Thefoundat

ionforan
opensourceci
ty

ByJ
asonHi
bbet
s
Thef
oundat
ionf
oranopens
our
ceci
ty

www.
theopensour
ceci
ty.
com

©J
asonHi
bbet
s201
3

I
SBN:978-
1-300-
9231
7-6

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swor ki
sl i
cens
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Fi
rstedi
ti
on

Publi
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lsbor
oughStr
eet
Ralei
gh, NC27607

Thisbook usesJ unct

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seri
ff ontand t
he f
irs
topen
sourcety
pepr ojectst
artedbyTheLeagueofMov eabl
eType.
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etype.
com/j
unc
tion/
Fort
heopensource,
opengovernment
,and
opendatacommunit
ies
Tabl
eofCont
ent
s
I
ntroduct i
on. .
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1
Chapter1 :Def ininganopens our ceci t y..
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Whati sopensour ce? .
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Thes ecr eti ngr edi enti nopensour ce...
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Whati sopengover nment ? ..
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Whati sopendat a?...
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..9
Thebegi nni ngofmyci tizeni nvol vement ..
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Whatmakesaci tyopensour ce? ..
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.16
Theel ement sofanopens our c eci ty...
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.17
Chapter2:Ci tizenpar t
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20
Part1 :Ci tyCamp–Thebegi nni ng. .
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ACi tyCampwasbor n...
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Organi zingCi tyCampRal ei gh. ..
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.27
Creat ingaci tizenmovementf oropengov er nment ..
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Changi ngt hecul t ureofgover nment ..
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33
Part2:Thecul tur eofRal eigh. .
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35
Awi kif i
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SPARKcon:Or gani zingc reat ivet alentwi thopens our ce...
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BarCamp:At echnol ogy- focus edunconf er ence. ..
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44
Wal kYourCi ty:Opensour cewayf indi ng....
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Ther e’ssomet hingi nt hecul tur e...
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50
Chapter3:Opengover nmentandopendat a...
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.51
Howt ogetyourci tyt opassanopengover nmentpol i
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Raleigh’ sopengover nmentr esol ut ionandr oadmap. ..
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Anopensour ceci tyt akesshape:onl inet oolsanddat a...
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Thei mpactofOpenRal eigh. ....
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60
Opendat a:Meani ngf ul,vi suali nfor mat i
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.61
Thei nf luenceandi mpactofSeeCl ickFix..
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63
Anopenpl atfor mf ort hef ut ur e.
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68
Chapter4: Suppor tingusergr oups, conf erences ,andevent s..
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69
FourwaysRal ei ghs uppor t susergr oups .
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69
Asignat ure, opensour cet echnol ogyconf erenc e..
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Host ingaFOSSf ai rt heopensour ceway ..
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7 3
MakerFai reandt heDI Ymovement ...
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74
Apl ay bookf orusergr oups ...
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7 5
Aleaderi nopensour ce...
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7 6
Chapter5:Ahubf ori nnovat ionf uel edbyopens our ce....
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7 8
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Opensour c edevel opst hef ut ur eofdownt ownRal eigh. .
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80
Connect i
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Host ingani nnovat ions ummi t .
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86
Ayearaf t
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88
NCSt at ef eedst hei nnovat iveengi ne...
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.91
Opensour c e:Api ll
arofani nnovat ivebr and. ..
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Ahubofopens our c ecompani es ..
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93
Chapter6:Thepr incipl esofbei nganopensour ceci tyinact i
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96
Part1 :Codef orAmer ica. .
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96
Hacki ngoncodeandcul tur e: Fai lur easval idat edl ear ning...
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97
Whatdoesopengover nmentmeant oyou? ..
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99
 Sendi nt hebr igade. .
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01
Rac ef orr eusegi vesopensour cepr oj ectsasecondwi nd..
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01
Star tingaRal eighCodef orAmer icaBr igade..
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102
Ralei ghBr i
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104
Rac ef orReuser esul ts...
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105
Whyengagementdaysmat ter..
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106
Par t2:Ci tyCampt ourandbestpr act ices .
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108
CityCampCol or ado. ..
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108
CityCampHonol ul u..
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.11
3
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120
CityCampandunconf er encebes tpr act i
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.1
23
Par t3:Evol vi ngCi t yCampRal eigh...
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.1
27
Whatgover nmentof ficialslear nedf r om doi ngi ttheopens ource
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.1
27
Transi t i
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.1
32
Chapter7 :Thef ut uref oranopensour ceci ty.
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135
Ralei gh: Acompl et elyopengl obalci ty..
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135
CityShape:Aheal thi ercommuni tyt hroughopendat a..
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37
Anur banf ar m wi thopensour cer oot s...
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ThenewRFP:Requestf orpar tner ship. .
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140
What ’snextf orRal ei gh? .
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41
Acknowl edgment s...
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143
Aboutt heedi tors .
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References .
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149
Revi
ews

Andr
ewKr
zmar
zic
k,Di
rec
torofCommuni
tyEngagement
,GovLoop

AcrosstheUnitedSt at
es–and,i
ndeed,aroundthewor l
d–t hereis
agr owi
ngmovementofci ti
zensthataretaki
ngbac ktheirtowns
and cit
ies.Power ed by passi
on and propell
ed by innovative
technol
ogy,"civi
cgeeks"ar ecombini
ng good,old-f
ashioned in-
persongatherings,wit
hweb-basedtool
st ochampionsustainable
changeinit
iat
ives.

Thisbooks harestheper sonaljourneyofones uchci

tizenand,at
thesamet i
me,r evealst hecollecti
veener gyand experienceof
thousandsofor dinary,engagedAmer icanswhoar ereali
zingjus t
how power fultheycanbewhent heybandt ogetherinanopen,
coll
aborati
veway.Packed wi thper sonalexamplesand pr actical
steps,you'
lldiscoverbot hinspirat
ionandi nformati
ont ol aunch
themovementi nyourownci t
y.

GuyMar
tin,
Managi
ngPr
inci
palAr
chi
tect
,RedHat

Wel i
veinanageoft remendoust echnologicalpr ogress
, yetmost
governmentpr ocess eshaven' tkeptup wi tht he pace oft hose
advances.However ,ani ncreasingnumberofci tizenshavebegun
tos tep up tot he pl ate and wor kf or posi tive change in
government.Thes uccessofopensour ceint hec ommer c i
alspace
hasbecomet heirtool boxforc hange–c hanget hatcanber eal
ized
i
n governmentbyappl yi
ng themet hodologiest hatmake open
sourcesosuccessful.
 Jason Hibbetssharesaweal t
h ofknowl edge l
earned from the
passionate appli
cati
on of these principl
es i
n Ral eigh,North
Caroli
na.Thi s book is par
t strat
egic,par ttact
ical,and part
emot i
onal –agreatblend ofelementst hatcan help anycit
izen
under stand how t
heycan begi nto make thei
rown communi ty
mor et r
ansparent,
coll
aborati
ve,andabet terpl
acetol i
ve.

J
enWi
ke,
Edi
torandCont
entSt
rat
egi
st,
GoToWr
iter

Therehasneverbeensuch acl earand honestexampl eofhow

opensour cecanext endi ntoasect oroutsi
deofs of
twarel ikethe
i
nformat ion provided int his book.Jason draws from reall i
fe
exper i
encest oexpl ai
nt hebasi csoft heopensourcephi losophy
and t he compl exit
ies ofappl ying them in order to generate
revoluti
onar ychangest o bett
ers oci
etyand ourever ydayl i
ves
throughlocalgover nment .

Her e,the regularci t

izen and t he dedicated ci
tyoffi
cialhave a
place to come t ogetherand under stand each other
.Ther e'
sno
doubtt hatlifeaf terreadingt hi
sbookl ookslikenewlylaidplans
for communi cation and c oll
aboration bet ween the t wo on
compr ehensivei ssuest hattakemor ethanonebodyorgr oupt o
solve.Ourunder standingnow i sthatitt akesanopen,passionate
communi tyofdoer sandmaker s.
I
ntroduct
ion
Overt helastt woyear s,If
oundani nteresti
ngwayt oblendmypass i
ons
foropens ource,myl ocalRaleighcommuni t
y,and ci
vicpar t
ici
pat
ion.It
comesi nthef orm ofopengover nment.Alongtheway ,I
’vefoundagr eat
group ofc i
vic-minded geeks who shar e a si
milar passi
on and have
stepped up t o advocatefora mor e open government .Mymi ssi
on:t o
createabet terciti
zenexper i
ence.

Today,thec i
ti
zen experienceformanyindivi
dualsi
ncludes,buti snot
li
mitedt o,voti
ng,lobbying,andcomplai
ningabout“government .
”Inthe
Unit
edSt at
es,the“gover nment
”incl
udescit
izens
.Forthepeopl e,bythe
people.Butmanyofusl etourbusyli
vesandmanyt imes,poli
ti
cs,getin
theway ,dis
tractus,orturnusoff.

Thinkaboutyourownexperienc
eswithgover
nment.How haveyoubeen
disappoi
nted?Whatcould be bet
ter
?How could youri
nteract
ionsbe
enhanced?

Ourexperiencewithgovernmentcouldbes omuc hbet t

er.Wehaveideas
on how toi mprove the communiti
es we li
ve in orf i
x a par
tofour
governmentthatisn’
twor ki
ngcorrect
lyoreffi
cientl
y.Butdowehavet he
tool
s,knowledge,t i
me,informat
ion,orac cess needed to make t
hese
i
mpr ovements?

I
mpr ovi
ng t
he ci
ti
zen experi
ence means that your i
nter
acti
ons wi
th
governmentar
e more part
ici
patoryand col
laborat
ive.And t
hatstar
ts
wit
hhavingamoretranspar
ent,open,
andinviti
nggovernment.

Thi
sbookwi llexplor
eRalei
gh’spathtowhatIcallan“opens our
c eci
ty”
andhow theopengover nmentmovementinRal
eighhasac cel
erat
edover
thelasttwoyear swiththepassi
ngofanopengover nmentr esol
uti
on,
twosuccessf
ulCityCampRal ei
ghevents
,andthef or
mi ngofaCodef or
Amer i
cabri
gade.

1
Fir
st,Iwil
ldef i
net heel ement
sofanopens ourceci
tyanddemonst r
ate
how Raleigh hasappl ied t
hosec haract
erist
ics
.We’llexpl
orethe open
sourceculture,governmentpolici
es,events,andeconomicdevel
opment.
Thenwe’lltakeal ookathowopengover nmentisappl
iedandsomeoft he
thi
ngsI’
vel earnedt hr
oughmyt ravels.

Thi
s book dr aws on my open gover nment exper i
ence and incl
udes
art
iclesI’ve wri
tten and int
ervi
ewsconduct ed foropensource.
com–an
onl
ine publ i
cati
on and communi tyexplori
ng how the pri
ncipl
esoft he
open s ource development modelar e applied to di
sci
pli
nes such as
business,educati
on, gover
nment,heal
th,law,andlif
e.

I
’ve been empl oyed byRed Hatsince 2003,gaining ten yearsofopen
source experience.I ’
ve wor
ked on opens ource.com,des cr
ibed as a
communi tyservicebyRedHat ,si
ncethepr oj
ectlaunchedi nJanuary2010.
Ihavemanyr olesatopensource.
com incl
udingpr ojec
tmanager ,cont
ent
curator,
communi tymanager,
contri
butor,andleadadmi ni
strator
.

Opensource.com aspirest o publish al

loft heircont
entunderCr eati
ve
Commons,and t her ear eanumberofar t
iclesand i
ntervi
ewsor igi
nall
y
publi
shed theret hatI've incorporated i
ntot hisbook.Thisbook itsel
f
wouldnotbepos sibl
ewi t
houtCr eativeCommons –asetofl i
censesthat
grantcopyri
ghtper missionsf orcreati
vewor ksli
kethi
s.

Thepurposeofthisbookist otel
lRalei
gh’
sopensourcest
oryandi nspi
re
other
snotonl yt
opar t
ici
pate,buttorunwitht
hei
rideasandimproveour
government.Iwantthi
ss t
orytobeacat al
ystf
ormoreopengover nment,
opendata,andciti
zenparti
cipati
on,i
nRalei
ghandbeyond.

2
Chapt
er1
:Def
ini
ng an open sourceci
ty
Beforewedef i
net heelementsofanopens ourcecit
y,it
’simpor tantt
o
establ
ish abasel
ine ofknowledge.Theconc eptsofopen s ource,open
government,andopendat aar enew tomanyci t
izens.I
nor dertomake
ourgov er
nmentmor et r
ansparent,parti
cipat
ory,andcollaborat
ive,we’
ll
needt ostar
tbyexplori
ngthesedef i
nit
ions.

Whati
sopen source?
Mostpeopl earef amil
iarwithopensour ceint hesoftwarecontext.The
OpenSour ceInit
iati
ve(OSI)
,1
anon-profi
tthatmai ntai
nsonedefi
nitionof
open source and a li
stofappr oved lic
enses ,says t
hat“open source
2
doesn'
tjustmeanaccesst othesour cecode.
” Itthenli
stst
hecrit
er i
athat
opensourcesof t
war emustadheret o.

Comput erprogramsar egenerallywr i

tten i
n ahuman- readablef ormat
call
ed“sourcecode. ”Butac omput ercan'tuset hesourcecodedi r ectl
y;
inst
ead,these instruct
ions have to be conv ert
ed to af or
m t hatt he
computerunder stands,typi
call
yas equenceof0sand1 sorbi naryc ode.
When you pur c
hase a sof t
war e program li
ke Mi c
rosoftOffice,Adobe
Reader,orPhotoshop,whatyougetont hediskorel ec
tronicdownl oadi s
thecodeinthef ormatacomput erunder st
ands .

Sourcec ode is“open sour

c e”when the source code mus tbe made
avai
lableto anyonewho want stolookati tand modi fyit
.Thisal l
ows
programmersanddevel operstheopportunit
ytoreview how t
hepr ogram
i
swr it
tenandmakeanydesi redmodi f
icati
ons,r
epairs,orenhancement s.

Alter
natively,acomput erpr ogram wher ethes ourcecodei snotmade
avail
ablei s cal
led “
proprietary”or“ cl
osed”sour ce.Programmers and
developersar eunablet oseehow t hepr ogram iswrit
tenandunablet o
freel
y make modi fi
cati
ons ,repairs
,or enhanc ement s.The owner or
company who pr ovided the pr ogram cont r
ols who has access and
permissi
ont omodifythesour ce.

A devel
opmentmodelhasf
ormedar
oundhow opensour
ces
oft
war
eis

1 ht
tp:
//
opensour
ce.
org/
2 ht
tp:
//
opensour
ce.
org/
doc
s/osd

3
created.Programmer sf r
om al lover t
he wor ld st
art
ed to devel
op
softwarebypubl i
clyprovi
dingt hei
rsourcecodeandcol labor
ati
ngwi th
others who want ed t
o par t
icipat
e.The Internet made thi
st ype of
coll
aborati
on easi
erand t he open sourc
e developmentmodelbecame
widelyadopted.

For me,open sour ce is moret hatj ustsoftwar e devel

opment .I
t’sa
phil
osophy,ac ul
ture,and af ramewor kforhow t owor kcoll
aborat
ively.
Theelement st
hathavehel pedt odefineasuc cessfuldevel
opmentmodel
–transparency
, collaborati
on, rapid pr ototyping, meritocrac
y, and
parti
cipati
on–are being appli
ed to ourever ydayl i
ves.Throughoutt he
book,I’
llr
efertothi
sconceptas“ theopensour ceway.”

Oneanalogyt hatresonat
eswi t
hpeopleunfamil
iarwithopens our
ceisto
comparei ttoar eci
pe.Whenyout hi
nkaboutit
,ar ecipei
sj ustali
stof
ingr
edientsandas etofinst
ructi
ons–int
hes oftwar
ewor ld,wecallthi
s
sourcecode.A recipebecomesopensour cewheni t’
sshar ed,modif
ied,
andimpr oved.

Let’ssayyourf ri
endgi vesyouachoc olatec hi
pcooki erecipe(shari
ng).
Yout ryoutther ecipeandl i
kethecooki es.Butyour eall
ylikechocolate
chipsanddec i
det odoubl etheamountofmor selswheny oumaket he
nextbat c
hofcooki es(modifi
cati
on).Afterc ooki
ngt henewbat ch,youlike
the cookies so much thatyou s hare yourupdat ed reci
pe with ot
her
fri
ends.Now,we have a r eci
pe for doubl ec hocol
ate chip cookies
(i
mpr ovement).

Becausether eci
peisessentiall
yopensour ce,wearef reetomodi f
ythe
sourcecode( i
ngredi
entsandi nst
ructions)tofitourneedsanddesi r
es.
Thisi
swhyopensour cesof t
war ehasbecomes opopular.I
t’
sthefreedom
to modif
y and improve software and give itback so thatotherscan
conti
nuet oi
mpr ovei
t.Andt hisconstantimpr ovementiswhathasleadt o
somanyi nnovati
onsi
nt hesoftwareindust ryandbeyond.

Thesecreti
ngredi nopensource3
enti
Opensourcehasasecr
et.Ithastodowi
thacommoncharact
eri
sti
cfound
ac
rosssuccessf
ulopen sourcecommuni
ti
esthats
etsthem apartfrom
3 Adaptedfrom 'Thesecreti
ngredientinopensour ce,
'(c)2012opensource.
com,publi
shed
under a Creat
ive Commons At t
r i
buti
on-ShareAli
ke 3.0 Unport
ed li
cense,avai
labl
e at
htt
p:/
/opensource.
com/busi
ness/1
2/12/
secr
et-i
ngr edi
ent-open-
source.

4
ot
hert
ypesofcommuni
ti
es.

Forthoset hatarenew toopensour ce,under standi

ngt heintricaciesof
how open s ource communi t
ies share, c ommuni cate, and gover n
themselvesmayt akeawhi letounder st
and.Eachcommuni tyisdifferent,
buttherear eafew commonal it
iesbetweent hem thatlaythef oundat i
on
forasuc cessf
ulproject
.Ifyou’r
ejustget tingintoopens ourcesof t
war e,
besuret oreadmor eaboutt hediff
erentt ool
st hatorganizecommuni ti
es
ofpracti
ceinTheOpenSour ceWaybook. 4

Forthos eopensourceveteransoutthere,
Ithi
nky ou’
l
lagr
eet hatt hereis
onei ngredi
entin ourcommuni t
iesthatreal
lymakesust i
ck.I t
’snota
singl
et ooll
ikeGit
Hub5ort hewaywehaveconver sati
onsonIRC( Internet
relaychat)ormaili
nglist
s( suchasGooglegroupsorYahoo!gr oups).It’
s
somet hingthateachandever yoneofusbr i
ngst othet
ableever yday.
Thes ecreti
ngredi
entthatreallymakesopensourceworkispassion.

Her
ear
eaf
ewexampl
est
hathi
ghl
ightmyposi
ti
on.

Whatversi
on ofLi
nuxdoyouuse?

Thi
swasasi mple,yetengagi
ngquestionweaskedonopensour
ce.
com,
and i
tis by f
ar the mostsuccessf
ulpollon the si
tet
o dat
e–with
hundr
edsofvotesandnumer ouscomments.

Linuxisanopensour ceoper atings yst

em c reatedbyengi neersfrom al l
overthewor l
dfrom manydi ff
er entcompani es.It
’sanal t
ernati
vet ot he
propriet
ary operating s ystems cr eat
ed by Mi crosof
t and Appl e.A
company, li
keRedHatwi thRedHatEnt erpriseLinux,oracommuni ty,li
ke
Debian with Debian GNU/ Linux,gat hersvar i
ousopen s ourcec omput er
programst ogethert ocreateaLi nuxdi stri
bution.Thereisaver ys trong
globalcommuni tyt hatcr eates,s upports,and advocatesf orLinux and
there are hundr eds of ver sions of Li nux-based oper at
ing sys t
ems
avail
able.
6

4 htt
p://
www. t
heopensourceway.
org/
book/index.htmlThisonli
ner esour
cei
snotonlyagr eat
assettohelpbuildormanageopensour cecommuni ties,
it’
sanexampl eofanopensour ce
communi tyi
tself
.
5 Git
Hubi sanonl i
nereposi
tor
yandhostingser vicef
orhos ti
ngsof t
wareprograms.
6 For a charts howing t
he many,many of Li nux dist
ributi
ons and thei
r ori
gin,visi
t
htt
p://
futuri
st.
se/gl
dt/
.

5
Iasked mysel f,whywast hispol lsosuccess ful?Whydi dthisquesti
on
invoke the reacti
on t
hati tdid?And my c onclusion ist hatthe Li
nux
communi t
yi sverypas
sionate.Andnotonl yar et heypas s
ionate,t
heyare
alsoadvocat esandambassador sfortheLi nuxpr oject.Member softhe
opensour cecommuni t
yar epr oud oftheiracc ompl ishment saswellas
thet echnologyand softwaret heyuse.It’
snat uralfort hem toexpress
thispassionbyt el
li
ngthewor ldaboutit.

An open cul
turef
uel
ed bypassi
on

Oneofmypas sionsi
steachi
ngRedHatcul t
ureduringRedHat ’
snewhi r
e
ori
entat
ion.Abouteverytwoweeks ,wehaveabat chofnew hirest
hat
j
oinRedHatandgot hr
oughat wo-dayonboardi
ngpr ocess.Mygoali
sto
sharewhatit’
sliket
owor katRedHatandexpl ai
nhow wecol l
abor
ate
andchall
engeeachothersothebestideasri
setothet op.

