Geo:Code 2.0
Residents, innovators, doers - your governments want your help! Please join governments and institutions from across the Twin Cities at the University of Minnesota on March 5th and 6th for Geo:Code 2.0 - a civic tech event to co-create a better Twin Cities. Register, submit ideas, and learn more at <www.hennepin.us/geocode>.
This event is free and open to everyone. We’re calling people of all backgrounds and skills: artists, coders, data visualizers, designers, developers, dreamers, makers, mappers, storytellers, students and technologists. From seasoned codeathon goers to “I’ve never been to one of these events before!”, everyone and every idea is welcome! You never know where a project will take you and what skills will be needed. From public affairs representatives to presentation designers, programmers to project managers, designers to communicators: each and every one of us has something critical to contribute.
Community, Technology, Geography
Community brings people together to solve problems using the tools of technology in the shared geography of the place in which we all live. Geo:Code 2.0 will connect civically-minded community members with geographers and technology developers to effect positive community change through the collaborative use of technology and data.
Make Public Tech Better - Tell Us What’s Up
We’re excited to partner with the University of Minnesota’s Usability Services to bring real user testing to Geo:Code! Day one will include a lineup of local government websites that you’ll be able to use and provide feedback on, while day two will include projects being developed by Geo:Code participants. What’s hard to find? What’s easy to read? What doesn’t work well on small screens? This is an opportunity to make public technologies better by telling the creators and maintainers of tools what it’s actually like to use their technologies.
Build your community
Codeathons, hackathons, open data jams - however you say it, these events are great opportunities to come together, collaborate on existing projects or jump start new ones. While there will be programmers programming, you do not need to code to participate. There will be a wide variety of ways for you to take part in co-creating a better Twin Cities.
Activities from similar local and national events include:
- developing a new policy;
- visualizing available open data;
- designing new, accessible physical and digital spaces;
- coding on an open source project;
- researching issue causes and solutions;
- creating awareness building plans for services and tools;
- documenting stories, processes, and events;
- working collaboratively with local government staff to improve public services.
Geo:Code 2.0 – Across The Metro
In 2015, Hennepin County and Open Twin Cities hosted the first Geo:Code open data codeathon. This year, we’re going bigger and further - we’re taking our conversation about community, geography, civic tech, and open data across the Twin Cities. Hennepin County and Open Twin Cities are thrilled to co-host Geo:Code 2.0 with Anoka County, Carver County, the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, the Citizen’s League, the City of Minneapolis, the City of St. Paul, Dakota County, Metro GIS, MnGeo, Ramsey County, Scott County and Washington County.
Learn more
To register for the event, submit an issue or project idea, and learn more, please visit http://www.hennepin.us/geocode.