|
The latest news from Code for Canada, and updates on the country's growing civic tech movement.
|
|
|
More speakers join the 2018 Code for Canada Showcase
|
|
Two weeks and counting until the 2018 Code for Canada Showcase, and our lineup of awesome civic tech and digital government speakers continues to grow!
New additions to the roster include Service Design Manager Farzad Sedghipour from Veterans Affairs Canada, Senior Design Researcher Mithula Naik from the Canadian Digital Service, and Colleen Hardwick, the founder and CEO of Canadian civic tech company PlaceSpeak.
The showcase will be a demonstration and celebration of the impacts of civic tech in Canada. The Code for Canada fellows will demo the digital public services they’ve built alongside their government partners, and lightning talk speakers will share on-the-ground examples of how technology and design can be used for the common good.
We look forward to seeing you there on August 9.
|
|
|
Government + Civic Tech = BikeSpace
|
|
|
|
BikeSpace is a free, community-built web app will help City staff, businesses and property managers in Toronto improve bicycle parking facilities.
|
|
This week, the City of Toronto and the Civic Tech Toronto community celebrated the launch of BikeSpace, a new tool that puts the power to to report bike parking issues in the hands of cyclists. The free, community-built web app is poised to help city staff, businesses, and property managers improve bicycle parking around the city.
Funded in part by the City of Toronto, BikeSpace is a prime example of what’s possible when government, civic hackers, and the public collaborate to solve civic problems. You can read more about the collaborative process of building BikeSpace on the Code for Canada blog, or check out this profile of BikeSpace product manager, Jake Miller.
And if you’re a cyclist in Toronto, visit app.bikespace.ca and lend your voice and experience to the project!
|
|
|
Meet Canada's first Minister of Digital Government
|
|
|
|
Canada's first Minister of Digital Government, Scott Brison, delivers an address at a TEDx event in Moncton, NB.
|
|
Code for Canada would like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to Treasury Board of Canada President Scott Brison, who has been concurrently appointed to serve as Canada’s first Minister of Digital Government. Brison will be joined by the government of Canada’s CIO, Alex Benay, who will serve as Deputy Minister.
Brison and Benay have been vocal champions of digital government, and their appointments show the Government of Canada recognizes the potential for technology and design to improve residents’ lives.
|
|
|
Where does Canada rank on the UN’s digital government development index?
|
|
The UN recently released it’s bi-annual report comparing the development of digital services and digital participation across 193 countries. How does Canada stack up? We rank 23rd on the digital government development index, and 27th on the digital participation index.
The scores represent a slight drop for Canada compared to our rankings in 2016, but that’s a reflection of the fact that a growing number of governments are catching up to residents’ raised digital expectations. That means more competition, certainly, but also more opportunities for learning and collaboration across jurisdictions.
|
|
|
Some light civic tech reading
|
|
- It’s OK when civic tech fails. European civic tech non-profit Transparencee has published an honest account of civic tech projects that did not meet expectations. The report provides great insights about how to adapt civic tech tools to arising challenges.
- It’s time for governments to ditch PDFs. The UK’s Government Digital Service extolls the benefits of producing government content in HTML instead of PDF. Content produced through HTML is easier to use, search and maintain, while PDFs are plagued with problems of accessibility and openness.
- Is current social media inadequate for genuine online civic participation? Vancouver-based civic tech company PlaceSpeak has released a white paper calling on governments to engage with the public through “civic” or “place-based” networks and apps over established, advertising-based social media platforms.
- The skeptics guide to open government. Not convinced by the benefits of open government? Then the Open Government Partnership (OGP) has a guide for you! Introducing the “Skeptic’s Guide to Open Government,” a report that uses empirical evidence to show how OGP national action plans have increased government accountability and transparency.
|
|
GET INVOLVED
How you can help
We're working hard to ensure governments across Canada keep pace with technology and deliver the best services possible for their residents. But we can't do it alone. Here's how you can lend a hand.
|
|
|
1. Help spread the word! Follow Code for Canada on social media, and share our efforts to grow the civic tech movement!
|
|
2. Share your stories! Are you a government innovator or civic tech practitioner with a success story to tell? Let us know, and we can share it with our audience of engaged residents, public servants, community advocates and technologists! You can get in touch at hello@codefor.ca!
3. Join your local civic tech group! You can find the one nearest you on our website. If there’s not one near you, Code for Canada’s Civic Tech Toolkit can help you start one!
|
|
|
Thank you to our partners!
|
|
|
|
|