Oneoft heexer ci
sesIdowi theachgr oup ishav ethem des c r
ibewhat
theyt hi
nkofwhenwet alkaboutRed Hatc ulture.Iaskt hem t odr aw
inspir
ation fr
om t heirexper i
ence dur i
ng the hiri
ng process,i ncl
uding
presentationsdur i
ngtheirorientati
onandt hevi deohighli
ghtingRedHat
culture and currentevent swe wat ch duri
ng mypr esentati
on.Fort he
mos tpar t
,Igetver ysimilaranswer sthati
nc l
udec ult
uralchar acteri
stics
li
kecol l
aboration,openness,diversi
ty,
fun,andy ouguessedi t,pass i
on!

It
’strue,t
hatinmyt i
meatRedHat ,I’
vewor kedwi t
hsomeoft hemost
passi
onatepeople.From opensour ceveter
answhohavel i
vedt hecult
ure
foryearstonewbieswhoar eexcitedaboutwor ki
ngadi f
ferentway.They
are alleager to wor ki nac oll
aborati
ve env i
ronment wher ethei
r
contri
buti
onsandi deasmat t
er.AndwhenIs eethes par
kleint hei
reyes
andheart hepassi
oni nthei
rvoic
e, Iknow they’
rereadytobeapar tofan
opensourcecult
ure.

Bei
ng apartofsomethi
ng bi
ggert
hanyoursel
f

Aswe'llexploreinChapt er6,whenIhel pedform avol

unteerci
vicgr oup
i
n Raleigh,North Carol
ina,Iencount er
ed anothergroup ofpassionate
peopl
e.Thi sgroupofc itizenvolunt
eerswor kedonapl antodepl oyan
exi
sti
ng appl i
cati
on and t echnol
ogy creat
ed by Code f
orAmer ica for

6
Ralei
gh'sAdopt-A-Shelterprogram atadoptashelter.
raleighnc.gov.Code
forAmer i
cai sa non- prof
itgroup focused on c
ivici nnovation thatI’
l
l
explai
nmor eaboutl ater.TheAdopt -A-
Shelt
erpr ojecthighlightsalmost
200buss helter
st hatar eavai
labl
ef oradoptionbyci tizens,bus i
nesses,
andvolunteerorganizati
onsinRalei
gh.

Our br igade par ti

cipated int he Code for America Race for Reuse
campai gnin201 2,howevert hecityofRalei
ghhadn'taskedust odot his.
Asci t
izens,wesaw anoppor t
unitytoimproveourc i
tyandimpl ementa
technologyf ront
-endt oanexi st
ingprogram off
eredbythecity.I
twas n’t
j
us taboutdepl oyingasof t
war eappli
cati
on,itwasaboutmakingourci t
y
andt hecitizenexper ienceal i
ttl
ebitbett
er,theopensourceway .

Thes amec anbesai dformanyopensourcecommunities

.It
’snotabout
usasi ndi
viduals.I
t’
sabouttheimpactourcont
ribut
ionsaremakingt o
creat
eapos i
ti
vediffer
encei
nourworld.

Thesecret
'sout

Busi
nes sesand or gani
zationswho don'tinherentl
y have a passionate
communi ty around whatt hey do f
ailwhen t hey t
ryt oreplicatet he
successseeni nopensour cecommuni ti
es.Why?Becaus eyoucan’ tforce
peoplet obepassionate.Youcan’tteachort r
ainpassion.I
tcomesf rom
thehear t
.Itcomesf r
om whatmot i
vatespeopletocontri
bute.

I
fpassioni sthesecretingr
edientt oopensour ce,t
henwe’vejusts t
arted
toscratcht hesurf
aceonwhatwecanaccompl i
sh.Theopensour ceway
teaches us to be col
laborat
ive,t r
ansparent,and parti
cipat
ory.Buti t
doesn’tteachustobepassi onate.Thatiswhatweour sel
vesbringt oour
communi ti
es of practi
ce.The pas sion you bring i
s what makes t he
communi tygreat.
Andi t’
sthatpas si
ont hatal
lowsust ochangethewor l
d
theopensour ceway.

***

Later
,we’lltake a l
ook athow Idi
scovered a passion for my l
ocal
nei
ghborhood, my Raleigh communi
ty, and event uall
y, the open
governmentandopendatamovements.Butfir
st,
let’
stakeal ookatopen
governmentandopendata.

7
Whati
sopen government
?
Opengover nmentmeansdi f
ferentt hingstodif
fer
entpeople.I
sitabout
tr
anspar enc
y,col
laborat
ion,orparticipati
on?Maybei t
’sacombinati
onof
al
lt hree? These characteri
sti
cs ar e veryf amil
iar t
o open s ource
advocatesbecausetheyareessentialt oanyopensourcecommuni t
y.7

Shortl
yaf t
erPresidentBar ackObamatookof
fic
ein2009,oneofthefi
rst
thi
ngst headmi ni
strati
ondi d waspasstheopengovernmentini
ti
ati
ve.
8
Onwhi tehouse.
gov/open, Presi
dentObamaandhisadmini
str
ati
onstat
ed
thefol
lowing:

"Myadmi ni
strat
ioni scommittedtocr eat
inganunpr ecedented
levelofopenness i n gover
nment .We wi l
lworkt ogether to
ensurethepublict r
ustandest abl
ishasystem oftranspar ency,
citi
zenpart
ici
pation,andcoll
aborati
on.Opennesswil
lst rengthen
our democracy and pr omote eff
ici
ency and ef
fect i
veness in
government.”

I
fyouconsi dergovernmentasapl at
form,andaddt oitthetechnol
ogies
ofcloudcomput i
ng,socialmedia,andmanyot hers,
enhancingthecit
izen
experience hasa brightfutur
e.The combi nati
on oftechnol
ogies and
col
laborati
onwi t
hcit
izensisoft
enr efer
redtoasGov2. 0.

“Gov2. 0isaboutusi ng the new t ec hnol

ogiesatourdi sposal
,
primaril
ytheInt
er net
,toco- designt henexter aofdemocr acyin
coll
aborati
on with citi
zens.I ti s about a mor et r
ansparent
,
accountabl
e,engaged,par ti
cipatoryandr esponsi
vegovernment
approachtoservingtheneedsofci tizens.
”–PiaWaugh,apol i
cy
advisorandcommuni tyleaderf oropengover nment9

Forme,open gover nmentisaboutci ti

zen par ti
cipati
on and creating a
two-waydialogbetweencitizensandgover nment .Trueopengover nment
willoccurwhenourgover nmentdef ault
st oopennessand c it
izenswi l
l
havef ul
lpartici
pat
ioningover nmentdec i
sion-maki ng.Theul t
imategoal
istohavebus i
ness
,government ,andcit
izenscol l
abor atetoimpr oveour
qualit
yofli
feandcr eateabet t
erciti
zenexper ience.Theopensour ceway
teaches us thatrapid pr
ot ot
yping and increment alimpr ovementwi l
l
7 ht
tp:
//
opensour
ce.
com/government
/12/1
1/def
ini
ng-open-
gover
nment
8 ht
tp:
//
www.whit
ehouse.
gov/open
9 ht
tp:
//
opensour
ce.
com/government
/11/
11/
open-government
-what
-it
-real
ly

8
al
lowt
hebes
tideast
ori
set
othet
op.

Whati
sopen dat
a?
Oneofthebestr esourcesavai
labl
etounder st
andopendat aistheOpen
Dat
a Handbook10 created bythe Open Knowledge Foundat
ion.
11
Her
e’s
howtheydef
ineopendat a:

Open datais datathat can be f reely us

ed,reused,and
redi
stri
but
ed by anyone–subject onl y, at most
,t o the
requi
rementt
oattr
ibut
eands hareal
ike.

The f
ullOpen Def
init
ion12 gi
vespr
ecise det
ail
sast
o whatt
his
means.Tosummarizethemosti mport
ant:

• Availabili
tyand Access:thedatamus tbeavail
ableas
awhol eandatnomor ethanar easonablerepr
oduction
cost
,pr ef
erabl
ybydownl oadi
ng overthe I
nternet.The
data must also be avail
able i
n a convenient and
modifi
ableform.
• Reuseand Redistribut
ion:t
hedatamus tbeprovided
under ter
ms that permitreuse and redist
ributi
on
i
ncludi
ngthei
ntermixi
ngwit
hotherdatas
ets.
• Uni versalPart i
cipat i
on:ever yone mustbe abl et o
use, r euse, and r edistri
bute–ther e shoul d be no
discriminati
on against fiel
ds of endeavor or agai nst
persons or gr oups. For exampl e, ‘non-commer cial
’
restrict
ions that would pr event ‘
commer cial’use,or
restrict
ions ofus ef or certai
n pur poses (e.g.onlyi n
educ ati
on),arenotallowed.

I
fyou’r
ewonder i
ngwhyi ti
ssoimport
antt
obeclearaboutwhat
open meansand why thisdef
ini
ti
on i
sused,t
here’
sa simple
answer:i
nter
operabi
li
ty.

I
nteroper
abil
it
y denot
es the abil
ity of di
versesyst
ems and
organi
zati
onstoworktogether(
inter-
operate)
.Int
hiscase,i
tis

1
0 ht
tp:
//
opendatahandbook.or
g
1
1 ht
tp:
//
okfn.
org/
1
2 ht
tp:
//
opendefini
ti
on.
org/okd/

9
 t
heabi
li
tyt
oint
er-
oper
ate–ori
nter
mix–di
ffer
entdat
aset
s.

Int
eroper abil
it
yi si mportant because it all
ows f or dif f
erent
component sto wor ktoget her
.Thi s abil
it
yt o‘ pl ug toget her
’
component sis essenti
alt o buil
ding large,compl ex systems.
Without i nteroper
abil
ity this becomes near i mposs ible–as
evidencedi nthemostf amousmyt hoft heTowerofBabelwher e
the inabil
ityto communi cate(tointer-operate)r es ul
ted int he
compl etebreakdownoft het ower-
buildingeffort.
1
3

Probablythebi
ggestmisnomeraboutopendat aisthatitsimplyneedst o
be made avail
able and accessibl
e.Put ting a PDF ofinformation on a
websiteisnotopendata.Butext r
act i
ngdat afrom PDFsandcol lectingit
i
ntohel pf
uldataisanefforttowar dsopendat a.TheDocHivepr ojectwas
cr
eatedbyagr oupoflocaljournalistsher ei
nRal ei
ghtodoj ustt hat.1
4
I
n
Chapter3,we’llsee whyaddi ng visual
izati
on to open dataisal so an
i
mpor tantcomponent.

As y ou can see from the Open Knowledge Foundati

on definit
ion,
interoperabil
it
yand open st
andardsareess ent
ialtohaving t
rue open
dat a.Throughoutthebook,we’l
lseehow opendat aplay
sani mpor t
ant
rolei neconomi cdevel
opmenteffor
tsandhow itcanbeanenabl erf or
civicinnovati
on.

Thebegi
nni
ng ofmyci
tizen i
nvol
vement
I
’ve li
ved in Ral
eigh si
nce 1996 when Iat t
ended Nor th Caroli
na State
Universi
ty(NCSt ate)tostudyEl ectri
calEngineering.Asas tudentliving
on campus ,Iwaspr ett
yobl ivi
oust oc i
tygov ernmentatt he ti
me.My
closestint
eracti
onwi thgovernmentwasmyf i
rsttimevotingi nthe1996
electi
on.Itwoul dn’tbe unt i
laf t
erIgr aduated in 2000 thatIwoul d
discovermypas sionforcit
izeninvolvement .

Pavi
ng t
hef
uture

Sever
alpr
oject
sshaped myvi
ewsand pas
sion f
orci
ti
zen i
nvol
vement
.
1
3 Definit
ionof“ opendata”from theOpenDat aHandbook,( c)2010-201
2,OpenKnowl edge
Foundat i
on.UsedunderaCr eat i
veCommonsAt tributi
on( Unport
ed)v3.0li
cense,avai
labl
e
atht t
p://
opendatahandbook.org/en/what-
is-open-data/i
ndex.html.
1
4 Jour
nal i
stfrom Ralei
ghPublicRecor d cr
eat esopensour cesoluti
ont oextractdatafrom
PDFsht tp:/
/opensour
ce.
com/ business/
13/
2/ open-source-app-f
or-j
ournal
ist
s

1
0
Thefirstwasar oad projectinmynei ghbor
hood.Shor t
lyaftermywi fe
andIboughtourf ir
sthome, Iwasinspi
redtogetanear byroadpaved.A
porti
onofLineber ryDr i
vewaspavedonones i
deandwasgr avelonthe
otherforone-eighthofami le,thencomplet
elygravelforthenextmi le.
Thisroadconnec tedournei ghborhoodt oamajorthoroughfare,soIwas
determinedtol earnwhatneededt obedonet oaccompl i
sht hi
sproj
ect
andgetr i
doft hegr avel
.

Safetywasamaj orconcer
n.Wher ethe r
oad washal
fpaved and hal
f
gravel
,motori
stswoul
dtaketothepavedporti
ontoavoi
ddrivi
ngont he
gravel
.Iwi
tnessedmanynearcol
li
sions
.

Overt hecours
eoft heproject,Imetalmostal lthenei
ghbor st
hatlivedon
myst reetandinthes ur
roundi ngarea.Icreatedanonlinepetit
ion,useda
webl ogt odocumentmywor k(thi
swasbef oreblogswer epopular),and
gatheredsuppor tf
rom thec ommuni ty.Iwor kedwitht heNorthCar oli
na
Depar tmentofTransportati
on( NCDOT),theCi tyofRaleighPubli
cWor ks,
andt hepropertyownersalongt heaffectedar ea.

Onec ompl i
cationwasowner ship.Li
kemanys tr
eetsinRalei
gh,iti
sac i
ty
roadbutst ate-maintained.Ilearnedal otaboutr i
ght-
of-
wayac quisi
tion
and the NCDOT budgetand pr i
ori
ti
zation pr
ocess.Moreimpor t
antly,I
l
ear nedhow t owor kinapos it
ivewaywi thgovernmentagenciesandt hat
projects oft his cali
berr equire pati
enc eto accommodatet he l
onger
planningc yclesagenciesr equi
r e.

Duringt hecourseoft heproject,t

herewasanoppor tuni
tyt olowerthe
speed limiton myst reetfr
om 35mpht o25mph.Il earned aboutthe
peti
tionprocess,gat heredthenumberofsi gnaturesneeded,andgott he
speed li
mitr educed.Thi swasasmal lvi
ctorydur i
ng thecour s
eoft he
proj
ec tandabi gst ept owar
dsi mprovi
ngthes afetyonmys t
reet.Duri
ng
bigpr oj
ectsl
ikethis,it
’simportanttohavesmallwinstos t
aymot ivat
ed.

1,
317daysaf terIst arted thepr oject,NCDOTc rewswer eon t hes treet
paving the gr avelr oad.Pr oj
ect s of thi
s magni t
ude take t i
me and
perseverance.Thededi cati
onneededt oseeitthroughdef i
nitel
yt ested
mys ki
ll
sand pat ience.But ,Ienjoyed theexper i
enceand t heabi l
it
yt o
i
mpr ove my communi ty so much t hatIs tuck wit
ht he whole' ci
tizen
partici
pati
ont hing'andbegandownt hepathofcivi
cleadership.

1
1
St
art
ing anei
ghborhood wat
ch program

Ourneighborhood wat
ch wasanotherprogram t
hatshaped myc it
izen
i
nvolvement.Thi
swasoneoft hefirstwaysIappli
ed t
he open source
phi
losophytoanon-sof
twarepr
oject.

Ourgr oup,thePl
easantRidge& Ramsgat eCommuni tyWatch,1
5
hadour
off
ici
alstartinMarchof2003.Twoneighbor sandIco-foundedthegr oup
and developed itint
o a non- pr
ofit organi
zati
on focused on s afet
y,
awareness,andpropert
yvalue,hel
pingt oform auni
fi
edc ommuni ty.

Foranyc ri
meprevent
iongr oup,at
tendanceandi nvol vementspikewhen
crimesoccuranddecl inewhent hi
ngsar egoi ngwel l
.Ourgr oupwasno
different,butweborrowedapagef rom theopensour ceplaybookt
hat
involved community buil
ding–thi
s was t he difference between j
ust
anot hercommunit
ywat chandapassi onat
e, consi
stentgr oup.

Othernei ghborhood leadersand Iused t raditi

onalc ommuni tybuildi
ng
met hodss uchasgoi ngdoor-to-doortof osterpar t
ici
pat i
on,butweal so
blendedi twithtechnologys owewoul dhaveat wo-waycommuni cati
on
platfor
m wi t
hmember softheor gani
zation.Wewer et ransparentwith
ourmeet ingagendaandnot es .Wepost edmeet i
ngnot est oourwebsi t
e
andshar edt hem ont hemailinglistbeforet heywer efinali
zed,all
owing
member stoimpr ovethenot esandaddt ot hem.Al lofthiswor khelped
buil
dacommuni t
yoft rust
.

Over t he year s,we saw peaks and val l

eys of par tici
pati
on, but
consistentl
yhadnew nei ghborsattendourquar terl
ymeet i
ngs.Ourother
eventsgr ewinat tendance. Onestr
ategythatwor kedf oruswast ohavea
varietyofwayst obr ingourcommuni t
yt ogetherbeyond meet i
ngs.We
organized s t
reet cl ean-ups,watermelon f est
ival
s ,a hol i
day cookie
exchange,andcommuni t
yyar dsal
es.Wehads omenei ghborsthatnever
attended a meet i
ng,but woul d parti
cipatei n ot her events.This
communi t
ybuildingst rat
egywast hekeytoours uccess.

Usinganopens our
ceappr
oachtobui
ldaneighbor
hoodwatchprogram
proved t
o be anatur
alwayforme t
o ext
end myknowledge ofopen

1
5 ht
tp:
//
prr
-wat
ch.
org/

1
2
source and appl
yi toutsi
de ofsoftware.Atthet i
me,Iwasn’ tthinking
abouthow opens ourc
ecoul d makemynei ghborhood bet
ter.Now t hat
I
’ve had time tolook back on it
s eff
ect,Ic an s
ee the open sour ce
phil
osophywasamaj orinfluencethatl
edt othesuccessofes tabl
ishing
ourorganizati
on.

Becomi
ng anexpertci
tizen

Whi l
e helpi
ng buil
dt he nei
ghborhood wat
ch program and over t
he
courseoftheLineberr
yDr i
veproj
ect,
Ifoundavari
etyofwaystoenhance
myc iti
zenshi
p.Icompletedtwoprogramsthatgavemecor eknowledge
oflocalandstat
egover nment
.

I
n Spr i
ng 2005,Iat t
ended and compl eted the Raleigh Nei ghborhood
Col
lege. I
1
6
t’
saf r
ee pr ogram of fered by t he Communi ty Servic
es
Departmentwher epar ti
cipantsinteractwit hci
tyof fi
cialsand r evi
ew a
vari
etyoft ool
sandpr ocedurestobecomei nvol
vedi nnei ghborhoodand
communi t
yorganizati
ons. BythetimeIf i
nishedthepr ogr am, Ihadadeep
understandingofdi f
ferentcitydepartment sandc ountyoper ati
ons.Ial
so
est
ablished contactswi t
h keydepar tmentheadst hatwoul dl aterhelp
wit
hf uturecommuni t
ypr ojec
ts.

I
nMay2007, Igr
aduat edfrom Leader shipNorthCar ol
ina.1
7
I
t’
sas ixmont h
progr am t hatbrings50l eadersf r
om t hepubl i
c,pr i
vate,andnon- profi
t
sec t
or sf r
om ac rosst he st
ate ofNor t
h Carol
ina tol earn abouti ssues
facing Nor thCar ol
ina.Thepr ogram f ocusesonf ivear eas:gov ernment,
educat i
on,heal t
h and human ser vi
ces,env i
ronment ,and ec onomic
devel opment .Byt he end oft he five sessi
ons,Ibegan t or eali
ze how
compl ex state gover nment is and how each of t hes e areas ar e
interrelated.

MyLeader shipNor t
hCar oli
naexper iencewast rulyuni
que.Imetavariety
ofpeopl ein myc l
asst hatIst i
llhave connect i
onswith.Some ran for
el
ectedposi ti
ons,othersnow wor kf orstategover nment,andf ol
kslike
mehaver eturnedtot hepr i
vatesectorwi thins t
rumentalknowledgeand
avastnet workofengagedc ivi
cpeer s.Thet opicswecov eredwerehigh
qual
ity, thought-provoking, and r epresent ed bot h chall
enges and
opportuniti
est hestateofNor th Caroli
nai sf aci
ng and wil
lfaceint he
1
6 www.r
alei
ghnc.
gov/
neighbor
s/cont
ent
/CommSer
vices/
Art
icl
es/
Nei
ghbor
hoodCol
lege.
html
1
7 ht
tp:
//
leader
shi
pnc.
org/

1
3
f
utur
e.

I
n 2009,I l ead a gr oup of vol unteerst o r evi
ew Raleigh's 2030
Compr ehensive Plan.The c ompr ehensi ve plan isal ong-range poli
cy
documentt hates tabl
ishesavi si
onf orthec i
tyofRal ei
gh,providespoli
cy
guidance for gr owth and devel opment ,and cont ai
ns act i
on items
dir
ectedt oimplementt hevisi
on.1
8
Thiswasagr eatoppor t
unityformet o
applyt he knowledge Igai ned i n Ral eigh Neighborhood Col l
ege and
LeadershipNor t
hCar oli
nat osomet hingmeani ngful.

