National Day of Civic Hacking

Some types of successful events from the past have been:

• Hackathons: Events where people come in with ideas for an app and create prototypes at the event.
• City Camps: Unconference events where people discuss the problems in their city and create the connections necessary to solve them
• Design Camps: Events where we use user-centered design to reimagine government services.

Who's this for?

This event is for people who love their city and want their cities to be better places. These events bring together community leaders, coders, government staff, designers, non-profit employees, data scientists, and anyone with a stake in their government. No tech skills required!

Frequently asked questions

• Q: What is civic tech?
  A: Civic tech is technology projects involving intentional collaboration between technologists, bureaucrats, entrepreneurs and nonprofit employees to engage the public or solve civic problems.

• Q: What is Code for America’s role in NDoCH?
  A: Code for America is the operational partner for National Day of Civic Hacking. Code for America’s Brigade Network is currently active in over 70 cities across the nation, and host NDoCH events annually, in addition to regular Brigade meetups.
• Q: How long has NDoCH been going on?
  A: Six years, the first National Day of Civic Hacking event took place in 2013.
• Q: Who created NDoCH?
  A: NDoCH started as a partnership between Code for America, Secondmuse, and NASA in partnership with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
• Q: Why is NDoCH so important right now?
  A: NDoCH is an opportunity for Brigades to partner with their cities, and help transform them into delivery-driven governments — governments that develop policy with the delivery and needs of users at the center.
• Q: What are some interesting projects what have come out of NDoCH?
  A: Code for Boston identified the need to redesign their Youth Employment Program, and from that, they built the “Youth Jobs Boston” project, which spurred from a National Day of Civic Hacking event in their city.

Organizer's toolkit

We've put together everything you'll need to run a great event. This includes:

• Logos
• Flyer Template
• Media Kit (Press Tips and FAQs for reporters)
• Event Checklist

Download the 2018 Organizer's Toolkit

Other links

• What is Civic Tech?
• Civic Wants, Civic Needs, Civic Tech
• So you want to reform democracy?
• Building Technology With, Not For Communities
• Join the Code for America Slack.