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Our hearts go out to everyone's suffering - physical and mental health, economic, social, all of it!!! We miss you and love all of you. We hope to see you soon, and hope this message isn't too long.
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RADARs, Neighborhood Business Maps, DOE Hack League Finals, and MORE!!!

The Message - 2020.05



Hello BetaNYC Family!

Like many of you, we’re navigating uncharted waters, admiring spring in whatever way we can,  sheltering in place, and clapping our hearts out at 7pm. The past 60 days have all brought us moments of joy and pain. We hope you are staying healthy and safe as we navigate this crisis. 

Our hearts go out to everyone's suffering - physical and mental health, economic, social, all of it. As a civic technology organization, we want to help in any way possible. We are continually probing the question - how can technology, data, and design help our communities and individuals persevere in the face of COVID-19?

This email is in two parts: how we can help you, and how you can help!

- Noel, Emily, Kate, Zhi, Ramesh, Jennifer, Murat, and all of our Civic Innovation Fellows + Alumni!!!

 


Here are a few things we can help you with.


 


{ PING! PING! RADARs are Here! }


First, we can help you via Research and Data Assistance Requests (RADARs). To date, we’ve fielded over 40 requests. RADARs ultimately end up in two camps. Either as a report or insight or a product. If you’ve read any of our research papers or used one of our products, you’ve seen what RADARs can do.

We’re expanding our RADARs; now, we support community based organizations! For more information about RADARs < https://beta.nyc/products/research-and-data-assistance-requests/ >.
 

 

{ Support Local Shops Through Our Maps }


Second, we’re producing “what’s/who's/essentially open” maps with local collaborators.

Since our April 3rd call for partners, we have partnered with East Village Community Coalition, Who’s Open Queens, and with the NYC Food Policy Center at Hunter College. 

Today, we are thrilled to announce that we're now partnering with North Brooklyn Neighbors and North Brooklyn Mutual Aid to grow Essentially Open North Brooklyn. This community mapping tool helps residents identify over 600 business and local service providers in Greenpoint, Williamsburg, and North Bushwick. North Brooklyn Neighbors and North Brooklyn Mutual Aid will be maintaining the map while we will provide technical support. 

If you’re an elected official, community board, community group, business improvement district, or mutual aid association and want a map, we’re here to help.

We recently released a web map with the East Village Community Coalition, we are working with Who’s Open Queens, and we are supporting NYC Food Policy Center to crowdsource and manage their data.

If you're a community organization who wants to map data you have collected or start collecting data message us via the form here.

 

 

{ Join us for Hack League Finals! }


We’re continuing to support the Department of Education’s Hack League — the games must go on! 

It is an unprecedented time for NYC teachers and we can’t thank them enough for supporting our students during this time. Right before the pause, we held our fifth and final boroughwide hackathon event with the Department of Education’s Computer Science for All. Were just gearing up to have the final championship hackathon in our historic City Hall when we were forced back to the drawing board. 

NOW, we are excited to announce that the finals will live on! From June 1st to 3rd, TWENTY-SIX New York City Public Middle and High School teams will present computer-science-powered civic solutions to a panel of judges. 

On Friday, June 5th, everyone will gather in a virtual setting for an awards ceremony to celebrate their work. Join our meetup to tune in < http://meetup.com/betanyc >.

PS - We are currently selecting special guests and judges for these final events. Please contact kate@beta.nyc if you would like to learn more. 
 

 


{ Our 6th Civic Innovation Fellows Cohort! }


Our sixth cohort of Civic Innovation Fellows just graduated.

The sixth cohort of fellows is our most diverse to date — hailing across the City, Long Island, and New Jersey, and bringing cultural heritage from Yemen, Nepal, Bangladesh, Slovakia, and China!!!

This year, some fellows pursued second Bachelors degrees, and others, Masters degrees, with majors including Mathematics, Computer Science, Public Administration, and Criminal Justice. Among our accomplishments, we made publicly available RADAR, leading to projects with the Restorative Justice Institute, the Manhattan Borough President's Land Use Division and Community Affairs Department, the Vera Institute of Justice, CUNY Graduate Center and more. 