Wees tabli
shed committeeson differ
entt opi
css uch ast r
anspor
tation,
environment ,and par
ksand r ecreati
on.Overt he course ofthe public
commentper i
od,t
hegroupofvol unteerssubmitt
ed53r ecommendat i
ons
ont hel and-usemapaswel lasover1 00comment sont heplan f
orour
dist
rictinsouthwestRaleigh.

Onewayt hecitywasgat heri

ngf eedbackwast hr
oughaspeci alportal
poweredbyLi mehouseSof tware.Whilet hesoftwareitselfwasn’topen
sourc
e,t he pr
ocessused open sourceel ements.Citi
zensand pl anni
ng
prof
es si
onals could submit comment s on eac h s ecti
on of t he
comprehensive pl
an.The city st
affresponded t o each commentand
made t hei
rr esponses publi
c.Thist ransparency was an ear l
ys t
ep
towardsopengover nmentfortheCityofRaleigh.

Getti
ng invol
ved i
n my Ci
tizens Advi
sory
Council

Oneoft hemosti mpor tantorganizationsIbecamei nvolvedwithoverthe

l
astf ew year s has been my l ocalCi ti
zens Advisory Counci
l( CAC).
Engagingwitht hisgroupandf indingl ike-mindedpeopl ewasacat alys
t
tomyf utur
ei nvolvementwi t
ht hebr oaderc ommuni t
y,beyondmys t
reet.
Duri
ngt heLineber ryDrivepavi
ngpr oject,Istar
tedattendingthemont hl
y
SouthwestCACmeet i
ngs .

Cit
izens Advi
sor
y Council
s actas a l
iai
son bet
ween ci
ti
zens and ci
ty
government.CACsar ethe onl
yadvisoryboardsnotappoint
ed byt he
Ralei
ghCi t
yCounci
l.Leadersarevot
edonbyt hemembers,asindi
cated
1
8 www.
ral
eighnc.
gov/
bus
ines
s/cont
ent
/Pl
anLongRange/
Art
icl
es/
2030Compr
ehensi
vePl
an.
ht
ml

1
4
int hei
rby -
laws.WhenIfi
rstgotinvol
ved,ther
ewer e1
8CACsar oundthe
city.Ithassincegrownt o19 CACsand wecan expec tthi
snumbert o
increase,asthepopul
ati
onofWakeCount yissett
odoubleby2030.
19

I
nApr i
lof2009, It
ookt hereinsaschai roftheSouthwestCAC. Ididt hree
thi
ngswhenIst arted.Fir
st,Iwast ransparentwi
ththegroupt hatIwoul d
onlyl
eadt hem fortwoyear s.Second,Isetsomeac hi
evablegoal sf orthe
groupthatwecoul daccompl ishtogether.Thi
rd,
Ididalotofli
st eningand
askedplentyforquestionsbef oremaki nganychangestohow t hegr oup
wasrun.

Li
kemyot herinvol
vements,Ihadagr eatexper i
enceleadingt hegroup.
Weachi evedthegoalswesetandImadesmal l,
increment alchangesthat
advancedt hegroupinanew di r
ect
ion.Twot hingshappeneddur ingmy
l
eadershipt enurethat r
efocused my pas si
on and l ead me t o new
i
nterests.

Firs
t,Idi sc
overed the open gover
nmentmov ement.Thisseemsl ike a
naturalfitforagr oup liketheCAC,buti twasmi ssi
ng thet echnology
component –whichI’m passionat
eabout.I
t’
sashamet hatther eis
n’tmor e
technologyinterwoveni ntotheCAC system.Itri
ed tospr i
nkleinsome
technologywhileIwasl eadingmyCAC,buti twasn'tsupportedlikeIhad
hoped.

Second,other int
erest
s and f amily obli
gations prevented me f rom
dedicat
ing t
he ti
me needed to effecti
vel
yl ead the group t
owar dst he
vi
sionIhad.But,
Iwasabletos uccessful
lytransit
iontheleadershipduties
tootherdedicat
edciti
zens,andIst il
lregul
ar l
yat t
endandpar ti
cipat
ei n
myCAC.

Raleighhasauni quebenef itinciti

zenpar ti
cipat
ionbec auseoft heCAC
system.Eac h CAC oper atesi ndependently,theyare non- parti
san,and
theyf ocusoni ssuesimpor tanttot heirgeographicarea.Thel eadershi
p
ofeachCACc omest ogetherformingt heRaleighCiti
zenAdv i
soryCouncil
(RCAC) .Over the lastf our decades,t he CACs have pr oven to be a
keystonetoc i
tizenengagementi nRal ei
gh.

1
9 ht
tp:
//
www.
capi
tal
areaf
riendsof
transi
t.
org/
fil
es/
Speaker
sBur
eauPPT3Dec201
1.
pdf

1
5
Bl
azi
ng at
rai
lforopen dat
a

Overthecour
seofmycommuni tyinvol
vement,Iwoul
df r
equent l
yatt
end
ci
tycounci
lmeeti
ngs.AtaCityofRalei
ghbudgethear i
nginJ une2005,I
madeauniquerequestt
hatcaughttheatt
enti
onofaf ew of
fici
als
.

Iaskedf
orfundi ngandr esourcestomaket hecomput ers
t ati
sti
css ystem
(COMPSTAT)us edbyt heRaleighPolic
eDepar tmentforcrimeanal ys i
st o
become a viable,real-t
ime crime stati
sti
ct oolforRal eigh ci
tizens .I
refer
enced a site If ound call
ed chicagocri
me.org.The Chi cago si te
showedcrimedat al ayeredonGoogl emaps .IthoughtRal ei
ghcoul ddo
somethi
ngs i
mi l
ar.

I
nt hefol
lowingweeks ,Imetwi threpr
esentati
vesfrom theRalei
ghPol i
ce
Depar tmentt opr ovi
deaddi ti
onaldetai
lsaboutt heidea.Whi l
eIdidn’t
pr ovi
de technicalgui dance,Iwas passi onate about provi
ding user
feedbac kandci t
izenexpec tat
ions.Afew monthslater,Ral
eighlaunched
i
t sfir
stversi
onofpubl iccrimemaps .

WhatIdi dn’
treali
zeatt hetimewast hatthiswasessenti
all
yan open
datarequest
.BeforeIknew aboutopengovernmentandopendata,Iwas
al
readyblazi
ngthet r
ailf
orRaleight
obeanopensour ceci
ty.

Whatmakesaci
tyopen source?20
Whatqual iti
esmakeaci t
y“ opensource?”I
sittechnology,government
poli
cies,or innovat ions happening f
r om t
he businesses community?
Thosear ekeychar acter
isti
cs.Butreal
ly,i
tst
artswiththemi ndsetofthe
people.It'
st aking the phil
osophyofopen s ourc
e and applying i
ttoa
cul
tur eofpar t
icipati
on.

I
nJ anuary2012,Red Hat ,the world’
sl eading provi
derofopen sour ce
soluti
onsand wher eIwor k,madeanannouncementt okeep it
sglobal
headquarter
si n Ralei
gh.Wi t
ht hatnews,t he Ci
ty ofRalei
gh appears
poised t
o" est
ablish a growing ecosystem ofpar t
ners and provi
ders
aroundtheopensour celeaderandt obol s
t erRalei
gh’sr
eput at
ionasa
20 Adaptedf r
om '
Whatmakesacit
yopensour ce?,
'(c)201
2opensource.
com,publ
ishedunder
a Creative Commons Attri
buti
on-Shar
eAl i
ke 3. 0 Unport
ed l ic
ens
e, availabl
e at
ht
tp:/
/opensour
ce.
com/
government/1
2/1
/what-makes-ci
ty-
open-sour
ce.

1
6
l
eadi
ngopens
our
cecommuni
ty.
"21

Ofc ourse,Ralei
gh isn'
tt he onlyci
tyon the open s ource bandwagon.
Portl
and,Or egon,Mont real
,Quebec ,Canada,and ot hers have been
recogni
zedf ortheirstrongopensour cecommuni ti
es.Montrealappear s
focusedonbec omingahubf oropensources tart
upc ompanies ,whereas
Portl
andi sbestknownf oropengover nment,opendat apol
icies,andits
supportofOSCON( O'Reill
yOpenSour ceConf erence)
–oneoft helargest
opensour ceconferencesi ntheworld.Whatdoesi ttakeforaci tytobe
abletoconsiderit
selftrulyopensource?

The Ci t
y of Ral eigh is pr
iori
tizing col
laborati
on,t ransparency,and
opennes s.Raleigh Mayor Nanc y McFar l
ane said," Open sour c
ei sa
phil
osophyt hathashadawi despr eadimpac tbothinc reati
ngsof t
ware
and inc reati
ng cul t
ure.Collabor at
ion,transparency,and openness
representt he future ofourbusi ness communi ty–helping t
of ostera
cli
mat eforinnovationandbusines sgrowth."

Creati
ng an ecos
ystem thatpromotestransparency,par
tic
ipat
ion,and
coll
aborati
on i
n governmentgoesbeyond ec onomicdevelopmentand
innovat
ion.WhatishappeninginRalei
ghgetstot heheartofwhatbeing
anopens ourceci
tyisreal
lyabout
:community.

***

It
’sthec i
tizencommuni t
yi nRaleight hatiswor kingside-by-
sidewi thcit
y
offi
cialsto hos t open gover nment conf erences,deploy open sour ce
applicati
ons,and c r
eate pol i
cies t hat foster mor e openness.I t’
sa
partnershipbet weencitizens,el
ect edofficials
,citystaff
,andbusi nesses.
And we’ l
lexpl oreavar i
et yofs toriesthathi ghlightthesepar t
ner shi
ps
thatar ebuildi
ngt hefoundationf orthewor l
d’sfi
r stopensourcecity.

Theel
ement
sofanopensourceci
ty
Now t hat we have a good under s
tanding of open sour ce,open
government,andopendat a,let
’stakealookathow wecanappl ythose
conceptsto alivi
ng,breathi
ng ci
ty.Cit
izenspr obablyhave t
heirmos t
meaningfulgovernmentint
eracti
onswitht hei
rlocalmunici
pal
ity.I
t’
salso
the f
orm ofgover nmentthatimpactsci t
izenst he most
,whet herthey
21 www.
ral
eighnc.
gov/
news/
cont
ent
/Cor
News/
Art
icl
es/
RedHat
Global
Headquar
ter
s.ht
ml

1
7
r
eal
izei
tornot
.

Anopensour cecit
yi sablendofopencul ture,opengover nmentpolici
es,
andec onomicdevel opment .Ider i
vedthesec haracter
isti
csbasedonmy
experiences.These characterist
icscan be applied to anyc i
tyapplyi
ng
open sour ce pri
nciples t
ot heir cul
tur
e.Let ’st ake a look at t
hese
characteri
sti
csinmor edet ail
.

Fi
vecharact
eri
sti
csofan opensourceci
ty

1. Foster
ingacultur eofci
ti
zenparti
cipati
on
2. Havinganeffectiveopengovernmentpol i
cy
3. Havinganeffectiveopendataini
ti
at i
ve
4. Promotingopensour ceusergr
oupsandconf er
ences
5. Beingahubf orinnovati
onandopens ourc
ebus i
ness
es

Probabl
yoneoft hemostdi ffi
cul
tcomponent sofanopens our cecit
yisto
fost
era c ul
ture ofciti
zen part
ici
pation.Government str
y a var i
etyof
tact
ics f
rom publ i
c meet i
ngs t
o online f
orums ,buti fcit
izens aren’
t
engagedordon’ tcare,thenthatoutreachandcol l
aborati
onf all
sflaton
i
t sf
ace.Havingciti
zenchampi onsaroundcer tai
nc ausescanr eall
yhelp
boostci
tizenparti
cipat
ionandengagement .

Policyisanot herkeycomponentofanopensour cecity.I

’
ves eparatedt he
opengover nmentpol i
cyfrom theopendat ainit
iati
vebecauset heyhave
differentimpac tsand impli
cati
ons.Thesepol i
ciescan gohand- i
n- hand,
butsomet i
mes,gover nment swil
lstartwit
honepol i
c yandt henast hey
feelmor e comf ort
able wi
tht he concepts ofopen s our ce and open
gover nment ,theotherpolicywil
lfoll
ow.LaterinChapt er3,we’ l
ltakea
lookatt hebl uepri
ntusedt opassanopengov ernmentr esolutionf ort he
CityofRaleigh.

Part
ici
pationcomesi nanot herform withusergr oupsandconf erences–
li
ke-
mi nded people gat hering around t hei
r pas sions.Just go t o
meetup.com andyou’lldiscoveravar i
etyofgr oupsgat her
ingonj ustas
manyt opics.Userconferences,or“cons,”gatherdi f
ferentopensour ce
communi ti
es.Hosti
ngt hesec onf
erencesandsuppor t
ingusergr oupswil
l
boostyouropensour cecitycredi
bil
ity.

1
8
Finally,havi ng an ec onomic developments trat
egy thati ncludes open
sour cec ompani escanhel pfosterinnovat i
onandcr eatejobs.Mor eand
mor eci ti
esar eal soseei
ngtheadvant agesofhavi nganopendat apoli
cy
ti
edt ot heirst artupcommuni ty.Cit
iest hatcanc ombinethei ropendat a
pol i
cywi tht heireconomi cdevelopmentst rat
egycangi vear ealboostto
startupsandot herbusinesses.Beingahubf oropensour cecompani es
andac atalystforopensour ces tar
tupscanhaveapos it
ivei mpactont he
ci
t y'
sbot tom l ine.Morei mportantly,thisfeedsbac kint o cul t
ure and
par ti
c i
pation.

Throughoutthe restoft he book,we’

lltake a l
ook athow these fi
ve
pri
ncipl
esar e bei
ng act
ivel
yappl i
ed i
n Ralei
gh,North Car
oli
na and I’
ll
i
ncorporateotherexperi
encesfrom myopengover nmentadventures.

1
9
Chapter 2: Ci
tizen parti
cipat
ion and
culture
I
nt hisc hapt er
,we’llexpl
oret hecul
tureofciti
zenpar t
ici
pati
on i
nt wo
parts.First,we’lll
ookathow Ral ei
gh star
ted i
tsfirs
tCityCamp event
.
Then,we’ lltakeadeepdi veintothecult
ureofRaleighands omeoft he
acti
viti
est hatciti
zensaredri
vingtocreat
et hi
spart
ici
patorycul
tur
e.

Part1
:Ci
tyCamp–Thebegi
nni
ng
Theopengov ernmentmovementinRal
eighstartedt oaccel
eratei
near l
y
2011
.Ihadt hepleasur
eofdoingasit-
downi ntervi
ew withthenRaleigh
mayorChar l
esMeeker .Wetal
kedabouthow Ral eighcould beanopen
sourceci
tyandexpl oredafew i
deasaroundopengover nment.Hereis
theint
ervi
ew fr
om Februar
y2011t
hatst
arteditall.

Raleigh, NC–The worl

d's f
irst open source
22
ci
ty

Istart
ed ponder ingwhatqual i
tieswould defi
neanopensour cecit
yi n
lat
e201 0whenmyf ri
endTom Rabonpl ant
edt hei deainmyhead.Iwas
curi
oushow t heci t
yIliveincoul dat
tractotheropensour cecompanies
andbet hewor ld'shubforopens ourceandal eaderi nopengovernment.
How could Raleigh be theopen sourcecapitaloft he wor l
d,si
mil
art o
whatSili
conVal l
eyistot echnol
ogyandPar i
sistor omanc e?

Ithinkt heans wercanbef oundi nbotht hegovernmentandt hepeople.

Fir
st ,ourgover nmenthast obewi ll
ingt oembracetheopensour ceway
ofdoi ngt hings.I
tneedstobet ransparentini
tshandli
ngofbus i
nessand
fosterci t
izenpar t
ici
pati
on.Ci
tizensneedt obewi l
li
ngt opar
tici
pateand
contr i
butet heirtime and knowledge.Bot h need to embrace rapi
d
protot ypi
ngt oexplorenewideasandi nnovati
vesolut
ions.

Butwhats
etsRal
eigh apartfr
om otherplaces?Whatmakes Ralei
gh
readyt
obeanopensour ceci
tyoverNew York,SanFr
anci
sco,London,
22 Adapted f
rom '
Ralei
gh,NC–t he wor
ld'
sfi
rstopen source ci
ty,
'(c)201
1opensource.com,
publi
shed under a Creati
ve Commons Attri
buti
on-ShareAlike 3.
0 Unpor t
ed li
cense,
avai
labl
e at htt
p:/
/opensource.
com/
gover
nment/1
1/2/r
alei
gh-nc -
worl
ds-f
irst
-open-
source-
ci
ty.

20
Pari
s,Bei
j
ing?Isatdownwi
thMayorMeekert
oexpl
orewhatmakesaci
ty
opensource.

Meekerwasel ected i
n2001 ,ser vedasmayorf orteny ears,and dur i
ng
thatt i
me,gr ew accust
omedt ot heopens ourceway .Hedidt hispri
mar il
y
byl earningaboutRedHatandt heopensour cedevel opmentmodel .As
an at t
orney,it'
sno sur pri
se t hatMeekerunder standst he benefi
tsof
coll
abor ati
on and shar ed knowl edge.Let'
sf i
nd outwhy t he City of
Raleighisreadyt ostakethecl aim ast heworl
d'sfi
rstopensour cecity.

Whatonebi goppor tuni

ty,outsideoftechnol
ogy,hasthebestchanceof
being solved t he open sour ce way ( i
.
e.,through col
laborat
ion,
tr
ansparency,shari
ng,mer i
tocracy,
rapi
dpr ot
otypi
ng,community,
etc.
)?

Theus eofmor eenergyef

fic
ientli
ghtingisonear eatheCityofRaleigh
has focused on and where we ares eei
ng returns.We ar e act
ivel
y
promot i
ng and s hari
ng our experiences with other municipal
iti
es,
i
ncludingt est
inghow muchel ec
tri
cit
yi sbeingus ed and t
hequal i
tyof
li
ghtbei ng produced.Shari
ng thi
si nformati
on is a big partofour
experience.

TheCi tyofRal ei
ghhasover40LEDi nstal
lat
ionswithanaver agesavi ngs
of$200k/ yearon el ectri
city costs .The payback i
st ypicall
y 3- 5years
(consideringcapi talcosts).It’
sagr eatoptionforremotepar king.Youcan
easil
yi nst al
la f ew solarpanel s and nothave t o add new l inesand
i
nf r
ast r
uc ture.Thepossi bilit
yf orcitiesaroundthewor ldtoadoptener gy
effi
cientl i
ght i
ngi sagr eatoppor tuni t
y–theCityofRaleighwant st obea
partoft hats toryand t obeknownasanear l
yadopt er.Spreadingt he
wor donLEDl i
ghtingwi tht hehel pofourpar t
ner,Cr
ee, i
simpor tanttous.

Whatar eyourthoughtsonopengover
nmentorgov2.0,
andwhatcant
he
cit
yofRaleighdot ohaveamoreopenandtranspar
entgover
nmentwit
h
it
sc i
ti
zens?

Fir
st,allofourmeet i
ngsar eopent othepubl
ic,
withveryfew exc
eptions.
Ther ealchal
lengeistot akeadvantageoftheexperti
sethatourc i
ti
z ens
havet ooffer.Ther
ei sal otofgreattal
entouttherethatcanhelps olve
realproblemsf ort
hecity.

21
Onewayi sthroughnew boar ds,li
kethenew r ai
lboardwees t
abli
shed,
and how thei
radvi ce and recommendat i
ons are handl
ed by the ci
ty.
I
ssuesaroundstormwat erandut i
li
tyf
eeshav eall
owedust otapintothe
expert
iseofourcit
izenst ol
eadt obettersol
utions.

Railisanareathatwil
lbeongoingforthenext3-
4year s
.Wehavemany
exper i
enced i
ndivi
dual
s out therethat are wil
li
ng tos har
et heir
knowl edgeandapplywhattheyknow t
ohelpformulatefut
uredeci
sions
onr ai
l.

Having the publi

cs ee what we' r
e doing and pr ovi
de the right
recommendations i
s an assetthatis under
util
ized,butwe have had
success,such as when t he stormwater management boar d made
recommendationson how t obettermanage fl
ooding.The Ci
tyCounc i
l
wasabl etous etheexper t
isefrom theboardt omakebet terpoli
cies
aroundstormwatermanagement .

Whatqual
it
iesmakeaci
tyopensour
ce?

Thr
eet
hingscomet
omi
nd:

• Wi
ll
ingnesst
oshar
e
• Wi
ll
ingnesst
orec
eivei
nfor
mat
ion
• The r
ightat
tit
ude t
o be i
nnovat
ive,cr
eat
ive,and t
ry new
thi
ngs

Ci
tiz
ensneed to be wil
li
ng t
o adaptfort
he f
utur
e.Open sour
ce i
sa
st
rategywear
eus ingtomovef or
ward.

Whyi
sRal
eighpr
imedt
obet
hewor
ld'
sfi
rstopensour
ceci
ty?

Ourcit
izensarer eadyf orRalei
ghtomovef or
ward and bemoreopen
sour
cef ocus
ed.Thet echnologyiss
uccess
ful
.Ralei
ghisreadytobethe
worl
dwidehubf oropensour ce.

Theadvant ageRaleighhasisaroundgrowt hand jobs.We'dli

ket osee
thec onvent
ioncenterhostmoreopensour c
ef ocusedconfer
ences.We'd
love tos ee a bunch of smal
ler Red Hat’
s,s t
artup companies
,and
establi
shed companies,come t
ot he area because we embrace open

22
sour
ce.

