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The latest news from Code for Canada, and updates on the country's growing civic tech movement.
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Celebrating the first year of Code for Canada!
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Code for Canada's Executive Director and co-founder, Gabe Sawhney, speaks at our launch event on April 5, 2017.
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It’s hard to believe, but this newsletter arrives in your inbox on Code for Canada’s first anniversary! On April 5, 2017, we gathered government innovators, civic tech advocates and tech industry leaders together in Toronto and announced “it’s time for Code for Canada.”
It’s been an amazing 12 months: we’ve sent two teams of fellows to work with the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada, we’ve watched the number of grassroots civic tech groups in Canada double, we’ve doubled our staff from three to seven, we’ve forged productive partnerships with governments and private sector supporters, and we’ve equipped over 100 public sector innovators with new digital skills through our education and training programs.
To celebrate, Code for Canada Fellowship Program Manager Lia Milito has written a reflection on our first year. It’s an inside look at Code for Canada' first 365 days, and a summary of our most impactful wins and learnings. We hope you enjoy it!
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Civic Tech Fredericton launches new River Watch app
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New Brunswick residents will be better informed about potential flood risks thanks to local civic tech volunteers.
Civic Tech Fredericton, one of Canada’s newest civic tech groups, has released a new mobile app that helps residents monitor water levels along the Saint John River. It’s a great example of the power of civic tech: water level data was already available from the province, and civic tech practitioners made it possible -- and easy -- for residents to access that information on their smartphones.
“I’m surprised and amazed to see what they’ve done with the data that they have and we were not even expecting somebody would do such a thing,” New Brunswick’s Minister of Justice and Public Safety, Denis Landry, told Global News.
Congratulations to the team at Civic Tech Fredericton on their first big win, and kudos to the Government of New Brunswick for getting involved and supporting a local civic tech project!
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Ontario unveils new Digital Action Plan and User Research Guide
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Members of the Ontario Public Service take part in the first Ontario Digital Inclusion Summit. (Photo courtesy of the Government of Ontario)
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From day one, Code for Canada has been thrilled to have the Government of Ontario as a founding partner. Whether it’s building out the Ontario Digital Service, bringing on a team of Code for Canada fellows, developing a digital service standard, or embracing digital inclusion, the province is creating a truly 21st-century government. They’re also doing that work in the open, releasing alpha versions of products and policies, and incorporating feedback into future iterations.
Ontario’s latest step forward is its new Digital Action Plan, a roadmap for creating “a consistent, inclusive and delightful online experience” for residents. Entitled “Start with users, deliver together,” the plan stresses the need for human-centred design in the public service.
The plan was released alongside the province’s new User Research Guide, a practical handbook for the strategies this new way of working entails: everything from A/B testing to user interviews and rapid prototyping.
If you’re a government innovator check out Ontario’s latest digital guides and see how they can help you deliver better services, experiences and most importantly, outcomes, for the people you serve!
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CODE FOR CANADA
Code for Canada’s Digital Government and Civic Tech course is now online!
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Over the past year, Code for Canada has partnered with Ryerson University’s Chang School of Continuing Education to offer CVUP 110: Digital Government and Civic Tech. The course introduces students to the latest methods in digital, including agile development and human-centred design, and shows them how to apply these new tools to their own roles.
Starting May 28, 2018, the course will be available online, and accessible to innovators and intrapreneurs across Canada! Seats are limited, so enrol today!
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Some light civic tech reading
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- On the heels of their fantastic report on the commercial civic tech sector, the Knight Foundation has begun analyzing the smart cities movement. Their goal is to “bring residents back to the center of Smart City building,” a sentiment that Code for Canada certainly agrees with.
- Our friends at Code for Australia are profiling Code for All members (they published an interview with Code for Canada in November). The latest post is a conversation with Olivia Vereha from Code for Romania. The interview touches on some of the cool civic tech projects they’re working on and their efforts to build trust between residents and civic institutions in a fairly volatile political climate.
- WIRED reports on a recent academic study of hackathons that found the events reinforce norms of precarious employment and seldom lead to lasting innovation. It’s certainly a hot take, but should also serve as a call for hackathon organizers to focus on the civic -- rather than commercial -- application of technology, and to incorporate strategies for maintaining momentum (such as connecting participants to their local civic tech groups) into their event design.
- The U.K.’s Institute for Government, a public sector innovation think tank, recently released a discussion paper and manifesto about modernizing public services. It’s a comprehensive read (there’s even a discussion of Marx) and the authors call for more “Lego government,” where public services consist of modular applications and platforms that can be adapted and reused across departments.
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GET INVOLVED
How you can help
We're working hard to ensure governments across our great country 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.
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1. Help spread the word! Follow Code for Canada on social media, and share our efforts to grow the civic tech movement!
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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!
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Thank you to our partners!
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