Nerd Alert — Job Posting — Special Events Project Manager
BetaNYC is New York City’s civic technology, open data, and civic design community. Starting as a meetup in 2009, it has since grown to be a non-profit organization that hosts events, facilitates policy change, demystifies big ideas, and empowers a new generation of civic hackers. In a strategic partnership with…
BetaNYC Supports Int. 1137-2018 – Codifying MODA into the City Charter
Earlier this week, the NYC Technology Committee voted in favor of Int. 1137-2018 (introduced by Council Member Adrienne E. Adams), which would codify the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics (MODA) into the City Charter. BetaNYC strongly supports the legislation. MODA was created through Mayor Bloomberg’s Executive Order 306. Since then the…
Introducing Year 5 Civic Innovation Fellows 2018 – 2019
Introduction to the Civic Innovation Fellows Program: The Civic Innovation Fellowship is the first and only comprehensive program dedicated to improving community boards’ use of data and technology while training the next generation of civic leaders from CUNY. Manhattan Borough President Gale A Brewer founded the program in 2014, and…
Community Board Technology Needs Report – 2018
Note — This report is one of two reports we are releasing this Fall, and a follow up to our 2015 report. Please read our executive summaries of both reports; you can download a PDF copy of this report here – Community Board Technology Needs Report 2018 – Final Version…
NYC Charter Revision Commission and You!
While NYC might not have direct democracy, it does have a Charter Revision Commission. This commission gives the people the power to rewrite the City’s constitution — aka the City Charter. In an era where democracy seems under attack, over the course of 24 months, NYC will have hosted…
Executive Summary Report on Community Board Technology and Information Workflows
We have published two reports based on several years of research into the technical and information infrastructure supporting community boards. The first report, BetaNYC and Civic Innovations Fellows Community Board and Technology Needs Report, summarizes interviews with district managers about the current state of technology within district offices and their most…
A showcase of Community Planning Fellows and Civic Innovation Lab / Fellows Program
We are honored to share a project showcase of the Fund for the City of New York’s Community Planning Fellows and NYC’s Civic Innovation Fellows hosted by the Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and BetaNYC. Both programs are using geographic information system (GIS), civic technology, and open data to improve…
BetaNYC’s Testimony to NYC Charter Revision Commission Civic Engagement Hearing – June 2018
To: NYC Charter Revision Commission From: Noel Hidalgo, Executive Director of BetaNYC Subject: Civic Engagement and Independent Redistricting Thursday, 21 June 2018 Where we are now: The 1989 Charter revision created COPIC, the Commission on Public Information and Communication. Its ideals were virtuous: educate the public about the availability and…
BetaNYC’s testimony to NYC Charter Revision Commission Manhattan Meeting
To: NYC Charter Revision Commission From: Noel Hidalgo, Executive Director of BetaNYC Wednesday, 9 May 2018 Dear Chair Cesar Perales, Vice Chair Rachel Godsil, and Commissioners, It is an honor to have this opportunity to represent New York City’s civic technology, design, and data community. I am the Executive…
Call for Community Board Data Success Stories and Data Needs Use Cases
We are conducting research to better understand the information infrastructure that supports community boards and are producing recommendations on how to make municipal information more useful! Can you give us five mins and tell us your successes and/or data needs? For the last three months, we have documented the…