Partners are al
so a big par
tofthe answer
.The Convent i
on Center
,
Visi
tor's Bur
eau,ChamberofCommer ce,and ot
herpar tner
s need to
embr ace open sour ce and hi
ghl
ight i
t as part of our economic
developments tr
ategy.

Howdoyouuset
heopens
our
cewayi
nyourever
ydayl
if
e?

I
nt helawf irm Iwor
kat ,It
r ytopr ovi
dei nformat
iontoyoungerattorneys.
Sortofas haringofthet radesecr etstohel pthem succeedfast
er.And
quitef
r ankly,oneoft hehar destthingsf oranypersoninpubli
cof f
iceto
doi st
ol isten.I'
vefoundt hatlist
eningi s7 0-
80% ofthejob.Youhavet o
ful
lyunder standwhati sgoingoni nor dert omakeaninformeddecision.

***

A Ci
tyCamp wasborn
Shortl
yaf tertheabovear ti
cleexpl oringhow Ral ei
ghc ouldbet heopen
sourcehuboft hewor l
dwaspubl i
s hed,t heideaofor ganizi
nganopen
government -f
ocused unconference i n Ralei
gh wasbor n on Twitter
.An
unconferencei sa parti
cipant-dri
ven eventwher e or
ganizersplan the
ti
me,pl ace,and otherl ogis
tics,whi let he part
ici
pants determine the
agenda.Typicall
y,at
tendeess how uppr eparednotonl ytol ear
n,butt o
sharetheirknowledge.

A“ Cit
yCamp”i sani nternati
onalunconf erenceser i
est hatbr i
ngst ogether
localgovernmentof fi
cial
s,muni ci
palempl oyees,exper ts,programmer s,
designers,cit
izens,and j ournali
stst o share perspect i
vesand i nsights
about t hei
rc ity.Af ter a f ew tweet s bet ween mys elf( @jhibbets),
CityCamp co-founder ,Kevin Cur ry(@kmcur ry)
,Ral eigh City Councilor,
BonnerGayl ord( @bonner gaylord),andGovLoop. com ( @govloop)i near l
y
Mar ch 2011
,Counci lorGayl ord and Iwer e commi t
ted t o organizi
ng a
CityCampi nRaleigh.

Gaylordisanelec
tedCityCouncil
orinRalei
gh, buthewaspar t
icipat
ingin
Cit
yCampRal ei
ghbecaus eof hisloveoftechnologyanddes i
ret omake
ourlivesasci
ti
zensbetter.HeandIknew t hattheburdenwast oomuc h
forone person tolead on thei
rown,s o we decided to co-chai
rt he

23
pl
anni
ngcommi
tteet
oget
her
.

Eventual
ly we def i
ned Cit
yCamp Ral eigh as t hr
ee days of t
alks,
workshops,andhands-onproblem solvi
ng,toreimaginethewaytheweb,
appli
cati
ons,technol
ogy,and part
icipati
on wil
ls hapethefutur
eofour
ci
ty.

Beforegoingintothedet ai
lsofCityCampRaleigh,
ourl
ocalversi
onofthis
i
nternati
onals er
ies,i
t’
simpor tanttotakeastepbackandunder st
andits
ori
gins.CityCamp co-founder,Kevin Curr
y,wr ot
ethe fol
lowi
ng arti
cle
abouthowCi tyCampgoti tsstart.

How Ci
tyCamp becamean open sourcebrand23

Cit
yCampi sani nternationalunconferences er i
esandonl inecommuni t
y
dedicated t oi nnovation f or municipalgover nment s and c ommuni t
y
organizati
ons.Itdi dn'tst ar
toutt hatway.Ci tyCampst artedasaone- of
f
event,lit
er al
lyf rom a t weet .Thateventt urned outt o be a s uccess
beyondexpec tations.Peopl ecamef rom allovert heU.S.,Canada,andt he
United Kingdom.For t wo days at t he Univer sit
y of I l
li
nois,Chi cago
I
nnovat i
on Cent er ,mor et han a hundr ed peopl e wor ked through t hi
s
fl
edglingideaofusi ngt hewebasapl at
formf orl ocalgover nmentand
communi tyact i
on. Asitt urnedout ,
peopl ehadbeenpr actici
nglocal" Gov
2.
0" for y ears,but i t seemed l i
ke l i
ttl
et o not hing connect ed t he
communi tyofpr acti
cet hatwoul dsoonf orm.

Aftert hef i
rstCit
yCampwasover ,therewer es car
cei ntent i
onsofdoi ng
anything mor e.Ihad t o getback t o my company,Br i
dgebor n,and
Cit
yCampc o-f
ounder ,J
enniferPahlka,wasj ustaboutt ol aunchCodef or
Amer i
c a.Weencour agedpar ti
cipantstocopyandl ear nf rom ourevent,
j
ustaswehaddonef rom others,andt akeCi t
yCampbac kt owheret hey
li
ved.I n Washington,D. C.
,organizersdi dj ustthat.D.C.hasa vi brant
networ k of social entrepreneurs,civic hacktivi
sts,and gr ass roots
organizer swhoknow how t odounc onferences.Infact,t woD. C.events
direct
lyi nspi
red and i nfl
uenced Ci tyCamp: Tr anspar encyCamp and
Government2. 0Camp.Butatt het ime,Cit
yCampD. C.wast heonlyot her
eventaf tertheinaugural.
23 Origi
nal
lyposted as"How CityCamp became an open source brand,
”©2011Kevin Cur r
y,
publi
shed under a Creati
ve Commons At t
ributi
on Shar eAli
ke 3.0 Unported li
cense
avail
abl
e at htt
p://
opensource.com/
government/11
/5/
how- c
itycamp-became-open-source-
brand.

24
Meanwhi l
e,t he onl
ine communi tyofCi tyCamp t hrved.The #ci
i t
ycamp
hashtagwasbei ngusedt ol inkt weets,phot ographs,andbl ogpos tsto
thispropagat i
ngideaofCi tyCamp.Conver sati
onsc onti
nuedonapubl i
c
forum hosted bye- democr ac y.
org.Event uallypeoplewer eas kingwhen
thenextCi tyCampwoul dhappen.Ot herswr otemet oaski fIcouldhel p
them startCi t
yCampwher et heyl i
ved.AsmuchasIwant ed to,Ir eall
y
didn'
thavet hetime.Or ,atl east,Ididn'
tknow how Ic ould.Wei nvested
manyhour sovert hreemont hsand had maj ors upportfrom friendst o
pulloffthef ir
stCityCamp.Ther ewasnowayCi t
yCampwoul dsc alet hi
s
way.Whatweneededwasapat ternever yonecoul dfoll
ow.

Oncet here wasa vibrantnet work around Ci t

yCamp,unc overing t hat
patter nwasnott oodi f
ficult.Ourfriendsati Strat
egyLabshad l i
t erall
y
writ
t en t hebookon how t heyr un unconferences ,likePubMedi aCamp.
Ourf riendsatO' Reil
ly Medi a shar
ed t hei
rexper ienc e dev el
opi ng t he
popul arI gni
tes er
iesand poi nted t
oTEDxasonemodelf orc reat ing a
l
icens ear oundanevent .Finally,
GovFreshst eppedi n,of feri
ngt oc reat ea
brandf orCityCampandpr ovidesomehos t
ing.That '
swheni tallcl icked
i
ntopl ace:Cit
yCampwoul dbecomean" opens ourcebr and."

Cit
yCampi san"opensour cebr and"thatexist
sint heCr eativeCommons
[meaning any communi t
yi s abl
e share,remix,and impr ove i
t].Open
sourceens uresthatCi t
yCamp i smaintai
ned asapat ternt hatiseasily
repeatableandf oranyonet ouse.Brandingens uresthatt hepat ternis
recognizable and that i ndependent organizers don’ t misrepresent
Cit
yCamp.No one or gani zat
ion wil
lown Ci t
yCamp.I ns tead itwi l
lbe
maintained bytheCi tyCamp communi tys upported byac adre oflocal
communi tyorganizer
s.

GovFresh founder ,Luke Fr

etwell,and Iworked fur
iouslyforweeksvi a
Skype on cont entand syndicat
ion plat
forms,look-
and-feel,messaging,
i
nstructi
ons ,goals,andsi
mpl erules.Wec r
eatedaWor dPressthemeand
publi
shedi t.WechoseaCr eati
veCommonsl i
censeandputever yt
hing
aboutCityCampundert hatli
cense.

Sincewelaunched" Ci
tyCamp2.0"onAugust11,201
0,tenCityCampshave
happenedinternat
ionall
yandmor eareplanned.Theseevent shavehad
si
gnifi
cant i
mpac t on localgover
nment in host cit
ies and beyond.

25
Cit
yCampLondonst art
edt hemovementi ntheUKandimmediat
elyhada
posit
ivei
mpacton t he whole model
.AfterLondon,t
he br
and became
"St
imulat
e.Par
tici
pate.Col
laborat
e.Repeat.
"

City of Br i
ght on picked up on t hatmodeland host ed an eventt hat
streamed vi deo of nat ional and l ocal of fi
cial
s engaged i n panel
discussionswi thpar ti
cipant s.InColorado,wepubl i
shedt heLocalOpen
Gover nment Di r
ect i
ve ( LOGD) t empl ate,model ed after t
he Obama
admi nistr
ation'sOpen Gover nmentDi rect
ive.2
4
Thisisa documentany
muni ci
pality can us et o dr aftopen gover nmentpol i
cy.Cook Count y
,
I
lli
noisr ecent l
yci ted the LOGD i ni tsopen gover nments trategy.San
Franciscohasl i
nkedCi tyCampwi thot heror ganizati
onst opromot et he
localGov 2. 0 movement i n mayor alpol it
ics.Ther e have been t wo
CityCamps i n Russia.The e- democracy f orum has mor et han 350
member s and i s acti
ve dai ly.The Fac ebook page has 1 ,
400 f ans and
@Ci tyCamphas1 ,700f oll
ower sonTwitter.

I
ns hort
,opensour cewast hebestt hingt ohappenf orCi t
yCamp.Open
sour c
ehel pedCi t
yCampbec omesomet hi
ngmor ethanwhati tsetoutt o
be.Open sour ce madeCi tyCamp somet hing thatconnect speoplewho
practiceinnovation inl ocalgover nment .Open s ourc e hasmeantt hat
anyonecanhostaCi tyCampbyf oll
owi ngt hepattern.Ther ehavebeen
innovations.There have been cont roversies.There have been fail
ures.
Eachoft hesehasbeenval uabl eforwhati thast aught.Ithasallmade
CityCampbet t
er.Wi t
houtopens ource,CityCampwoul dnothavebec ome
whati ti
st odayorwhati twi llbetomor row.

Takeact
ion

Cit
yCamp i sn’
tj ust about meeting and t alki
ng,t hough these are
i
mpor tant
.Ci t
yCamp i s al
so seri
ous aboutt aking acti
on.Goal#4 i s
"Creat
eout comest hatpart
ici
pantswillactuponaf t
ert heeventisover.
"
Butyoudon’ thavet owaitforaCityCampt ocomet oyou.Herear efour
thi
ngsyoucandonow i fyouliketheideaofCi t
yCampandwantt oget
i
nvolved:

• J
ointheonli
necommuni t
yhostedate-
democ
racy.
org–f
orums
.e-
democrac
y.org/
groups
/ci
tycamp
• Or
gani
zeaMeet
up–ht
tp:
//
www.
meet
up.
com/
GovLoop/
24 ht
tp:
//
opengover
nment
ini
ti
ati
ve.
org/
dir
ect
ive/
v1/

26
 • RecommendCi
tyCampt
oyourl
ocalel
ect
edof
fici
als
• St
art
-a-
Camp–ht
tp:
//
cit
ycamp.
govf
res
h.com/
star
t-a-
camp/

***

CityCamp celebrat
ed i t
st hr
ee-yearanniver
saryinJ anuar
y 2013.Curry
ment ionedthattencampshadbeenhel dar oundthewor ldintheabov e
post.Si nce the inception of Cit
yCamp,t here have now been 32
independent l
yorganizedcampsi n23citi
esacrosssixcountri
esandf our
continents.

Organi
zing Ci
tyCamp Ral
eigh
Now t hatyouunder st
andhow t heCityCampmov ementgots t
arted,let
’s
takeal ookathow theRaleigheventgotor ganized. AsIment i
onedabove,
i
tst artedwithCouncilorBonnerGaylordandme.Thei deaquickl
ys pr
ead
to otherc ommuni tyleaders and Citi
zen Advisor y Counci
lc hai
rs.Our
planningt eam grew eachweek.Wecamet oc allour sel
vescivicgeeks.
Andwhi l
enoneofuswer eneces sari
lysoftwar
epr ogrammer s,eachofus
had a pas si
on for open sour ce, technol
ogy , and i mproving our
governmentandcommuni ty.

Organi
zing an unconf
erence f
ora t
ransparent
25
ci
tygovernment

Organizinganunconf er
encelikeCit
yCampi seasyifyouhavepas si
onate
peoplewi ththerighttalent
,leaderswithast rongvi si
on,andther i
ght
organizati
onaltoolsc hosen by the team.Ty picall
y,it’
s a group of
volunteerswho come t oget
herand self-organi
ze into ac ommunit
yof
passion.Thiswast hecasefort hefi
rstCityCampRal eigh,heldJ
une3- 5,
2011.

The team t
hatIhelped organi
ze did an awf
ullotofpl anning foran
unconfer
ence.Andwef acedabigchal l
engefrom t
hes tart–noneofus
hadeverbeent oaCit
yCamp,muc hlessplannedone.Furthermore,none
ofushadevenbeent oanunconf erence.Butthedesir
et oimpr oveour
25 Adaptedf r
om 'CityCamp:Or gani
zinganunconf erenceforatranspar
entcit
ygover nment,
'
(c
)2011opensour ce.com,publi
shedunderaCr eativeCommonsAt tri
buti
on-ShareAli
ke3.
0
Unported l icense, available at ht tp:
//
opensour ce.
com/government
/11/
6/ci
tycamp-
organi
zing-unconference-
transparent
-ci
ty-
gover nment.

27
ci
tywi th open government,open dat
a,manageabl et r
anspar ency,and
usefultechnology to bri
ng toget
her ci
ty employees,dev el
oper s,and
ci
tizens toc oll
aborate on sol
uti
ons drove t
he pl anning team t oa
successf
ulevent .

Onc ethe ideaforhost i

ng aCi t
yCamp i n Raleigh started on Twitter,i
t
evolvedintoweeklymeet -upswher et hegroupst ar t
edgener at i
ngi deas
for our firs
t open gover nment unconf erence.Ot her people saw i t
happeningonTwi t
terandFacebookandwant edtoj oinin.Asmal lgr oup
researched otherCityCamp event s and cons ult
ed wi t
ht he CityCamp
founders.The group quicklygrew from a handf ulofpeopl et o ov era
dozen. I
nlateApril
,thegroupmadeadec isi
ont hatCi tyCampRal eighwas
agof orJune3-5.Thenther ealworkbegan.

Weneededs ponsors,speakers,avenue,andpeopl etoshow up.Thanks

to some awesome desi gners who vol unt
eered to develop several
concepts,webui ltawebsi teusingt heopensour ceCi
tyCampmat eri
als
wec ustomizedf orRaleigh.West arted apresenceons oci
almediaand
sharedourpas si
onf oropengover nmentandt echnol
ogy.Wedevel oped
aprojectplanthatsetweekl ymi l
estonesandkeptusont r
ack.I
nfact,we
publis
hed thepr ojectplan and madei tavail
ableforeveryonetovi ew,
improve,andexec uteagainst.
26

Oneoft heveryearl
ydecisi
onsmadebyt heplanningcommi tt
eewashow
wewoul dc ommunicat
e–ac r
iti
calpartforanyt eam.We wer ealr
eady
communi cat
ing usi
ng a Google Group.Someone st art
ed a group on
Facebookandsuggestedusingt hati
nstead.Thegr oupconsensuswasto
useFacebookasourprimarycommuni cati
ont ool
.

Iadmit,Ihadmydoubt saboutusi ngaFacebookgr oup.I'

m comf ortable
usi
ngemai ltocommunicat ewit
hot hers,
andIwasn'
tc onvi
ncedFac ebook
wouldwor k.ButIwaswi l
li
ngtogiveourFacebookgr oupat ry.Isaw that
it worked, succes
sful
ly, hel
ping t he pl
anni
ng c ommi t
tee i n bot h
col
laborat
ingandkeepingusi nfor
med.

We us ed a combi
nation of Facebook and Googl e Docs to workin
subcommittees:marketi
ng,sponsor ship,speakers,and logi
sti
cs.Our
weeklymeet -
upswereachancef ort hecommi t
teest orepor
ton what
theycompletedandwhatt hei
rnextt askswere.Weal sousedthemeet-
26 ht
tp:
//
cit
ycampr
al.
org/
get
-invol
ved/
proj
ect
-pl
an-
201
1/

28
upt
obr
ainst
orm andgetf
eedbackonwhatt
hecommi
tteeswer
edoi
ng.

AsIr eflect
ed onthi
sexper i
ence,Ireali
zed thatopportuni
ti
eslikethi
s
don'tcomeal ongver
yof t
en.Thiswast hestartofamovementf ormore
opengover nmentinRaleigh.I
tfitt
hecul tur
e.Butt her
ehadn' tbeenan
eventlikeCityCamptoactasacat alystforpeoplet oral
lyaround.Now
therewas.

I
fyou t ol
d me bef ore we began t hata smallgroup ofpeopl e could
organi
zeanunconf erencewi t
hmor ethan200r egist
rants,20s ponsors
andsuppor ter
s,and1 5speaker s,i
nfewerthan12weeks ,I
'm nots ureI
would havebelieved you.Butacommuni tyofpassionforamor eopen
and transparent gover nment i n Ralei
gh, Nort
h Car oli
na and t he
coll
aborati
on of individual
s who ar e exci
ted to be a par t of this
movementt rumpedal lthechallenges.

The unknownsofan unconf

erence di
dn'
tst
op us
.The passi
on i
n our
hear
t smadeusbel
ieve.

***

That’
showt heplanni
ngcommi t
teecamet oget
herandor gani
zedthefi
rst
Cit
yCamp Raleigh.Butwhathappened i nthose t
hree days oftal
ks,
workshops
,andpr obl
em sol
vingsessi
ons?Let’
stakealook.

Creat
ing a ci ti
zen movement f
or open
27
government
The fi
rst Ci
tyCamp Raleigh st
arted as a conver
sati
on about cit
izen
engagement,butwer eali
zedthatwecoul ddomor ethanjusttal
kabout
it
.Techi
es,govi
es,andcit
izenscamet oget
hertoidenti
fy,
coll
aborate,and
star
tcreati
ngsoluti
onsforourlocalgover
nment .

Over 225 people attended three days ofc ol

labor
ati
on,shari
ng,and
encouragingopennessi nJune2011
–f ocusi
ngoni mprovi
ngaccesstodat
a
andsol ut
ionsforlocalgovernment.Theeventf eatur
edgovernmentand
business panels on Fr i
day,the unconf er
ence on Saturday,and a
27 Adapted f rom 'Creati
ng a c it
izen movement f or open gover nment ,
'(c) 2011
opensource.
com, publi
s hed under a Cr eati
ve Commons At t
ributi
on-ShareAl
ike 3.
0
Unported li
cense,avai
lable athttp:/
/opensource.
com/gover
nment/1
1/6/ci
tycamp-
ral
eigh-
creat
ing-
citi
zen-movement -
open-government .

29
col
labor
ati
onday/
hackact
hononSunday.

Threethemesemer
gedovert
hecour
seofaweekend,al
ltwi
stsonopen
government
:

• Cr
eat
eaci
ti
zenmovement
• El
imi
nat
eemai
ltoi
mpr
ovef
eedback
• Cr
eat
eoppor
tuni
ti
esf
orci
ti
zenst
ocol
labor
atewi
thCi
tys
taf
f

Creat
eaci
tizenmovement

The fol
lowi
ng conversat
ion took pl
ace on the fir
stday ofCi t
yCamp
Ralei
gh(overTwitt
er,
usingt hehasht
ag#ccr al
),anditresonatedwithme
because eventsli
ke CityCamp can inf
luence c i
ti
zen parti
c i
pati
on i
n
government.Thecomment swerebothcri
ticalandenc our
aging:

@Roger TheGeek (
RogerAusti
n)-Why Iam notent husi
ast
ic
about#ccralasageekci ti
zen?Thepoliticall
andscapechangesevery
el
ecti
on.
Allpastworkisfl
ushed.Bummer28

@adri
elhampt on(Adri
elHampton)-@RogerTheGeekYouhave
tocreat
eapower fulmovementt hati
scommuni
tyowned.That
'show you
beatpoli
ti
calc
ycles.#ccral
29

Adr i
elisspoton.Heal sohighli
ght
soneoft hereasonswhyCi t
yCamp
Raleigh was successf
ul–it was ci
ti
zen-led.Passionat
e ci
tizens came
together to plan and exec utethis event.Now t hat i
t'
s over,it'
s
transit
ioni
ngintoamovement .Andi
t'
sst i
llci
ti
zen-
led.

Wewer efortunatetohaveCi tyCouncilor,BonnerGaylord,co-

chairthe
planni
ngcommi tt
eeandJ onat
hanMi nter,Cit
yofRaleighI Tdirec
tor,on
the pl
anning commi ttee.Butwe also had citi
zenswith passi
on about
makingCityCampmor ethanaconver s
at i
on.Ifi
thadbeenr unbyaCi ty
department,Idon'tt hinkwewouldhavepul ledthethree-dayeventoff
withlesst han 12 weeks ofplanni
ng.The r ed tape would have been
i
mposs i
blet ocutthrough.

