Involution Studios sponsored the inaugural meetup of the Code for America Brigade in Boston on Thursday, October 25. Thanks to everyone who attended! Here are a few photos from the meeting.
The Code for America Brigade program organizes hackers locally to design, develop, and deploy civic software.
Involution has long been an advocate for the open source / open government movement, which is reflected in the studio's support of the Code for America Brigade in Boston.
The Code for America Brigade program — which organizes hackers locally to design, develop, and deploy civic software — is re-imagining government for the digital generation, providing engineers and designers with the opportunity to give back to their cities by working together on innovative projects. You don’t even need to be a coder or a designer to participate in a Brigade; all that's required is an interest in open public data, and the desire to contribute.
Founded in 2009, Code for America's goals include increasing government's ability to leverage technology more effectively, facilitating citizens and community groups to solve civic issues, and encouraging the development of apps built on linked, open data. The Washington Post described Code for America as "the technology world’s equivalent of the Peace Corps or Teach for America."
Code for America's goals include increasing government's ability to leverage technology more effectively.
Involution has long supported the open source / open government movement. Our work in this space includes hGraph, a information visualization system for viewing patient health metrics in one picture. hGraph recently won second place in the Massachusetts Health Datapalooza, ensuring an entry in the National Health Datapalooza this coming June. Datapalooza entries were judged on use of federal government data, creativity / innovation / originality, patient empowerment / engagement, usefulness to the public, and scalability.
"We're excited to hold the inaugural meetup of Code for Boston at Involution Studios. Involution has contributed substantially to the open source community in the areas of mobile health and government standards. Their continued support of initiatives to promote openness, participation, and efficiency in government makes them the perfect partner for the Code for America Brigade in Boston," said Harlan Weber, Boston Brigade Captain of Code for America.
The private sector has evolved exponentially over the past decade, adopting new technologies and new ways of working. However, local governments have not be able to adapt at the same pace, and have fallen behind. With inflated populations and dwindling budgets, governments have fewer resources, now more than ever. Through its Brigade program, Code for America encourages civic participation and innovation by organizing local groups of technologists to take action in their communities. The Brigade is an organizing force for civic-minded developers, designers, data scientists, and leaders who contribute their talents towards addressing the problems we see everyday. The mission of Code for Boston — and all of the CfA Brigades — is to deploy, maintain, and sustain civic technology and open data infrastructure, and improve the way governments work for everyone, using the people and the power of the web.
The Inaugural Code for America Brigade in Boston Event
Thursday, October 25, 2012
6:30 PM: Light Reception
7:00 PM: DIscussion Begins
Sign up for the event on the Code for America Brigade in Boston Meetup page.
Location:
Involution Studios
661 Massachusetts Ave.
Third Floor
Arlington, MA 02476
Public Transportation:
We’re accessible via the 77 Bus Line from Harvard Square.
Parking:
There’s free on street parking and inexpensive parking behind the building in the municipal parking lot.