudson, who recently passed away. Ms. Hudson is the reason we have such a robust Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division at the New York Public Library. We want to echo the following words from Steve Hanon, the President of The New York Map Society, “Ms Hudson transformed it into one of the premier public map collections in the world. She mentored generations of scholars and librarians, championed the inclusion of women’s contributions to cartography, and brought history to life for countless visitors, from schoolchildren to seasoned researchers.” 💗
Our open data community wouldn’t exist without our GIS elders. We send our condolences to Ms. Hudson’s family, friends, and colleagues. A memorial service is scheduled for December 18, 2024, at 6 PM at the Rutgers Presbyterian Church, 236 West 73rd Street, New York, NY 10023.
That’s it for today! Remember, we must take care of each other — there is no planet B. Want to be featured in future posts? Share your resources, projects, events, announcements, and anything else happening with our community. Have a great Thanksgiving! 🦃