28 ht
tps:
//
twi
tter
.com/
RogerTheGeek/
stat
us/
77060295750729728
29 ht
tps:
//
twi
tter
.com/
adri
elhampton/
stat
us/
7706771
7970116608

30
Creati
ngaci tizenmovementdoesn' thappenover ni
ght.Thepotenti
althat
Cit
yCamp Ral ei
gh hastopr ovi
del eadershi
p and advocacyint heopen
source, open gover nment, open dat a, and t echnology spaces is
immeasur able.Thefutur
eoppor tunit
iesofthisciti
zen-
ledmovementwi l
l
makeabi gi mpacton thedi recti
on thecit
yt akeswi t
h open dataand
couldredefineciti
zenparti
cipati
on.

El
imi
nateemai
ltoi
mprovef
eedback

Wewer efort
unatetohaveCityCampco-founder,Kevi nCurry,att
endt he
fi
rstdayofCityCampRalei
gh.Hepos t
edanobs er vationthathighl
ights
mynextt heme,how t
ogetf eedbackonci tyini
tiatives.And iti
nvolves
dit
chi
ngyourinboxtoi
mpr ovetrans
parency.

@kmcurry( Kevi
n Curr
y)-Interest
ing:bot
h panelshave r
aised
thei
deaofabandoni ngemailasamodeofi nteract
ingwit
hl ocal
gov#cc
ral30

Governmenti
sn'tt
heonlyplacewhereemai
lhasbec omeabur den.
Some
peopl
e havealr
eadyconsidered (
oratt
empted)giving up t
heiremail
.31

J
ustsearch#noemailonTwit
tertoseet
hatconver
sation.

How ar epeopl editching t

hei
remai l?Byt aki
ng advantageofdiff
erent
socialpl
atformsandt oolstocommuni cat
ewi t
hthepeopl etheyneedt o
reach.By c hoosi
ng t he ri
ghtt oolf
ort he ri
ghtjob and making sure
everyone you wantt o know can sti
llfi
nd you,c ommunicat
ion i
s not
int
er r
upted–t hetheor yi
sthatitismademor eeff
icient
.

Af ew years ago,Ihad an oppor t

unit
yt olead a group ofcit
izens
reviewing t
he draftofRaleigh'
s2030 Compr ehensi
ve Plan.Remember,
thisisaplanningdocumentt hatoutli
nesthegrowthareasandobjecti
ves
fort heci
tyoverthenext20y ears.Forthi
srevi
ew,theDepar t
mentofCity
Planning choset o use an onli
ne portalcal
led Li
mehous et ocoll
ect
comment sandf eedback.

Whil
ei t
'snotopensource,itwasbetterthan t
healternati
ve–emai
li
ng
ci
tystaf
f.Emai
lisnott
ransparent
.Sur
e, wecanrequestallt
hecomments
30 htt
ps:/
/twit
ter.
com/#!/
kmcur r
y/stat
us/
76727827084488704
31 htt
p:/
/opensource.
com/li
fe/
11/
5/noemail
-why-ar
e-some-tec
hnol
ogy
s-ear
ly-
adopt
ers-
abandoning-t
heir-
email

31
col
lected be posted on a websi
te somewhere,butthat
's notdi
rect
communi cat
ion,norisi
tti
mely.Someonehast ocompi
leandcopyal
lthat
data.Theportalseemedtobebet t
eralter
nat
ive.

Limehous ewasacent r
alplacewhereyoucouldcommentoni ndivi
dual
paragraphsoftheplan.Notonlycould yousubmityourcomment s,but
youc ouldseewhatothersweresayi
ng.Youcouldagreeordisagr
eewi th
thosec ommentsaswell
.

Usingemai lt
osharefeedbackwithlocalgovernmentonlygoessof ar.
It'
s
a greatt oolfor communicat
ion,butnots o much for col
laborati
on,
shari
ng,and t ransparenc
yi nt he pubic sector
.Avoi di
ng emai lfor
feedback mightactuall
yhelp ci
tyempl oyeesdo t hei
rjobs.Instead of
beings t
uckattheirdeskansweri
ngemai ls,t
heycanus etheirskil
lsmor e
effi
cientl
y.

Createopportuni
tiesf
orci
tizenstocol
laborat
e
withcit
ystaff

Anotherpos i
ti
ver esultwast heengagementandcol labor ati
onbetween
Citystaffandcitizens.Thedialoguebet weenCityempl oyeesandci ti
zens
washappeni ng before Cit
yCamp,buton amuc hs mal lerscale–usuall
y
one-on-oneandaboutver yspecifi
ci s
sues.Thecollabor ati
veat mosphere
atCi t
yCamp Ral eigh allowed the di al
ogue toflourish bet ween these
stakeholderswithoutt headdedbur denofc onf
li
ct,andwi thouthavi
ngt o
waitforani ssuetooccur .

I
noneses si
on,theEdi toroft helocalonl
inepubl
icat
ion,RaleighPubl i
c
Record,wasexpl ai
ning how itmapped outt or
nadodamagef rom mi d-
April2011using City-provi
ded data.Whatamazed me was t hatt he
GeographicInformation Systems (GIS)managerfrom Raleigh,Col leen
Sharpe,wassitti
ngjustaf ew seatsdown,andshewasabl etopr ovide
i
mmedi ateadditi
onalinsight.

Sharpet ol
d ushow t heinspector
scol lect
ed thedat aand how theGI S
divi
sion wasablet o pr
eparet he ent
iredat asetso i twasus able and
open.TheGI Sdivi
sionmadet hedisasterdat aavai
labletothepublicvery
quickly–l
essthan48hour saftermeetingt he72-hourFederalEmer gency
ManagementAgency( FEMA)deadl i
nef ordamageas sess
ment.Thisquick

32
tur
naroundi
snow amodelforothermunicipali
ti
eswhoneedt
ocol
lect
andpubli
shdat
aint
hist
ypeofdisast
erscenario.

Get
ting t
angi
bleresul
ts

CityCamp Ralei
gh was a huge s uccess.Not only was ita fulfi
ll
ing
exper i
enceformeper sonal
ly,butagr eatteam ofpeoplecamet ogether
to getwor k done and share a positi
ve experi
ence wit
h government
planning.Weal lhad something i
n common–wewantourci tyt o be a
bet t
erplacetol
ive.Andwewantot herpeopletosharethatpassi
on.

I
fyouwantt obeapar tofamovementt hathastangibler
esultsoverthe
courseofaweekend,hostaCityCamp.Yourlocalgovernmentleaderswil
l
thankyoufori
t–especi
all
yifyouinvi
tethem alongfortheride.

***

32
Changi
ng t
hecul
tureofgovernment
I
nt hemont hsafterCityCamp Raleigh Ihad achanc etorefl
ec tont he
majortakeawaysIlearnedbypar ticipati
ngi nthepl anni
ngpr ocess
.The
val
ueofus i
ngopencommuni cati
onsandt ransparencyimmediatelystood
outto me.Us i
ng an open sour c
e appr oach led to an at
mos phere of
ownershipandaccountabili
tythatul ti
matelyledt oresul
ts.Buthow can
we uset hi
smodelt o st
artchangi ng the entrenched cul
tureins ome
governmentagencies?Let’
stakeal ook.

Creat
ing ownershi
p,account
abi
lit
y,and resul
ts

The Ci
tyCamp Ral ei
gh planning team created a coll
aborat
ive cul
ture
thr
oughi n-personmeet i
ngs,s oci
alnetworks,andshareddocument ati
on.
Thi
swascr it
icaltooursucc ess.Theleveloft r
ansparencytheteam had
waslargelybas edont henotionofdef aul
ti
ngt oopen.Becauseeachsub-
committeecoul dseewhatt heot herwaswor kingonandbecaus et here
wereinter-dependenciesbet ween eac hteam,we had t henaturalside
eff
ectofac countabil
it
y.

32 Adapted f r
om ' Changi
ng gover nment culture the open source way, '( c) 2011
opensource.
com, publi
shed under a Cr eati
ve Commons At tri
buti
on-
Shar eAli
ke 3.0
Unported l i
cense, avail
abl
e at ht tp:/
/opensourc
e.com/
government
/11
/10/changing-
government-cul
ture-
open-
source-
way.

33
The accountabil
it
yofouruber -l
eveloftransparencyled to owner shi
p.
Ourt eam member swerecommi t
ted and owned theiri
ndividualtasks.
Whent heysai dtheyweregoingtodosomet hing,theydidit.Whent hey
gotstuck,theyaskedf orhel
p.Itwasveryunl i
kelythatsomeonewoul d
showupt ot henextweeklymeeti
ngwithoutcompl eti
nghisorhert asks.

Andher
e'swher
eitgoti
nter
est
ing.

Ourweekl y meetings and asynchronous communicat

ions weren'tjust
about r eporti
ng what we di d. Our cul tur
e of transparency and
accountabil
it
yal l
owedpeopl et obecomf ort
ablewi
thshar i
ngwhatt hey
weregoi ngtowor kon.Thi skeydi f
ferenceiswhatyouc ant akebackt o
yourorganizati
on.

Stopt el
li
ngyourt eam whatyoudi d.Tellyourteam whatyou' regoingt o
do,andt hendel i
veroni t
.How?ThewayIdot hisatmyjobi stopubl i
shan
i
nternalblog. I
tli
stsmykeyr esponsibi
li
ti
esandgoal s.
IhighlightwhatI '
m
focused on and i nclude t
he key met ri
cs from the previous week as
l
aggingi ndi
cat or
s.It'
savail
ableforanyonei ntheorganizati
ont osee, and
anyonecanc al
lmeoutonsomet hingthatmayhaves l
ipped. But,Ideliver
onmygoal s
,andt hisisonet act
icthathelpsmebemor et r
ans parent.

Appl
ying t
ransparencyt
ogovernment

Cit
yCamp Ralei
ghwasplanned byvol
unteerswithtal
ents,pass
ion,and
commi t
ment.Thet
eam hadas har
edpurposethatguidedandmot ivat
ed
us.Buthowdoyouappl
yt hi
stoyouragencyororgani
zati
on?

Thinkofitthi
sway:youhave“ paidvolunteer
s”withtalents,passion,and
commi t
ment .
Yourchallengeistodef i
neashar edpur pose,discoveryour
team member s’t
alent
s,anddi recttheirpassi
on.Spri
nklei ns omeoft he
tenets ofthe open source way like tr
ansparency,collaborati
on,and
opennes s
,andyou'l
lst
ar tt
oseer esult
s.

I
twillt
aketi
metoc hangeent
renchedc
ult
ures,butIt
hinkyou'
l
lfi
ndt
hat
openisabet
terway.

***

34
Part2:Thecul
tureofRal
eigh
Oneoft hebes tpartsaboutli
vingi
nRal ei
ghi stheabi l
it
yt oeasil
yf i
nd
li
ke-minded people.The way t
hatCi t
yCamp Ral eigh organizersc ame
togetheri
snotunique.OthergroupsinRaleighhavebeens elf-
organizi
ng
aroundtheirpassi
onsforyear
s.I’
dli
ketohi ghl
ightfouroft hosegroups .

TheTr i
angleWikii ni
ti
ativegotaj umpst ar tatCit
yCampRal eighandhas
conti
nuedt of
ost eracommuni tyofpassi onandcont ri
but or
s.Wec al
lour
regi
ont he“Tri
angl e,
”and itincludest heci ti
esofRal ei
gh,Dur ham,and
ChapelHi l
l.A wi kiis an edit
abl e webs i
te orwebpage cr eated by a
communi t
yofuser stoexpl ai
nand det ailat opi
c.We’ l
ltakeai n-
depth
look atwhy Triangle Wi kigotof ft o such a gr eats t
artand why i t
conti
nuestogrow.

Unique to Ralei
gh is an eventcal
led SPARKcon thathighli
ghtslocal
creati
ve t
alent.It
'sfasci
nati
ng to me thata tr
ansparent,open source
planni
ngpr ocesswasused t oconceiveand pl
anthi sevent.Butit’
sno
surpri
sethatthisisonereasonithasbeensuchasucces s
.

Li
kemanyotherciti
es,aneventcal
ledBarCamphasbeenins
trumentali
n
br
ingi
ngtogetheravar i
etyofusergroups,peopl
e,andt
opi
cs.We’l
lsee
whythi
sunconfer
enceser i
eshasbecomesopopular.

Finall
y,oneofmyf avor
itest
oriesisaboutapr oj
ectcall
edWal kYourCi t
y.
Thei deabehindWal kYourCityiss i
mpleandhasmadeani nter
nat i
onal
splash.Peoplef el
linlovewithi tand itspar
ked change.Thepr ojectis
changing t he percepti
on of distance f
or a car-centr
ic populati
on–
enc ouragi
ngt hem tobehealt
hierbywal ki
ngmor e.

Let’
st akealookathow theopensour
cephil
osophyisappli
edt oTri
angle
Wiki,SPARKcon,Bar camp,and Walk Your City.Coll
ecti
vely,these
i
ndividualgroupsand eventsrepr
esentthecult
ur eofRalei
gh and are
buil
dingt hefoundat
ionofanopensour cecit
y.We’ l
lst
artbyexploring
theoriginsofTri
angl
eWi ki
.

A wi
kif
indsi
tst
ribe
Thi
sisastor
yaboutcommunitybuil
dingandfi
ndingl
ike-
mindedpeople.
I
tinvol
vesopen sour
ce t
echnol
ogy,butthat
’sjustasmallpartofthe

35
stor
y.Iwanttoshar
ewi
thyouhow Tr
iangl
eWi
kigotst
art
edandwhyi
t’
s
successf
ul.

You’l
loftenhearTr i
angleWi kiproj
ectlead,Rei
dSerozi
,saythathefound
histri
beatCi t
yCampRal eigh.Andwhathemeansi sthathefoundot her
li
ke-minded,civic-
minded geeks.Ser oziwas on the Ci
tyCamp Raleigh
planni
ng commi ttee and helped t
he team execute asuccessf
ulevent.
Afterthecamp, hisattent
ionturnedtoTr i
angleWiki
.

LocalWikiisanopensour cecont entmanagementplatformt hatmakes

edit
ingawebpageaseasyasusi ngGoogleDr i
ve.Anyonecanedi tand
contri
butecontenttoaLocal Wiki.Thi
nkofitasahyper -l
ocalversi
onof
Wikipediawithoutalltherules.Serozipi
tched t
heideaofl aunching a
pil
otcommuni tyofLocalWikisoft
war eint
heTr i
angl
et osomepeopl ehe
metatCi ty
CampRal eigh.

Theideaofcapt uringl ocalknowl

edgeont heTr iangl
eWi kiappealedt o
the“tr
ibe”thatSer ozifound.Overthecour seofaf ew mont hs,thi
snew
communi t
ybui l
tcont entonpopulartopicss uchaspar ks,transport
ation,
and neighborhoods.The wi kiwas by invi
tation only untilthere was
enoughcontentt ocreat eagoodexperi
enc ef orfutureusers.

WhileIwas n’tinvolvedinthecor egr oupduringtheincubati

onper i
od,I
did help organize an eventwi th Serozithatwoul dr eal
ly puts ome
moment um behi ndt heTri
angl
eWi kiproj
ect
.Wepl annedacont ents pri
nt
thatwecal l
edTr iangleWikiDay.Itcoinci
dedwi t
haneventsuppor tedby
Codef orAmer icac all
ed“CodeAcr ossAmer i
ca”thataimedt oencour age
communi ti
est ogat herandengagei ncivi
cvolunteeri
ng.Theresultswer e
amazing.Her e’
swhathappenedt hatday.

Tri
angl
e WikiDay:An open source success i
n
communit
ybuil ng33
di

Tri
angleWi
kiDaywasheldonFebruar
y25,2012.
Around50peoplecame
toget
heratRedHatheadquar
tersinRal
eigh,Nort
hCarol
ina.Theevent
wasasoftlaunc
hoftr
iangl
ewiki
.
org,aneffor
ttodocumentinfor
mation

33 Adapted f rom 'LocalWiki project spawns open source communi t

ies ,'(c) 2012
opensource.
com, published under a Cr eat
ive Commons Attri
buti
on-ShareAli
ke 3.0
Unported li
cense,avail
able at http:
//
opensource.
com/
government/
12/
2/l
ocalwiki
-proj
ect
-
spawns-open-sour
ce-communi t
ies.

36
aboutt he Tr
iangleregi
on and incr
ease coll
aborati
on and knowledge-
shari
ngac r
osst hear
ea.Thewikiusesopens ourcesoft
ware,Local
Wi ki
,as
a contentmanagementpl atform.Itincl
udes wi kipages,images,and
mapping.

Thedays tar
tedoffwit
habr iefpresentati
ononhow t heTriangl
eWi ki
proj
ecthasr oot
sinCit
yCamp Ralei
gh.It’salsopar
toft helargeropen
government movement and par
t of the Code Ac r
oss Amer i
ca ci
vic
i
nnovationweek.

At-LargeRal eighCityCouncilor,MaryAnnBal dwin,gaveakeynot

eatt he
event.Shespokebr ief
lyont heimpor tanceofcoll
aborat
ingonapr oj
ect
li
keTr iangl
eWi kiand how event sliket hi
sconti
nuet obeanaut henti
c
partofRal ei
gh' sopens ourcephi l
osophyandopen- mindedcommuni t
ies.
At-LargeRal eighCit yCouncil
or,RussSt ephenson,andRalei
ghPlanning
Direct
or ,Mit
c hellSi
lver,werealsoinattendance.

Reid Ser ozi,Triangl

e Wikipr oj
ectlead,pr ovi
ded the background on
LocalWiki,showi ngavideof rom Phi
li
pNeus trom.Neustr
om isoneoft he
LocalWikic o-f
ounder sandwor kedext ensi
velywithdaviswi
ki.
org.Serozi
walkedt heat tendeesthroughWi ki1
01–teachingthem how t
or egist
eran
account,c reatenew pages ,andeditexisti
ngpages.Af terthat,t
heedi t
partybegan.

Rightaway,peoplest
artedc
reat
ingpages,col
laborati
ngwitheachother,
and hel
pingoneanot herwi
thwikibestpracti
ces,format
ting,mapping,
andmor e.Thegroupmadealotofpr
ogressinjustafewhour s.

Ispokewi t
h Council
orBaldwin atthe end oftheday .She wasal i
ttl
e
i
ntimidat
edatt hestartbutisnow comf ort
ablemakingc ontr
ibuti
onson
herown.She cr eat
ed severalpages,practi
cing wi
th apageaboutt he
CottonMil
lbeforecontr
ibuti
ngseveralpagesmappi ngassetsforRalei
gh.

Seroziwaspl
easedwi
tht
het
urnoutandpar
tici
pat
ion.
Hisr
eact
ionont
he
day:

“AsIwassetti
ngupf ortheTri
angleWikiDayevent,t
herewer e
so many unknowns.As the event st
art
ed,Iwas pl easant
ly
surpr
isedt
oseealltheseatst
aken,powerstr
ipsf
ullwit
hdozens

37
 oflaptopsr
eadyt opartakeinanopencont enteditpart
y.Duri
ng
the eventand after
war ds,itbecame prettyclearthe ef
fort
s
producedfrom Tri
angleWi kiDaywillhavear i
ppleeff
ectwithi
n
ourcommuni t
y.”

Whatdidt
hiscommuni
tyacc
ompl
ish?Her
ear
eaf
ew oft
her
esul
tsf
rom
Tr
iangl
eWikiDay:

• 633pageedi
ts
• 1
00maps
• 1
38new phot
osadded

Neus t
rom waswat chi
ngf r
om afar
.Heknowst hewi kisof
twar
ehewor ks
on isjustan enabler
."Ithinkthe Tr
iangl
e WikiDaywasas pectacul
ar
success,
"hes aid."
Itreal
lyshowsthet ruepot
entialofthi
snew form of
coll
aborati
velocalmedia.
"

Thenextstep fort heTri

angleWikii
st ocapi
tali
zeon t hi
sevent.“The
chall
enge for everyone i
nvol
ved at thi
s point i
st o cont
inue t he
moment um and reach1,
000pagesbyt heMarch1 4 publi
claunch,
”s aid
Serozi.

Mor
eaboutLocal
Wikif
rom t
hei
rco-
founder

Neustr
om wantsLocal
Wikitobemor ethanacollaborati
veopensour
ce
proj
ect.Hefeel
sthatt
hefreedom thatt
hispl
atf
or m off
erswil
lbeakey
togett
ingpeoplet
osharei
nformati
onandknowledgei nthef
uture:

“Ri
ghtnow we'reatpoi ntwhereit'
sunclearhow peopl einour
localcommuni t
ieswil
lgetandshar ei
nformationinthefutur
e.And,mor e
criti
call
y,manylargecorporat
ionswouldli
ket obethegatekeeperoft hi
s
localinformati
on.The LocalWi kimovement representsa t r
uly open
alternati
vet oanincreasi
nglyconsol
idat
ed,closed-of
flocalinformati
on
ecology.

Thecivicworldhasf ocusedalotont heprobl

em ofopendat a–
andopendatai sreal
lyimportant.Butopendataalonewon' tsati
ateour
communiti
es'infor
mat i
onneeds.Weneed t ool
sand organizati
onsthat
canreal
lypulleveryt
hingtogetherandpr ovi
decontext,provideamor e

38
qual
itat
ivet
akeonlocali
nformation.AndIt
hinkLocal
Wikii
sreal
lywel
l-
posi
ti
onedtohel
pinthisrespect
.”

