Month: November 2012

  • Launch: Early Childhood Portal for City of Chicago

    Today marked the launch of ChicagoEarlyLearning.org, Here’s some snips from the press release from the Mayor’s Office: As part of the his administration’s focus on increasing access to quality early learning programs for children across the city and emphasis on helping parents get and stay involved in their children’s education, Mayor Rahm Emanuel today launched…

  • Panel: New Media Ventures State of the Field Call

    Today I participated in a webinar on the opportunities and challenges in the world of political technology. Here’s slides from my portion:

  • First Meetup of the Illinois Open Technology Challenge

    Tonight I led the first gathering of the Illinois Open Technology Challenge, which brings government, developers and communities together in a common mission to use public data and create digital tools that will serve today’s civic needs and promote economic development. It was a great night because we had in-depth conversations between government technology people and…

  • Journalism Study: Interviewed as Part of a Study of Data-Driven Journalists

    Here’s a link to a paper published today by: Data-driven journalism and the public good: “Computer-assisted-reporters” and “programmer-journalists” in Chicago. Here’s the abstract: Since the mid-2000s, some US and British news organizations have hired programmers to design data-driven news projects within the newsroom. But how does the rise of these “programmer-journalists,” armed with their skills and…

  • Profile of Smart Health Centers

    Here’s a story on the Smart Health Centers project of the Smart Chicago Collaborative. Snip: Part of the group’s challenge is to find ways to make complex health information understandable to the average person, familiarize non-computer users with how to search data, and help older people become comfortable with using technology. Spearheading the effort is…

  • Profile of Chicago Health Atlas

    Here’s a profile of a Smart Chicago project, Chicago Health Atlas. Snip: CHICAGO, IL— Daniel O’Neil, executive director of the Smart Chicago Collaborative, says that there are many ways in which digital developers can create products that bring in revenue while, also, contributing to the public good. One such project he’s overseeing is the Chicago Health Atlas —…