I get asked this question quite a bit, and I totally understand why! We're definitely not like any other group in the area, and "civic tech" might not be a thing you've really heard much about.
Maybe you've heard about us, maybe not. Either way, I would like to take some time to jot down what exactly Open Wichita is all about. Our mission relies heavily on having awesome people involved, and how could you get involved if you don't even know what we do?
Before we get that far, let's start with what we are.
In 2009 there was an organization formed called Code For America that set out on a mission to make government better by coupling modern technology (especially software) with design thinking and the hacker mentality. It's no secret that government lags behind when it comes to tech, and that causes a lot of problems for everyone.
Part of their plan to address this problem was to organize a network of "brigades". These grassroots communities would focus on civic problems that were specific to their localities. The idea was that nobody knows the issues a city is facing better than the city itself, so put the citizens on the job!
There are around over 150 brigades around the world made up of civic hackers who contribute to local civic tech projects.
Civic hacking is the idea that small solutions can cause real impact. It's about understanding an issue, creating something to help the problem, see the impact it creates, and adapting based on the information.
Government can move slowly, sometimes VERY slowly. The other issue is government (especially local gov) is strapped for resources. They have a massive job and they can't always do it all themselves. There is a huge opportunity for any person in the area to contribute some time and energy to making things better.
We serve to be the antithesis of how government traditionally operates.
We do this by..
- Focusing on small scope projects targeting something specific.
- Rapidly prototyping and deploying projects, then iterating.
- Prioritizing the use and production of Open Source Software in all we do.
- Inviting anyone and everyone to express an idea for local impact.
- Inviting anyone and everyone to pitch in however they can.
Our primary function is our project work. Everything we create as a community is open source and hosted on GitHub. We organize entirely through GitHub and Slack, and our meetups are posted, of course, on Meetup.
We have two primary functions of our group -- projects and events. But there is also a very important third piece, relationships.
As mentioned above, we create and contribute to projects, typically software, that have some sort of local focus or impact. Examples? We're working now to launch a tool that visualizes the city budget data and another to aggregate all local public meetings.
We're not limited to just these though. If you have a project idea in mind and want to champion it, we will provide the structure and support to help push it forward!
We also have a page to see all GitHub issues that are tagged with
help-wanted. We try to also tag the issues with
what skills and type of work is involved in the task. If you find something that
sounds interesting to you, just leave a comment on the issue and we'll help you
get rolling!
Our staple event is the weekly Virtual Hack Night. Every Wednesday at 8pm we log into the Open Wichita Slack and try to make some progress on our projects! Other discussion takes place as well, you don't have to be working on a project to join us for Virtual Hack Night.
We also host in-person events! Sometimes they're hacking-focused events where we get together in person to push projects forward. Other times we have speakers available, such as the Election Commissioner, who offer amazing insight in to the jobs they do and how tech can help.
In the past we have even partnered with Riverfest to host a local event for the National Day of Civic Hacking and received a $25,000 grant from the Knight Foundation to put it on!
When Open Wichita first started in 2015, the City Manager, Robert Layton, and CIO, Mike Mayta, both reached out to offer their support. They were both very familiar with Code For America and were waiting for a brigade to start here. This isn't a common scenario in the civic hacking world, and it's something that has set us up for success from the beginning.
Shortly after we began working with the city to create an Open Data Policy, even convincing them to accept public feedback through an open source online engagement tool called Madison. The city's willingness to keep an open mind about our approach to government has been incredible.
The importance of this relationship cannot be understated! Our work can launch within the walls of government because of their willingness to partner. We're excited to see what more we can accomplish together.
Now you're ready to get involved! We're really big on making sure anyone can contribute. You don't have to be technical, you just have to have an interest and belief in what we're doing. In fact, we need non-technical people to help organize projects, provide subject matter expertise, promote projects, and much more! If you like what you're hearing here, definitely reach out!
The best way to jump in is in Slack. Anytime works, though Wednesday nights are our Virtual Hack Night and you're guaranteed to have others online with you then!
There's more information on our website: openwichita.com.
One thing we are trying to prioritize right now is making it as easy as possible for people to take lead on a project, or contribute to a project, or just get introduced to the group and involved in some capacity. If you're interested in helping out with any of those efforts, we would be happy to have you!
Always feel free to reach out and ask any questions you may have. I'm always here, and I love to talk, so don't hesitate :)
- Seth Etter
Government moves slow, sometimes REALLY slowslow -> slowly
We also host in-person events!.- do you want a!or a.?? Sometimes you can have it all, but this is not one of those situations.Sometimes they're hacking focused->hacking-focusedIs there any way to link to Madison where you mention it, github repo or otherwise?