Wi
kisaref
oreveryone

Thepowerofopens our ceandcol l

aborationwer eevidentatTr i
angleWi ki
Day.Thi s proj
ect i
s about cr eati
ng a communi t
y anyone wi thl ocal
knowledgecancont ributeto.I
tbr i
ngst ogetherpeopl ewithdiffer
ents kil
l
sets–rangingfrom tech-savvyknow- how tophot ography,localhi
storyt o
hackers,and much mor e.You don’ thave t o writ
ec ode to add y our
knowledget othewi ki,youjustneedt ocli
ckt heedi tbutton.Afterthat,
you’r
e partofan open sour ce communi t
y and a phi losophy thati s
changingthewor l
d.Andf orthecommuni t
yofRal eigh,youraddi ngyour
knowledget oanopensour cecit
y.

***

Launchi
ng Tri
angl
eWi
kiand beyond

You’l
lbegladt oknow Tri
angleWi kisuccess ful
lylaunchedinmi d-Mar ch
2012withover1,
000wikipages. Si
ncet hen,therehavebeensever alother
contentspri
ntsandeditpar t
yevent s.Thecommuni tyconti
nuest ogr ow.
Ithasamont hl
ynewsletterand isaddi ngnew par t
ners.Ikeepf indi ng
int
eresti
ng usesforthe wiki.Iused Tr iangle Wikito help or
gani ze a
Creati
veCommons1 0-yearanniversarymeet -upinDec ember2012. Peopl e
conti
nue tof i
nd new ways t o use t he wi ki and maximi ze t heir
contri
buti
ons.

I
nl at
e201 2,thegr oupstartedanawar enes scampaignc aled Edi
l tyour
ci
ty.I
ndividualsfrom theTriangleWikic ommuni tyarecreatngEdi
i tyour
ci
ty postersand t aki
ng pictureswitht hem ar ound the Tri
angl e,then
shari
ng them on socialmedi a.Cit
izenscel ebrated t
he newsaboutt he
creat
ionofapl ant oturnthef ormerDor otheaDixment alhealthhos pital
campusi nto Dix Parkbyt aking a group Edityourci typhoto on t
34
he
DorotheaDi xcampus.Al mos t50peopl epar t
ici
patedint hegroupphot o
onDec ember8, 2012.

34 Phot
obyLeoSuar
ez:ht
tp:
//
www.
fl
ickr
.com/
phot
os/
ral
con/
8256222026/

39
SPARKcon: Organi
zing creat
ive t
alent wi
th
opensource
SPARKcon i s a showcase and celebrat
ion oft he Triangle'
s creat
ivi
ty,
tal
ent,and ideas.It’
sanannualeventhel dinSept emberands eemst o
grow andexpandeachyear .Ther
ear e"SPARKs "ofal lshapesandsi zes.
Creati
vet alentgathersaround areassuchasar t,bazaar,circus
,danc e,
design,f
as hion,
fil
m,geek,i
dea, music,
poetry,t
heat er,andwheel .

Fi
rst,l
et’
st akealookattheopensourceprocessandseehow SPARKcon
gotorganized.Then,we’
l
lseesomeoft hehist
oryofSPARKconandgeta
bett
erunder st
andi
ngofhow theeventcomest oli
fef
rom SPARKconner
,
AlyKhali
fa.

SPARKcon:Art ,musi
c,and success wi
th open
35
sourceprocess

Processovercontent.AlyKhalif
af r
om Gami lDesi
gnandDes i
gnBoxused
thi
smant rat oinst
il
lopen s ourcer ootsatSPARKcon–an annualevent
that showcases
,cel ebrat
es ,and i nfl
uences t
he cr
eati
ve moment um
natural
lyfoundinNor t
hCar oli
na'sTriangl
eregi
on.

"Ithi
nkatf i
rs ti
twashar dforpeopl etounder stand–i twashar d
for us t o descr ibe. Somet i
mes i t was embar rassing–t hi
s
commi tmentt opr ocessovercont ent,
"saidKhalifa."
Opensour ce
has been gr eatf orus –the idea thatt he communi ty decides
ulti
matelywhatt hecont entist hatgetsgener ated.That '
swhat
we'vebeendedi catedt o,thatsamespi r
it.Now becauset here'
s
otherpeopledoi ngi tindi ff
erents t
rata,it'
sbeengr eat.People
are beginning to under st
and t hat we're dedicated t owards
process.
"

Beyond process,there’
scollaborati
onand cross-poll
inat
ion.Byal l
owing
people wi
t h dif
ferentinterests and exper
tise to plan the i
ndividual
contentar
eas –theycallthem SPARKs–somet hingbiggeriscreated.

35 Adapted from ' SPARKcon:Art,musi

c,and successwith open source process,
'(c)2012
opensource.com, publ i
shed under a Creative Commons At tributi
on-ShareAli
ke 3.
0
Unported license,availabl
e at ht
tp:/
/opensource.
com/
li
fe/12/
3/sparkcon-ar
t-music-
and-
success-
open- source-
process.

40
"SPARKcon i
sdefinit
elya bi ton the open sour
ce pl
atf
orm because i
t
all
owsust obring infolkswi t
hs mallerexperti
setoc r
eatesomething
muc hbi
ggerthanwecoul d,byprogrammi ngorplanni
ngital
loursel
ves,
"
saidSaraPowersf
r om t
heVi sualArtsExchange.

***

SPARKcon:I
gni
ting creat
ive t
hinkerswi
th open
source36

Onewayt oc elebratethec reati

vityofyourcommuni t
ywithoutf al
linginto
ar igid planning process ist o use the open sour
ce met hodology.By
tapping intoi ndi
viduals'pas si
ons ,thei
rwi l
li
ngnesstoc oll
aborat e and
createacul t
ur eoft r
ans parency,youcanl ightasparkt hatwi l
li nspi
re
unpr edi
ctable–yetr eproducible–r es
ults.

Foundedi n2006byBet handAl yKhalif

aandDesi gnbox,SPARKconaims
toshowcas e,cel
ebr ate,andi
nf l
uenc ethecreat
ivet al
entintheTriangle.
SPARKconi nspir
escommuni t
yl eadersbyusinganopens ourceapproach
toorganizi
ng.Vol unteersgather,plan,andsharewhatt heyar eworking
on fortheirindividualSPARKsi n orderto produce a st
ell
arfour-day
event.

Ihadn' twitnessed anythi

ng like i
tbefore and wasi mpress
ed when I
attended SPARKconf orthef i
rstti
mei n201 0.Thinkofitasa' cr
eative
potluck't
hatt akesthemesl i
kef i
lm,music,f
ashion,geekytopi
cs,art
,and
mor e–anddi splaysthem throught heworkofvol unteer
swhoshowc ase
theirtal
ents.

Natur
all
y,the open source approach caughtmyat t
enti
on.Icaughtup
wit
h Aly Khal
ifa,the ownerofGami lDes i
gn and reci
pientofa 201 2
Ei
senhowerFellowshi
p, i
nthisint
erview from September2011.
Iwant edto
l
earnmor eaboutSPARKcon, hisi
deas,andhi sreasonsforparti
cipat
ing.

Tel
luswhyyouthi
nkSPARKconi
sasuc
cessandwhyi
thasgr
ownover
thel
astf
ewyear
s.
36 Adapted f rom ' SPARKcon: Igni
ti
ng creative thi
nkers wi
th open s ource ,'(c ) 2011
opensource.com, published under a Cr eative Commons At t
ributi
on-ShareAlike 3.0
Unported l icense, avail
able at ht t
p://opensource.
com/
li
fe/
11/
9/sparkcon-
or ganizing-
creat
ive-
thinkers-open-s
our c
e.

41
SPARKconi sanattempttoappl yopensourcepr i
nciplestocr eateat alent
dialogue and showcase.I thas been st unning to see how a gr owi ng
creativecommuni t
yhasr esonat edwi t
hthisapproach. Asar esult,thisal l
-
volunt eereventi
smadeupofsomeoft hear ea'
st opt hi
nker swhocan
pusht helimit
soft heirdisci
plines.Thus,eachyearhasaf luctuat ioni n
whic h SPARKs come and go,and whatt hey wil
lpr ogr
am t hatyear .
SPARKconi snow seenbymanyast heonet imeay eartoreal lydot heir
mos tc reati
veandcol l
abor at
ivewor k,contr
ibuti
ngt oanover allmi ssion
offost eri
ngandhighlighti
ngl ocaltal
ent.

Howdoyoui
ncor
por
ateopensour
cei
ntoyourpl
anni
ngpr
ocess?

SPARKcon hasbeen asi nnovat i

vei ni t
sst ructur easi thasbeeni nits
content .Us i
ng a syst em ofnet wor ked pr ogrammi ng cells,indi vi
dual
teamsofvol unteersf or mt ocr eateSPARKsf orvar iouscont enti nterests,
li
ke f ashionSPARK or geekSPARK.Thes et eams ar e ment or ed and
coached t o develop t heir visi
on and t os t
ructuret hei
r ef for tsfor
achievingt hem.Real ly,def i
ningaSPARKi sanalogoust odef ini
ngawor d
onWi kipedia:therear enor msonhow t odoi t
,butt heindividualf ocus
areasar ehighlyindividualandspeci fictot hosei nvolved.Thekeyher eis
togivepeopl eenoughst ructuretobec reative,butnott oomucht ostif
le
ideasandpr edetermi ner esults.ThisallowsSPARKcont ostayf r eshand
directl
yr ef
lectthosemot ivated indivi
dual sembedded i nthei rcr eat
ive
communi ty.

How do you encour

age Cr
eat
ive Commonsors
har
ing oft
he cr
eat
ive
ass
etsf
rom SPARKcon?

Whi l
e SPARKc on hasnotyetadopt ed Creat i
ve Commonsagr eement s
(thoughwewoul dwel comeavol unteert ohelpuswor kthroughit!)
,wedo
have a pol ic
y ofshar i
ng assets.Al ltalentshowcased at SPARKc on
requiresat alentreleaseagreement .Thisagr eements ti
pulatesamut ual
fair-
us eagreementf orallmusic,i
mages,ar t
wor k,et
c.,t
hati scapturedor
usedatt heevent.ForinstanceSPARKconphot ographersar ewelcomet o
uset heirwor kcommer ci
all
y,whileSPARKc onr etai
nsr ightstouset hat
samewor kf
oralldirectSPARKconneeds. Requi ri
ngthisagr eementgives
additionalincenti
vef orSPARKst o wor kwi th each ot
her .Forinstanc e,
fashionSPARK us es musi cSPARK ar t
ists dur i
ng theirr unway show,

42
knowingthosear ti
stsar
ealr
eadycoveredbyaSPARKc onrelease.These
cross-
pol
li
nations seem to mul
ti
ply each year
,especi
all
y with more
seasonedorganizerswhobecomeins
piredfrom t
hes
ecoll
abor at
ions.

Trans
parenc
y plays a key r
olei
n pl
anni
ng each SPARK.How do
newcomerstoSPARKplanni
ngembr
acet
hisl
evelofopenness?

Transparencyiscertainl
yakeyi ngr
edientofSPARKconpl anni
ng.Regular
meet i
ngsar egener al
lyheldinpubl i
cvenuesl i
kerestaurant
sorcof fee
shops,wi th meet i
ng schedules and notes publi
shed t othe publ i
c
SPARKconwebpage.Thei nt
enthereistoallow anycuri
ousnewc omert o
quicklygetup-to-dateonwhathasbeensai di nprevi
ousmeet i
ngs,know
whoi sinvolved,andwher et ogo.Thisshouldgivethenewc omeral ow
threshold of st
ress to show up to a meet i
ng and immedi at
ely get
i
nvolved.

Howcanot
her
srepl
icat
eSPARKconi
nthei
rci
ty?

We have had i nterest from var ious cities about how t or epli
cate
SPARKcon.Aswi t
h otheropen sour ce effor ts
,the SPARKcon modeli s
trul
yar eflect
ionofi t
scommuni ty.Toproper l
yi nj
ectthi
ssy st
em, i
tneeds
tofind ther i
ghtl ocalcatalystswho can open t heirmind and adopta
syst
em t hatisnotf ullycont r
oll
able.Thiswoul dbec ontrarytot hetop-
downwor kingstyleofmos teventcoor dinat ors.However ,gi
venagr oup
of fi
ve t o seven commi tted folks who ar et i
ed intot he creati
ve
communi ty,somesi mpletrainingands har i
ngofst ori
eswoul dbeenough
tomakeus eofallofourpubl i
ctoolsandgett hem ontheirway .

***

WhatIdi scovered fr
om Khali
faist hatSPARKcon i sbasi c
all
ycr eat
ivi
ty
mas hed-up wi t
h an open s
ource phil
osophy.Ifyou ar eeveri n Ral
eigh
whileSPARKc onishappening,Ihi
ghlyr ecommendchec kingitout.Whi l
e
you’l
ljustexper iencethefesti
valportionwhenat tending,y oucannow
appreciate how open source hasinfl
uenced t he planning processand
givencreativetalentastr
ucturewithoutsuffocati
ngt heirideas.

43
BarCamp:A t
echnol
ogy-
f erence37
ocused unconf
Iattendedmyf irstBarCamponSat urday,October1 5,201
1.BarCampi san
unconf erence simil
ar to CityCamp,but f ocused ar ound technology.
Wi ki
pedi a defi
nes Bar Camp as “ an inter
national network of us er-
gener ated conferences (or unconferences)pr imaril
yf ocused around
technologyandt heWeb.Theyar eopen,par ti
cipatorywor ks
hop-events,
thec ontentofwhi chisprovi
dedbypar ti
cipants.
”38

Essenti
all
y,BarCampbringstogetherpeopl
eint
eres
tedinawiderangeof
topicsand technol
ogi
es. Everyonethatatt
endshastheopport
unityto
teach,t
alk,l
earn,andpart
ici
pate.

A groupofvol unt
eersisess
ent
ialtohel
por gani
zetheevent.Il
earned
thi
sf ir
st-hand whil
e pl
anni
ng Ci
tyCamp Ralei
gh.BarCampRDU is no
dif
ferent.
39

2011wast hesi
xt hyearthatBar CampRDUwasbei nghel
dintheTriangle
ofNor t
hCar ol
ina,anditwasanexci tingdayofcoll
abor
ati
on.Bef
oret he
event,Icaughtup wi th one ofthe organi
zer
stogetaf eelforhow a
successf
uleventwoul dlook.

Organi
zer Jas
on Austi
n wants peopl
etoconnec
t,l
ear
n,and expl
ore
potent
ialst
artupcompani
es:

"Attheendoft heday,IhopeBarCampRDUi nspirespeopletotry

somet hing new.A new t echnol
ogy,a new vent ur
e,a new
partner s
hip.Isee BarCampRDU asa wayt o connectwitht he
technologycommuni tyintheTr i
angl
e,whil
eget tingexposedt o
diff
er ent technol
ogi
es.Hopef ull
y,that wil
l sparkt he next
startup!"

AsIpr eparedforBar
CampRDU, It
ookaglanceatthesessi
ontopicsfrom
2010.Sessionsi
ncl
udedtopi
cssuchas“Doi
ngHTTPr i
ght,
”“Runni
ngaus er
group,”“Youtoocanmakebubblybever
ages,
”“Lockpi
cki
ng,”and“Int
rot o

37 Someoft hissectionwasor iginall

ypubl i
shedandadopt edf
rom 'BarCampRDU:Preparing
forthe unconfer
enc e exper ience,'(c)2011opensourc
e.com,publ i
shed undera Creat
ive
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported li
cens e, avai l
abl
e at
htt
p://
opensource.com/ government /
11/
10/barcampr
du-prepari
ng-unconference-
experi
ence.
38 htt
p://
en.wiki
pedia.org/wiki/
Bar Camp
39 htt
p://
barcamp.org/w/ page/401 431
/BarCampRDU

44
i
Phone devel
opment.”Al
loft
hese t
opi
cswer
e par
tici
pant
-dr
iven and
s
elect
edbyat t
endees.

Iwas i nspir ed enough t o consider submit

ting a t opic of my own:
“Organizi
ng t he organizers.
”Int he Tri
angleregi on,there are al otof
diff
erentus erand i nterestgroups.Ci t
yCamp Ral eigh hasbecomeone.
Othert echnol ogyf ocused groupsi ncl
udeTr i
DUG ( Tri
angl eDrupalUser
Group),Tr i
LUG ( Tri
angle Linux UserGr oup)
,Tr i
JUG (TriangleJava User
Group),groupsf orRubyandPHPus ers,andmanymor e.Asanor ganizer
forbothCi tyCampRal ei
ghandTr i
DUG,Iknow itt akest i
met oor ganizea
meet i
ng,getpr esenters,and getpeopl etoshow up.I maginedoi ng all
thatwor ktof i
ndoutanot hergroupbookedt hes ameni ght.

Fastforwardtotheevent.Mysessi
oni deamadeitont heboar dandIhad
about 20 people attend.We di scussed a f
ew best pr act
ices and
consi
der eddif
ferentwaysthatwecoul dworktogether.LaterinChapter
4,I
’l
ldiscussanideatohelpagroupofor gani
zer
slikethis.

***

Andt hat’
st hepointofaneventl ikeBar Camp.Itbringspeopl et ogether
to collaborate, shar e ideas, share knowl edge, and i mpr ove our
communi ties.Andwhi letheBar Campf ormatisn’
tuni quet otheTr iangle,
we definit
elyembr acet he styl
e and use itto cross-pol
linate dif
ferent
usergroupsf r
om ac rossther egion.Thebusinessandus ercommuni t
ies
aresuppor t
ive ofeffortslike this,a keyingredientt o being an open
sourc
ec i
ty,whichwe’llexploremor ei
nChapt er4.

Wal
kYourCi
ty:Open sourcewayf
i ng40
ndi
It'
sat wo-secondtri
ptovi si
twalkyourcit
y.org.Butbeforey ouheadov er
there,you'l
lwanttohearf rom MattTomasul o,founderofCi tyFabri
cand
chiefinsti
gatorofWal k Ralei
gh and Wal k YourCity.The Ur ban Ti
mes
call
edWal kYourCit
y" OpenSour ceGuer ril
laWayf i
nding.
"I
41
t'
sasi mple
ideaofhel pi
ngpedes t
riansovercomet hehur dl
eofdistanceper cepti
on,
andbydoi ngs o,
promot i
ngaheal t
hierli
festyle.

40 Adapt ed f
rom 'Open source wayfi
ndi ng wi
th Walk[YourCi ty],
'(c)2012opensour ce.com,
publi
shed under a Cr eati
ve Commons At tr
ibuti
on-ShareAl i
ke 3.0 Unported l i
cense,
avail
ableathttp:/
/opensource.
com/life/1
2/4/
open-source-wayfinding-
walk-your
-cit
y.
41 http:
//www.theurbn.
com/ 201
2/04/walk-your-
cit
y-open-source-
guer ri
ll
a-wayfi
nding/

45
AttheTr i
angleWi kiDayment i
onedabove,T omasul
ot ol
dmehewant ed
totakehisWal kRal ei
ghi deagl obal,andbyus i
ngthepr i
ncipl
esofopen
source he f
ound t he perfec tway t o do so.The open source walki
ng
adventurei ss t
ar ti
ng; Tomasul o managed a succ essful Kic
kstart
er
campaign and gather ed suppor tfort he WalkYourCi t
ypl atf
orm wi t
h
moret han$11,
000inf i
nanci albacki
ng.

Seehow opensourcehasinf
luenced t
heWalkYourCi
typr
ojecti
nthi
s
i
nter
view wi
thMattTomas
ulofrom Apri
l201
2.

Tel
lusaboutWal
kYourCi
ty.

Wal kYourCi tywi l

lbean easy- to-usepl atform( websi t
e)f oranyonet o
createas imil
arsign(s)tot hosewemadef ortheWal kRaleighc ampaign.
Wait,s o what '
sWal k Raleigh?Wal k Ral
eigh s t
arted asa gr oup of27
unsanc t
ioned si gns installed at t hree different inter
sect i
ons around
downt ownRal eigh.Thesi gnsar ebasi c;theyi ncludean ar row,gener al
destination,color,QRcode, 42
andt extst at
inghowmanymi nutesbyf ootit
ist o wal kt o said dest inat i
on ( the des tinati
ons ar e made up of
commer cialareas,ci
viclandmar ks, andpubl i
copenspace) .

Overt he pasttwo mont hs,Wal k Raleigh attracted l ocal,nat i

onal,and
i
nter nati
onalattenti
on,appear inginTheAt l
ant i
c, onNPR( Nati
onalPubl i
c
Radio),and The BBC ( Br i
ti
s h Broadcasti
ng Cor por ation)
,among ot her
medi a outlets
.The wi de r ange ofmedi a expos ure gener ated many
i
nqui ri
esaboutadapt ing and pr oducing thiscampai gn elsewher e.We
beli
evet echnologyshoul dnothol dot hersbac kf rom r ecreati
ngas imil
ar
projectint hei
rownci tyort own.Thi sbelieful t
imat elyledust odevelop
theWal kYourCi t
ypr ojectasat oolt ohel pf aci
litat econvers ati
onsand
services.

Whywal
king?

Beyond the obvious per sonalhealth benefi

ts,wi th more and mor e
pedestr
ians on the street,the healt
hier our places become social
ly,
economical
ly,and envir onmentall
y.We have f ound that one of the
great
estobs tac
leswi t
hwal ki
ng isactual
lypublicper cept
ion,whichwe
hopetopositi
velyinf
luencet hroughWal kYourCity.