Once we went remote amid the Covid outbreak, we continued working on RADARs, and also shored up community boards' digital infrastructure to hold public meetings online. Some of our fellows work directly inside community boards too. We did a deep dive into demographic analysis of community boards and even School of Data attendees. We launched a book club that meets weekly on the weekends (let Emily know if you'd like to join! emily@beta.nyc). 

Most importantly, we introduced a crew of ten talented and aspiring civic leaders to what open data and community technology. They provide hope and inspiration that New York's future will be bright.

At the end of May, we’ll be hosting a BetaTalk showcase. Join our meetup to find out more < http://meetup.com/betanyc >




 


Here’s a few things you can help us with!



 

{ NYC’s Coivd-19 data ≠ Open Data }


We want to be prepared for the next outbreak and support the recovery with detailed data.

We know that data is a fundamental component to track the outbreak. Sadly, NONE of the City’s DOHMH COVID data is on the open data portal. Last week, we sent letters to the Governor and Mayor asking for COVID related data to be placed on the open data portals. Additionally, we’re calling on the Mayor to release the data at a more granular level.

Along with Reinvent Albany, we published an opinion editorial in the Gotham Gazette. If you believe in open data, please read and share this

 


{ Call for Covid19 Projects & Presenters! }


How is NYC responding to COVID-19? We are lining up a virtual lightning talk event that showcases the great work of NYC’s civic tech community. We have a few more openings. Are you working on something related to food, mobility, housing, education, mental health, sanitation or mutual aid? 

Let us know!

Btw, this link is open for a variety of events. Just saying, our ears are open!



{ School of Data 2020 Videos and Wrap up! }


Remember when we could meet in person? Yah, we miss it too. Gosh, we miss all of you!

At the beginning of March, nearly 500 people gathered to celebrate international open data day at the sixth annual NYC School of Data and the finale of Open Data Week 2020. This year’s day-long conference focused on the next decade of open data, and featured a record number of sessions, demos, speakers, participants and volunteers. 

Throughout the day, 485 attendees dispersed across 3 floors of CUNY Law School and collectively engaged in a program of 65 SESSIONS, which included talks, workshops, panels, and demos led by 148 PEOPLE— an impressive third represent government. A staff of 45 incredible and helpful VOLUNTEERS jumped right in and assisted the production with our team.

Many thanks you to our host, CUNY School of Law, and our sponsors, The Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer, NYC Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, ESRI, QRI, and Forerunner. Many thanks to our streaming partner, the Internet Society - New York Chapter.

Flip to our YouTube page to view our 2020 playlist, and share your favorite session with the #NYCsoData tag.

 


{ Mentor a Civic Digital Fellow }


Coding It Forward Fellows and Corps members come from a diverse set of backgrounds, and they're seeking advice on figuring out the job hunt, applying to grad school, knowing if (and when) they should specialize in a field, and learning how to cut through red tape. We need NYC’s civic tech community to step in and be a mentor.

Coding it Forward is searching for professionals who would be interested in mentoring students interested in civic tech careers. You can be a software engineer, designer, operations manager, or anything else—as long as you work (or have worked) in civic tech or adjacent fields, they'd love to have you on board. 

As a mentor, you will connect with 1-2 students throughout the summer for no more than a total of 5-10 hours of your time. This year, mentors and mentees will meet virtually in a distributed setting, and as such, there are no location requirements for mentors.

Apply and mentor the next generation of civic tech leaders.


 

{ Don’t forget about the NY State Primary!! }


The New York State Primary is still happening. You can request an absentee ballot if you are affected by COVID-19, please check the box for “Temporary Illness” on the application. The definition has been temporarily expanded to include those affected by COVID-19 and/or the potential of contracting the virus.

This website can be used only by registered New York City voters to apply for an Absentee Ballot for the June 23, 2020 elections. < https://www.nycabsentee.com/ >

If you are outside of New York City, please visit the State Board of Elections website < https://www.elections.ny.gov/ >

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BetaNYC is a proud member of New York City Transparency Working Group and a member of the Code for America's Brigade community. 

BetaNYC is a 501c3 organization supported by
Fund for the City of New York, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and YOU! Please consider donating to BetaNYC to sustain our programing.
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