42 Qui
ckr
espons
ecode

46
Whoi
stheaudi
enc
e?

WalkYourCit
yi sint
ended forci
ti
esand ci
tizensali
ke.Ourgoali
sfor
anyonet
obeabl etoproduceandshar
eoneoft hesesi
gnsornet
workof
si
gnswit
htheirstr
eet,bl
ock,
orcit
ycommunity.

Al otofpeopl ehavequest i
onedwhyweneedapl atformli
ket hi
sbec ause
thes ignsar esobasi c.Thesi gnsar everybasi c
,butal otofpl anning,
consideration,thought ,andmar r
yingofexis t
ingt echnol
ogieshelpedt o
maket hesesi gnssosi mple.Tocr eatethe27si gns,ittookusnear lya
week. We hope t o s tr
eaml i
ne t he pr ocess and r eli
nquish any
technologicalhur dl
est hatmi ghtpr ohi
bitsomeonel i
kemyf at
her ,i
nhi s
late60s,from creatinghi sownwal kingcampai gninamat terofcli
c ksand
av isi
ttothel ocalsi
gnshop.

Tr
anspar
enc
yand accessi
bil
it
yseem tobekeypr
inci
plest
oWal
kYour
Ci
ty,
whyist
hati
mpor t
anttotheproj
ect
?

Webel i
eveev eryoneisapedest ri
an(andr eall
y,everyonei severyday –
whethertheyrealizeitornot),andever yonewalks(orisinawheel chair–
i
n which case theyar e st
il
lef f
ecti
velyapedest rian).Walking,being a
pedestr
ian,andhavi ngaheal t
hyenvi r
onment( soci
ally,economical
ly,and
envi
ronment al
ly)tobeapedest ri
anin,shouldbeanopt i
onf orever
yone.

Wal kRal ei
gh haspr oven t hatsimpl ei nterventi
ons ,somet imesbyone
person,cani nf l
uenceper ceptionandchangepol i
cydr amat ical
ly.Wedo
not want t o bl ock any oppor t
unityf or this walking campai gn (and
movement ,assomepubl icationsar ecallingit)tostopwi thus .Webel i
eve
open and pos it
ive conver sat i
onsabouthow we l ivec an lead to good
decisi
onsi nt hef ut
ur e.Wes eet hesesi gnsasagr eatt oolt ohelpciti
es
experimentwi t
h new i deas and t actics of accommodat ing di f
fer
ent
transi
tc hoicesandi ntroduci ngnew ci vicideaswi thmi nimalr i
sk.Wedo
notbelievet hatapr ojecti ntendedf ort hegr eatergoods houldbel imi
ted
toanyonegr oup,organizat ion,orplace.

Doyout hi
nkot
herci
ti
esac
ros
sthegl
obewi
llr
epl
icat
ethi
spr
ojectand
cont
ribut
etoi
t?

Thi
s pr
oject i
s a di
rect r
esponse t
o demand f
rom ot
her ci
ti
es and

47
organizationswant ingtoadaptandi ncorpor
atet hecampai gnintot heir
own c iti
es.Chat tanooga,Tennessee and Durham,Nor th Car
oli
na ar e
adopt i
ngt hepl an.Hoboken,New J
erseyhasincorporat
edt heprojecti nto
their compr ehens i
ve ci
tys i
gnage and wayf i
nding plan.There ar ea
numberofheal thandadvocacyorganizati
onsthatwantt ohelpsc alet he
projectas wel l
.Also,based on the overwhelming response we have
alreadyr eceived,manyci t
izensarealreadyplanning onwayst oadopt
this s i
mpl e interventi
on into their hometown wi th the pl anned
technology .

How wil
lWalkYourCityuseopeni
nnovat
ionandwhydi
dyouchooset
o
opensourcet
hispr
oject?

With ourWal kYourCi t

ypl atfor
m,anyone wi llbeabl eto cr eate si
gns
usi
ngt hesamet ool
sweused.Wehopet odevel opasi mplenet workto
encouragepeopl etopar ti
cipateinopendi al
ogueabouthow t heyinstal
l,
adapt,and change t hese signst o helpintegratet hem intot heirown
communi t
ies.By cr eati
ng a l arge communi ty ar
ound t he si gns and
walki
ng,we hope t o develop new ways t o promot e healthy lif
estyl
e
choic
esi n ourciti
es.Ver ys i
mply,t he open sourcei dea and wayj ust
makes sens e.When deal i
ng wi th an issue thatimpac tsever yone,we
beli
eveever yoneshouldhaveaccesst oi
t.

Tel
lusabouttheWalkYourCi
tyKi
ckst
art
ercampai
gnandwhatyouhope
toaccompl
ishwit
hit
.

Kickstarterisan incredibleonline resour cet hathasgr own fasterand

l
as tedl ongerthanmanypeopl eexpect ed.Theconceptofc rowdfundi ng
[cr
owds ourced f
unding]i snow r ecognized bymai nstr
eam medi aasan
accept ableandt r
ustworthypr actice.Ichoset ol aunc hWalkYourCi tyvia
Kickstarterbecausethepl atf
ormi sassucc essfulofapubl ici
tytoolasitis
a way t or ai
se capital
.The cr owd l iterall
yv otes witht hei
r dollars
,
mitigatingriskandgai ni
ngr eal-
timemar ketvalidationiftheideapr oves
wor thy.

Wal
kYourCi tywasfeat
ur edatthet
opofKickstart
er's"Pr
ojectsWeLove"
onThursday,Apri
l5,2012.Withi
neighthoursoft heli
stbeingr el
eased,
wehitourf undi
nggoalof$5,800.Twodaysaf terreachi
ngourgoal ,we
wer
ewel laheadofourmar kbyover$1000,and" backers"cont
inuedto

48
contri
bute.A new goalof$1 0,
000 and 600 backers was setf orthe
remaining t
hree weeks.The extr
a moneywi l
lgo towar d adding more
languageopt i
onsforthesignsand developi
ngas implesystem ofc i
ty
pagesforotherciti
estosharetheirowncampaignsandi ni
ti
atives.

***

Af
tert
hei
nter
view

IlovetheWalkYourCi tystor ybecausetheconc eptiss osimpleandt he

i
deas preadrapidl
y.Usinganopensour ceappr oachisr eal
lyoneoft he
bestwayst omaket hisprojectmor eadaptable.Byus i
nganopensour ce
model,theprojectcan scalet o new heightsand haveaf urtherreach
beyondjustRal
eighandot herci t
iesthathavenot icedthepr oj
ect,s
imilar
tothewayKevinCur ryexplainedmaki ngCityCampanopensour cebr and.

Ihadl unchwithTomasulointheweeksfoll
owi
ngourinter
view.Heisvery
inter
ested in using an open sour
ce approach and devel
oping the
technologythatneedstobec reat
edforthi
sproj
ectusi
nganopens ource
codebas e.

Likemanyent repr eneur snew t oopensour ce,it

’ssomet imesdi ff
icultto
understand anyadvant aget hatopensour ceoffers.Iwal ked Tomasul o
through af ew s cenariosand hei mmedi atel
yst art
ed tos eehow open
sourcewoul dbenef ithisappr oach.Oneofhi stoughes tbar ri
ersi sthat
he’snotapr ogr ammer .Andr eal l
y,thatjustmeanst hathe’ sthebusi ness
owneroft hei deaandnotwr i
t i
ngt hecodef orthepr oj
ect .Idon’tthink
there’
sanyt hi
ngwr ongwi t
ht hat.Inf act
,it’
sat rendt hatI’m starti
ngt o
see mor e and mor e of ten her ein Ral ei
gh.The i deas thatcoul d be
implemented usi ng opensour cesomet i
mesout wei
ght hedevel opment
resources.

It
’salsointeresti
ngt onot ethattechnical
lythefir
stWal kRalei
ghsi gns
viol
atedtheci t
ysignor dinanceandhadt ober emoved. Tomasuloworked
with Planning Director
,Mi tchel
lSilver,and the Depar tment of City
Planningtoac quiretheneededencr oachmentper mits.TheWal kRaleigh
signs are now legal.They are a si
mpl eidea t
hatt he communi t
y has
embr aced,andt hathascaughtt heattenti
onofpolicymaker sandisnow
beingincorporatedintofuturepedestrianplanni
ng.

49
Iseeat r
emendousoppor tunit
yf ortheWal kYourCitypr oj
ect
.When I
attended Ci t
yCamp KansasCi ty,Ilearned aboutit
sf uture bi
ke share
program.Ican see how Wal k Your Cit
y would be benef i
cialand
compl ement aryt
oabi kes hareprogram.Orev enacars har
es ervi
ce,l
ike
ZipCar.Imagi neret
urningyourbi ketoast ati
onoryourcart oal otand
having t he Walk Your Ci ty wayfi
nding inf
orm you of t he nearest
opport unit
ieswit
hinwal ki
ngdistance.Thatwouldbecool.

There’
ssomet
hing i
nthecul
ture
Obviously,we‘ putsomet hingint hewat er’tof osteral lthi
scol l
abor at
ion
and par ti
cipat i
on,r i
ght?Fr om t he above exampl es,you c an see how
Ralei
gh’scul turei si
nfluencedbyt heopens ourcephi l
osophy. Myf avori
te
partaboutt hesest oriesisthattheyar eal lci
t i
zen- l
ed.Whi lealloft hese
arenotdi rectlyr el
ated toopengover nment ,thec haract
er i
sti
csoft he
peoplet hatl eadt heseevent sspeakt ot hec ult
ur et hatisembeddedi n
Ralei
gh.And t hat t
ranslates very easil
yt o citizen engagement and
parti
cipation, whichwe' l
lexplor
ei nthenextchapt er.

50
Chapter 3:Open government and open
data
Ralei
ghi sn’
tt hefirstci
tytopassanopengover nmentr esol
ut i
onandit
won’tbet hel ast
.However ,wi
thasol i
dopengov ernmentandopendat a
bluepri
ntt o executeagainst,Ralei
gh iscert
ainlymaki ng greatstr
ides.
Combine t hatwi tht he open cult
uret hatexi st
si n Ralei
gh,and I’m
confi
dentt hatRal eighwil
lsoonbeoneoft hel eadingciti
esint heopen
governmentmovement .

I
fyouwantt ogettheatt enti
onofanyel ectedof fi
cial
,evenift heydon’ t
under st
andopensource,justs aythemagi cwor ds:j
obc reat
ion.Whi leitis
alotofwor ktoexplai
nthepr inci
plesandval uesofopens ource,ther eis
noguar anteethatthelightbul bwi llgoof f
.Eveni fyouus ether ecipe
analogydescri
bed earli
er ,some f ol
kswi llsti
llnots ee the connect ion
betweenhavinganopensour cegover nmentdi rect
iveandhow i trelates
toec onomi
cdevelopment .Butwe’ llexpl
oremor eaboutj obcreat i
onand
i
nnovat i
oninChapter5.

I
nt hi
s chapter
,we’ l
ltake a look at what the ci
ty of Ral
eigh has
accompli
shedovert helasttwoyearsonbot htheopengover nmentand
opendat afront
s.I
’
m ver yexci
tedaboutthef ut
ure,butfir
st,l
et’
stakea
lookatwhatgotuswher ewear etoday.

How to get your ci ty t

o pass an open
governmentpol
icy43
OnFebr uary7,
2012,theRaleighCi t
yCouncilunanimouslypassedanOpen
Source Government Res oluti
on,pr omot i
ng the use of open s our
ce
soft
war eandopendat a.Ther esoluti
onincludeslanguagethatputsopen
sourcesoftwar
eont hesamepl ayingf i
eldaspr opri
etarysoftwar
einthe
procurementprocess.Italsoest abl
ishesanopendat ac at
alogtohouse
dataavail
ablefrom t
hecity.

Whi
le Ral
eigh i
sn’
tthe f
irst ci
tyt
o pass a pol
icy pr
omot
ing open

43 Adapted from 'How t o get your c

ityto pass an open gover
nment pol icy,'(c)2012
opensource.com, publ
is hed under a Cr eat
ive Commons At t
ributi
on-Shar eAli
ke 3.0
Unported l
icense,avai
lable athtt
p:/
/opensource.
com/
government/12/
2/how-get -
your-
cit
y-
pass-
open-government -poli
cy.

51
gover
nment
,itmaybethefi
rsttoprovi
deablueprintt
hatcanhel
pot
her
ci
ti
espas
stheirownopeni
nit
iat
ivesmorequi
ckly.

The bi ggestbar ri
ert ot hisismaki ng s ure el
ec ted offi
cial
sknow and
under standwhatt heopens our cephilosophyis.AndI ’m nottalki
ngabout
how s oftwareget smadeus ingt heopensour cedevel opmentmodelor
the open sour ce business orl i
cense structure.I ’
m talking aboutt he
fundament al
sofopen s ource:transparency,c oll
aboration,mer i
tocr
acy,
andr apidpr ototyping.Somet imespubl i
cpolicyc anlackevent hebas i
cs –
li
keshar i
ng.

Whent her esol ut

ionwaspas sedbytheRaleighCityCouncil
’sTechnology
and Communi cati
ons Commi tt
ee two weeks bef or
et he pol
icy was
offi
cial
lypas sed byt he f
ullcounci
l,open gover
nmentadvoc at
eswer e
excit
ed butwant ed tolearn more.They wanted to know aboutt he
processthatadvancedt heresolut
ionandhow ot hercit
iesc anrepl
icate
i
t.

I asked Counc i
lor Bonner Gaylor
d, chair of t he Technol
ogy and
Communi cati
onsCommi ttee,aboutthepr ocess.Iwant ed t
oknow what
madei tsuccessf
ulhere–andwhatchal l
engest heyf ac
ed.Inthespi
ri
tof
opens ource,Gaylor
dwashappyt os harethes tory.AndIhopehi stal
e
wil
lhelpyouadvocat ef
oropens ourc
ei nyourmuni cipalit
y.

Whydi
dRal
eighpur
sueanopengover
nmentpol
icy?

Ralei
gh is pursui
ng open s ource as an extension oft he coreideal
governmental structure of compl et
e t ransparency and openness.
Democ rat
icr epubli
cs,at t heir best,have al ways had open s our ce
paradigms att he core oft heir desi
gn.The or ganizat
ion char
tofa
democ rat
icrepubli
cis:Cit
izens,whoar eatthet op,hireelect
edof f
ici
als.

Elect
edof f
icialsthenhirestaf
ft or unever yt
hing.Inthisorgani
zati
onal
struc
ture,theci t
izensaretheboss ,andt hebosss houldbeabl etosee
everythi
ngt hathappenswi t
hintheor ganizati
on.Out si
deofobvious(yet
somet i
mes,notso obvi ous
)ar eas,the gover nmentshoul d be doing
everythi
ngitc antobeopenandt ransparent,provi
dingt heci
ti
zens(t
heir
bosses)wit
hasmuchi nf
ormati
onaspossi ble.

52
Whyshoul
dot
herci
ti
esdot
his?

Ot
herci
ti
esshoul
ddot
hisf
ormanyr
easonssuchas:

• Provi
ngtoi
tscit
izen-
bossest
hatiti
sdoi
ngi
tsj
obandwor
king
hardinr
esponsetothei
rneeds.
• Opening up data and processes because,you neverknow,
thoseci
ti
zen-bossesmaybeabl etodos omethi
ngcoolwithit
ormakegr eatsuggesti
ons.
• Openi
ngupgivesciti
zensas enseofowner
shipandwelcome.
Theyaremoreli
kelytobeengagedandsat is
fiedi
ftheyfeel
ownershi
pandpri
deint hatownershi
p.

Howdoesaci
tys
tar
t?

Justthrow i
toutther
e..
.Itdoesn’
tmat terifyouareanelec
ted of
fici
al,
cit
izen,orgover
nmentstaff
.Putar esol
uti
onont hetabl
eandseewher e
itgoesfrom t
here.

I
sbuy-
inf
rom t
heI
Tdepar
tmentr
equi
red?

Therer eal
ly needs t o be buy-i
nf rom the I
T departmenti n orderto
proceed.I ft hey ar en’
t on boar d,then therei sl i
ttl
el ikeli
hood of
substant i
alpr ogress.There ar etoo many scary ways tof rame open
source[ forpeopl ewhoar en’tfamil
iarwit
ht hewayi tworks].Ar medwith
technicalknowl edge and a desi ret o scuttl
et he initi
ative,any IT
depart mentcanqui ckl
yquas hanopensour ceinit
iat
ive.

Howdi
dyouexpl
ainwhatopensour
cei
stoel
ect
edof
fici
als?

Putitintosi
mpleterms.Agreatanal
ogyt hatwasthe‘A-
ha!’momentf or
one localoff
ici
alwas thatoft he cooki
er eci
pe.Everyone has seen
grandma’scooki
ereci
pethathasbeenpasseddownovert heyears.

Well,wouldyou rat
herhaveacooki eort hatcookiereci
pe?Obviousl
y,
you’
dr atherhave the r
ecipe so you can make yourown cooki
es,but
furt
her,youcantweakit,makeitbet t
er,addwalnuts.
.
.what
ever!

That
’swhatopennessi
sal
labout
.

53
 ***

Ral
eigh’
s open government resol
uti
on and
44
roadmap
You’d pr
obabl
yli
ket oseetheact
ualresol
uti
on t
hatCounci
lorGayl
ord
tal
kedabout–andtherear
enumeroussamplesontheweb.

I
fy ou’
r ethinkingaboutpr oposi
ngar esoluti
oniny ourownc ity
,pickone–
li
ket hisonef rom Raleigh–asast art
ing point,t
hen t weaki tbas ed on
whatyouunder st
andyourcommuni tyneeds. I
thelpst ohavear oadmap–
oratl eastaf ew miles
tonesmappi ngoutt henexts teps. Know wher eyou
wantt o go next.It
’sgreatt ogetar esoluti
on pass ed,buti fyoudon’ t
know wher eyouar egoing,thenitcanreall
yhindermaki ngt heresolut
ion
meani ngfulandhavi ngthedesiredimpact .

Needsomeexampl esforyourr
oadmap?I’
veal
soincl
udedthenexts
teps
thatCi
tyofRal
eighCIO,Gai
lRoper
,pr
esentedt
otheRalei
ghCit
yCounci
l.

OpenSour
ceGover
nmentResol
uton45
i

RESOLUTI
ONNO.
(201
1)

ARESOLUTIONINDI
CATI
NG THEINTENTOFTHECITYCOUNCI
LTO CREATE
AN OPEN GOVERNMENTBY ENCOURAGING THEUSEOFOPEN SOURCE
SYSTEMSANDENSURINGOPENACCESSTOPUBLI CDATA

WHEREAS,theCit
yofRaleighiscommittedt
ous i
ngt
echnol
ogyt
ofos
ter
open,
trans
parent
,andaccessi
blegover
nment;and

WHEREAS,byshari
ngdataf r
eel
y,theCit
yofRal
eigh seekstodevel
op
oppor
tuni
ti
es for economic development
, commer ce, i
ncreas
ed
i
nvest
mentandcivi
cengagement
;and

WHEREAS,t
he adopt
ion of open st
andar
ds i
mpr
oves t
rans
par
enc
y,
44 Adapted from 'How t o get your c
ityt o pass an open government policy,'(c)2012
opensource.com, publi
s hed under a Cr eati
ve Commons At tri
buti
on-Shar eAli
ke 3.0
Unported l
icense,avail
able athtt
p:/
/opensource.com/
government /
12/
2/how-get -
your-
cit
y-
pass-
open-government -poli
cy.
45 www.ralei
ghnc.gov/content/
CorNews/Document s/
OpenSourceSyst
emsResol ut
ion.pdf

54
accesst
opublici
nformat
ion,andimprovedcoordi
nat
ionandeffi
cienci
es
among organi
zat
ionsacrossthe pubi
c,non-
profi
tand pri
vat
es ectors;
and

WHEREAS,open source s
t andardsharnessesthe powerofdi st
ribut
ed
peerrevi
ew and t
ransparencyt ocreat
ehigh-qual
ity,secur
eand eas i
ly
i
ntegr
atedsoftwar
eatanac cel
erat
edpac eandlowercos t
;and

WHEREAS,t he Cit
yofRal ei
gh seekst o encour
age the i
dealsoftware
communitytodevelopsoft
wareapplicat
ionsandt ool
stocoll
ect,
organize
and shar
e publicdatain new and innovati
ve ways thatbenefi
tbot h
ci
ti
zensandgover nment;

NOW,THEREFORE,BEI
TRESOLVEDBYTHECI
TYCOUNCI
LOFTHECI
TYOF
RALEI
GH:

Section1.ThattheCit
yofRal ei
ghI nf
ormat i
onTec hnol
ogydepartmentwil
l
establi
sh an open s ystems pr ocurement pol i
cy that wil
linclude
specifi
cati
ons inf ut
ure Request sf or Proposals(RFP) t
o encourage
technologys ol
uti
onswi th an open source l
icensi
ng modelwhich st
ore
andexposepubl i
cdatausingindustry-st
andardandopenpr otocol
s.

Secti
on 2.The Ci
tyofRaleigh wil
lestabl
ish an open dat
a websit
e at
www.ralei
ghnc.
gov/
open t
hatwillserveasanopen dat acatal
og ofthe
dataavail
abl
efrom t
heCityofRalei
ghinopenf or
mat s.

eps46
Roadmapofnextst

1
. OpenDat
aNextSt
eps:St
affRespons
e
• Cont
inuet
ogai
nexecut
ives
pons
ors
hip
• Def
iner
esour
cer
equi
rement
s
• Est
abli
shgover
nancemodel
2. OpenDataPrepar
ati
on
• Est
abl
ishmentoft
hecat
alog
• Pol
icycreation f
oropen data(how wedet erminewhat
data can/will be publis
hed, pri
orit
izat
ion, for
mat
s,
i
nternalprocess,busi
nessowner
shi
p, et
c.)
46 htt
p:/
/www.ral
eighnc.
gov/
content
/Boar
dsCommi
ssi
ons/
Document
s/Technol
ogy
Communi
ca
ti
ons/
2012/
TC-Minutes-
201
20124.
doc

55
 • Cat
alogpr
oductsel
ect
ion
• Pr
ojecti
mpl
ement
ati
on
• Engagementwi
thRal
eigh’
sopendat
acommuni
ty
3. Opensource
• Creat
et he i
nternalprocur
ementpoli
cy foreval
uat
ion
andselect
ioncri
teri
aforopensour
cesoft
ware
• Cr
eateinvent
oryofpot
ent
ialopens
our
ces
oft
war
eand
pr
otocol
s
Cr
• eateframewor kforRal
eightopar t
ici
pat
easproducer
of open sour c
e sof t
war e (l
icensi
ng model
, code
reposi
tories,
etc.
)
4. Communi
tyParti
cipati
on:Taki
ngittothestreets
• Ci
ti
zen-
ledcommuni
ti
es
• Connect
ion bet
ween yout
h-devel
opmentpr
ogr
amsand
opengovernmentcommunity
• Connect
ion bet
ween entr
epreneur
ial communi
ty and
opengovernmentcommuni
ty
• I
mpor t
ance ofbr
oadband accessf
oranyoft
hist
o be
usef
ul

***

I
n Apr i
l2012,t
he Cityfoll
owed t he passing oft he open gover
nment
resol
utionbyal
locat
ing$50,000t owar
dt heopens ourcedatacatal
og.
47
I
n
away ,i
twasabol dmove,atleastthewayi twasdone. Itwasnecessar
yt o
ensuretheopendataportalwouldbecomear eal
it
y.

Two Ci t
y Counci
lor
s voted againstmaking the open dat
ai nit
iat
ive a
pri
or i
tyinthecouncilbudget.Fr
om myunder standing,i
twasn’tbecause
ofl ack ofsupportf or t
he ini
tiat
ive,i
twas i nst
ead the way itwas
presentedtothecouncil.

Typical
ly,the cit
y managerwi l
lpresentt he c
ouncilwith a budgett o
deliber
at e.I
nt hi
ssituati
on,member soft heCounc ili
nstruct
edt heCity
Manager t oincl
ude thisf unding i
nt he upcomi ng budget proposal
.
Essenti
ally,the Counciltol
dt he Ci
ty Managert hatthiswasa pr iori
ty
rathert han the ot
herway ar ound.From my exper i
ence,thistype of
47 htt
p:/
/www.ral
eighpubl
icr
ecor
d.or
g/news/
cit
y-counci
l/
201
2/04/
18/
cit
y-t
o-al
locat
e-50000-
for
-open-
source-dat
a/

56
pri
ori
ti
zati
onhadnothappenedatt heCounc i
ltabl
einoveradecade.I
t
was greattosee our el
ected of
fici
als bei
ng suppor
tiv
e ofsuch an
i
mpor t
antcomponentneededtomakeRal eighanopensourceci
ty.

An open source ci
tyt
akes shape:onl
ine tool
s
and data48
Open gov ernment scored anot her victory when t he City of Raleigh
announcedt heOpenRal eighiniti
ativeonMay1 1,2012.
49
OpenRal eighis
an onli
ner eposi
torywi t
h open dat a,web and mobi l
eappl i
cat
ions,and
li
nkst o part
ici
patorytool sand or ganizati
ons.It’
sal lpar tofRal eigh’
s
open sour ce str
ategy f ocusing on t ranspar
enc y,col l
aborati
on,and
i
mpr oved accesst oinf
or mation.It
’spr oofoftheongoi ng workf ort he
opensour ceresoluti
onthatt heRal eighCityCounc i
lunani mouslypas sed
i
nFebr uary2012.

Aspar toftheOpenRal eighannouncement,thecityincludedanonl ine

feedback sys
tem:My Ral eigh I
deas!It’
sa s ervi
ce the City uses to
coll
aboratewiththepubli
ctos ol
ici
tideasonf utur
epr oj
ectsandt opics.
The Cit
yf i
rstused the f
eedback plat
form to hel
p priori
ti
ze the data
cit
izensmightwantinan opendat aportaland tosolici
tinputfort he
opendat apol
icy.

Youc an’tgetmuchmor eopensour cethancol

laborativel
ycreat
ingyour
open dat a policy wit
h cit
izens and other stakeholders.Ci
ty staf
f
“engage[d] wi th citi
zen gr oups, youth devel opment pr ogr
ams,
entrepreneurs,andbusiness
est ocreat
eanopendat apoli
cy,
”accor
ding
totheOpenRal eighhomepage.50

Thecity’
sopensour cestrat
egyi sanongoingpar tnershipwit
hciti
zens.
We have seen,through t
he acti
onsofel ected off
ici
als,Ci
tystaff
,and
cit
izengroupsli
keCiti
zensAdvisoryCouncil
s,thatgatheri
ngcit
izeninput
ispartofRalei
gh’
sopensour cecult
ure.

The plat
form for Open Raleigh br
ings di
fferent softwar
e sol
uti
ons
toget
hert osol
vemul ti
ple pr
oblems.It
’sagr eatstrategyto make t
he
48 Adapted from ' An open source ci
tyt akesshape:Open,onl i
ne t
oolsand dat a,
'(c)2012
opensource.com, publ i
shed under a Cr eat
ive Commons At tri
buti
on- ShareAl
ike 3.0
Unported li
c ense,avail
able atht tp:
//
opensour ce.
com/gover
nment/1
2/6/open-source-
cit
y-
takes-
shape- open-onli
ne-tool
s-and-data.
49 http:
//
www. raleighnc.
gov/servi
ces/content/
CorNews/ Ar
ticl
es/
OpenRalei
gh.html
50 http:
//
www. raleighnc.
gov/open

57
plat
form moreusefuloverti
me,ratherthanwaiti
ngt ogetallthepi
eces
togetheratonce.Thisisthe r
elease ear
ly,r
elease of
ten par
tofopen
source.

Cit
ygovernmentsshouldn’
tworktowr i
tecodeors olvepr
oblemst hatare
alr
eadys ol
ved–it
’sredundant.Whyr einventthe wheelwhen you c an
subscri
betoaconstantstream ofupdatesordepl oyasoluti
onthathas
alr
eadysolved t
he technol
ogic
alchall
enge at-
hand?Rat her,Raleigh i
s
buil
ding a pl
atf
orm based on open st andar
ds and interchangeable
components.

Gover nmentI T department s ar

e depl oyi
ng soluti
ons thatalready fi
x
thes e pr oblems. In thiss pecifi
c exampl e,t he Cit
y of Ral ei
gh i s
succ essf ull
y piecing together di ff
er ent technologi
es and t aking a
strategi cappr oachtoc reat
eacompr ehensive,robustopendatas olut
ion.
Let’st ake a look att he technicalcomponent s ofOpen Ral eigh t
hat
include pr oducts fr
om ESRI , Soc rata, Granicus, GovDel
ivery, and
SeeCl ickFix.

ESRIandSocr
atapowert
heopendat
apl
atf
orm

The ESRIgeopor t
als erver is an open source productthat enables
discovery,use,and publi
shi ng ofmetadataforgeos pati
alres
our ces.I
t
all
owsc ust
om downl oadsofdat ausing amap- based i
nter
fac
e.ESRIi s
also used att he county and st at
el evel
,which all
ows for seamless
searching.Citi
zens,devel opers,and businesses can use al
mos t100
geospat i
all
ayersavail
ablet hroughthegeoportal.

The City ofRal eigh announced theirbet a deploymentofSoc rata51 i

n
March201 3.Soc rataisacompanyt hatpr ovi
desaSoci alDat aPlatfor m
andot heropendat asolut
ionsforgover nmentor ganizations.
Thes olution
i
sbei ngus edt ohouseot herdatas etsandt r
ans f
ormi nformationas sets
suchasgeospat ialdataandunst ructuredcont entintoconsumabl edat a.
Morei mpor tant
ly,ital
lowscit
izensandot heruser stocr eatevisuali
zation
ofthedat a.Thismakest hedat amor euser-fri
endlyandmor eus efult o
averagecitizenswhodon’ twantt oreadt abularrowsofdat a.

51 ht
tp:
//
www.midt
ownr
alei
ghnews.
com/
201
3/03/
16/
24743/
new-
ral
eigh-
websi
te-
to-
i
mprove.
html

58
Witht hebet alaunch,thedat aportalinc
ludesdat asetsforcri
me,fir
e
i
ncidents,some GI S dataforbuil
ding,communi ti
es,and parki
ng,some
fi
nancialdata,andsomeper mitdata.TheITstaffconti
nuestowor kwit
h
otherdepar tmentst o val
idat
edat aand to str
ategic
allyadd new dat
a
setsthatareimpor t
antt otheRal
eighcommuni ty.

Gr
ani
cuspower
sci
ti
zenengagement

The My Ralei
gh I deas! crowdsour ci
ng platf
orm us es the Gr ani
cus
Civi
cIdeaspr oduct.TheCityusedt heopendat apr oj
ectasat estcasefor
thetool.I tf
irs
tusedMyRal ei
ghIdeas!t osoli
citfeedbackanddet ermine
whichopendat asetswer eapr i
orityforthec ommuni ty.Af
terthepilot
,
thepl atform wasmadeavai l
ablef orotherCitydepar tmentstousef or
thei
rci t
izenengagementneeds .

GovDel
iver
ymakesemai
leasy

GovDel i
very hel ps gover nment agenci es c reat e effecti
ve di gi
t al
communi cations.Raleigh hasdepl oyed as uccessf ulemai lsubscri
ption
sol
ut i
oncal l
edMyRal eighSubs cri
ptionsthatal l
owsci ti
zenstoopt -i
nt o
emailupdat esf r
om Ci tydepar t
ment softhei rchoosi ng,li
keParks& Rec,
basedont heGovDel i
ver ysol
ution.From myownper s
onalexper i
ence,i t
hassavedmeat onofdupl i
cateemai lsfrom var iousCi t
ydepar tment s.
Cit
izens can c hoos ef r
om a var iety oftopi cs ranging from alertst o
news l
etter
s ,meet ing agendas t o newsr eleases ,eventi nformation to
cri
meal erts,andmuchmor e.

SeeCl
ickFi
xist
heOpen31
1sol
uti
on

SeeClickFixi
sawayf orcit
izenst oreportnon-emer gencyproblemstothe
cit
ys uch aspot hol
es,graffi
ti
,orbr oken sidewalks.Behind the sc
enes,
SeeClickFixusestheOpen31 1standardthatmanyci ti
esus etoday,whi
ch
isanef forttocoordi
nateas tandardized,open-access,read/
wr i
temodel
forrepor t
ingnon-emergencyissues.

Citi
zensnolongerneedt ohuntdownaphonenumberorgetbounced
aroundf r
om depart
menttodepartment
.Onc
etheyseeaproblem,t
hey
canc l
icktorepor
titthr
oughawebsiteoramobil
eappl
icat
ion;t
hecit
y

59
wil
lacknowl
edget
hei
ssueandchanneli
ttot
her
ightdepar
tmentt
oget
i
tfixed.

We’
lldoani
n-dept
hcasest
udyofhow SeeCl
ickFi
xcamet
oRal
eighl
ater
i
nthisc
hapt
er.

Thei
mpactofOpen Ral
eigh52
Now thatwe’ ver eviewedt het echnologicalcomponent spoweringOpen
Ralei
gh,including ESRI ,Soc r
at a,Granicus,GovDeliver y,and SeeClickFix,
l
et’sshif
tgear sands eehow t hiscombi nationoftool sishavingani mpac t
on Ralei
gh citizens.Because t he successfuluse ofopen t echnologyi n
governmenti snol ongeras i
mpl eone- ways tr
eet ,Ral eighisenhanc ing
theciti
zenexper i
ence,usi ngopeni deas,andpr ovi dingt hoseideaswi th
even greater s uppor t
.The combi nati
on oft hese t oolsis helpi
ng t o
provi
deRal eigh’sgover nmentwi that wo-wayplatfor m soluti
onthatmany
opengover nmentvi sionariest alkabout.

Athear t,i
t’
saboutcol l
aboration.TheCi t
yisf ol
lowing ar oadmap that
incl
udes cit
izen i
nputand f eedback.Forexampl e,civi
c geeks helped
definethefirstdr
aftoftheCity’sopendat apoli
cyt hr
ought heCivi
cIdeas
soluti
on.This means t he wor k gets done,ci t
izen needs ar e met,
governmentneedsar emet ,
andt hecostofdoingthewor kisreasonable.

Fost
eringcommuni tiesofpassi
on,likeCityCampRal ei
gh,isals
opartof
the st
rat egy.Cit
y st af
funderstands thatt he open sourc
e way i
sa
part
ner shipwit
hci t
izensthati
son-going.

The r elease earl

y,r elease often pr ocess means t hatpr oj
ectsi terate
quickly,and i t doesn’tt ake long t o go from i deas tor es ult
s.Thi s
encour agesact i
on,andkeepspar ti
cipantsfrom losinginterest.Itdidn’t
takel ongt ogett hef i
rstpiecesoft heopendat apor t
aldepl oyedaf ter
the open sour ce resolution waspass ed.Inf act,the ci
tyi mpl ement ed
SeeClickFixand t heESRIgeopor talbef oreaf ormalopen s our cepolicy
wasi npl ace.GovDel iveryandGr anicusCivicI
deaswer eupandr unni ng
withinthr eemont hsoft heres ol
utionbei ngpas sed.

52 Adapted from 'An open sour ce ci

tytakesshape:The i
mpactofOpen Raleigh,
'(c)2012
opensource.com, published under a Cr eati
ve Commons Att
ributi
on-ShareAl
ike 3.0
Unported li
cense,available atht tp:
//
opensource.
com/
gover
nment/1
2/7/
open-source-
cit
y-
takes
-shape- i
mpact-open-ral
ei gh.

60
Theopen sourcement al
itywasalreadypar
tofRalei
gh’sc ul
tur
e–even
befor
eagover nmentdi r
ecti
vewaspassed.Now t
hatthereisapoli
cy,a
roadmap,andanopendat aportal
,Ralei
ghi
sont hef
as t
-tr
acktobeing
theworl
d'sfi
rstopensourcecit
y.

Opendat
a:Meani
ngf
ul,vi
suali
nformat
ion
Oneoft hemosti mpor t
antpar t
sofRal eigh’sopendat ainiti
ati
vei sthat
i
t’snotjustaboutt hedat a.TheCitystaffwor ki
ngont hedat apol i
cyand
the open dat a portalhave a f ulland compl ete understanding that
presenting raw datas ets only gets you halfway to your open dat a
mi s
sion.Withoutvisuali
zationtoolsorawayf ortheaver ageper sont o
under st
and whatt he datameans ,the j
ob isonl yhalfdone.Theyal so
under st
and thatprovidingt heri
ghtdat as etsc anhelps purinnovation
andc reatenew businesses–whichi swhyt heyar espendingal otoft i
me
tryi
ngt ounderstandwhi chdataismosti mpor tanttoourcommuni ty.

Iwantedtogetabetterunder st
andingofhow t hecit
yi sdef i
ningopen
dataandwhatthefutur
ehol dsforRaleigh’
sopendat aplat f
orm.Ias ked
Jas
on Hare,Open Data Program Manager f r
om t he Ci t
y of Raleigh
I
nformati
onTechnol
ogydepar tment,tosharehisthought s.Hepr ovi
ded
somegreati
nsi
ghtforRalei
gh’sup-and-comingopendat ainiti
ati
ve.

Howdoyoudef
ineopendat
a?

Opendat aist heinf ormationi nfrastructur eoft heCi tyofRal eigh.When

wes ay"dat aasi nfrastructure"wear er ef erri
ngt oopendat a.Opendat a,
opengover nment ,andt hefreedom ofi nf or
mat ionlawsar erelatedand
have over l
ap,butar e notthe s ame t hi ng.Open dat af oll
owsc ul
t ur
al,
ethical
,andt ec hnicalrules.Ultimat el
y,opendat ai sdefinedasdat aset s
created byagover nmentent ityand madeavai labl
et ot hepubl ic.The
datas etst hatar er eleased f ollow the Open Knowl edge Foundat i
on
(OKFN)gui delinest hatgover nt hemachi ner eadabi l
it
y,s t
ructuralissues,
andet hicalissuesoft hedat ar eleased.Ourr esoluti
oni sbas ed ont he
OKFNgui deli
nes.

Whyi
siti
mpor
tantt
hatt
heci
tyofRal
eighhi
redanopendat
amanager
?

The Ci
tyofRal
eigh want
ed an open dat
amanagerto ensur
ethatthe
opendatapr
ogram i
sdevelopedinawayt hati
ssus
tai
nabl
e,tr
ans
parent
,

61
and accessi
ble.Havi
ng an open dat
a managerdemonstratesRalei
gh's
commi tmentt othe idea of"open"inregards t
o dat
a- dri
ven pol
icy
developmentandcommuni tyengagement.

Whati
syourvi
sionf
orRal
eigh'
sopendat
apl
atf
orm?

Iam devel opi ngawhi tepaperont hatt opi

c.Thes hortans weri sopen
dat aisthes tartofanaccul t
ur at
ionpr ocessleadi ngt oat ransparentand
collaborati
ve r elat
ionship between ci tygover nmentand ci t
izens.Open
dat aisaneces sarybutnots uffi
cientefforti
nt hatac cul
tur at
ionpr ocess.
Open Ral eigh, as a br and,wi ll emphasize dat a acc essibi
li
ty and
information usabi lit
y.We ar e not t ying our selves to a par ticul
ar
technology .Wear ebuildingani nf r
as t
ructur
eus ings everaltechnol ogi
es
todel i
verinf ormationthatist henar rati
veoft heci t
y.

What'st
hedif
ferenc
ebetweenprovidi
nganopendat
asetandpr
ovi
ding
usef
ulopendatawit
hvi
sual
izat
ion?

Ther
ei snotranspar
encywi thoutdat
ausabi li
ty.Tabul
arrowsofnumber s
and machinereadablef or
mat sofGISs hapedat aand CSV'sofbudget
number saregoingtobet hereforthoset hatwantt oanalyzet heraw
datathemselves.Fort he other99% oft he r estofus ,there wi
llbe
vi
suali
zati
onsthatexplainthenumbers.

HowcanRal
eighbeal
eaderi
ntheopendat
aspace?

Webui ldont hewor koft hepioneersoft heopendat acommuni tyand

takelessonsl earned.Ihaves pokenwi thmostoft heleaderswithi
nthe
open data communi t
y,with severalciti
zen groupswithi
n Ralei
gh,and
mos toft he cit
ygover nmentl eaders.We wi l
ladheret othe emergi
ng
globaldatastandar dandt heethicalstandar
dsofopendat aasputf or
th
byOKFN.

Wear edevel opingourownpr inci

plesthatmatcht hec ultureofourc ity.
OpenRal eighwi llbedifferentthanmostNor thAmer icanef f
orts.Wear e
emphasizingengagementandi nteract
ivi
tywithourdat a.Itisimportant
tomet hatt heci t
izenexper i
enceisvisual
lycompel l
ingandi nformati
ve.
Healt
h,c ulture,law,economi cs,sci
ence,and educ at
ion wi l
lallbeopen
topi
cs.Anyt hi ng thataffect
st he quali
tyoflife ofourci ti
zenswi l
lbe

62
r
efl
ect
edi
nthedat
awes
har
ethr
oughOpenRal
eigh.

None ofthishappensover ni
ght.We star
twi ththe i
nfr
ast
ruct
ure and
bui
ldout.Thi
swillbeaniterat
iveexper
ience.Theopendatamanagerwil
l
notbethef i
nalarbi
trat
orofwhatOpenRal eighbecomes.I
twil
lbet he
ci
ti
zensandCityworkingtogetheri
ngovernanceoverOpenRalei
gh.

Myjob i
stof
aci
li
tat
eand maket
heexper
ienceaposi
ti
veonef
orour
ci
ti
zens
.

Thei
nfl
uenceand i
mpactofSeeCl
ickFi
x
See.Cl
ick.Andf
ixyourcit
ypr obl
em.I
t’
saseasyas1-
2-3.Oneofthefi
rst
ci
ti
zenengagementtechnologi
esdepl
oyedi
nRalei
ghwasSeeCli
ckFi
x.

SeeClickFi
xi sawayf orciti
zenst or epor tnon-emer gencypr oblemstot he
cit
ys uchaspot holes,graff
iti
,orbr okensidewal ks.Itusest heOpen31 1
standardt hatcoordinatesast andar dized,open- acc ess,
read/ wri
temodel
forrepor ti
ng non-emer gencyi ssues.I ’m afr equentSeeCl i
ckFi
x user.I
reportissuesusingt hemobi leappl icationandt hewebsi te.I’
vehadgr eat
successwi ththetoolingettingt hosei ssuesres olvedi nat i
mel ymanner .

I
fy ou’
reas oft
war edeveloper,thi
nkaboutSeeCli
ckFi
xasabugr eporting
toolforcivi
cinfr
astructure.Let’
stakealookathow SeeCli
ckFi
xbelieves
i
nt hepoweroft echnologyandcommuni ty,
thenexplor
ehow SeeCl
ickFix
wasbr oughttoRal ei
gh.First,anint
ervi
ew withSeeCli
ckFi
xCEO andco-
f
ounder ,BenBerkowitz.

Fi
xingyourcommuni
tyonecl
ickatat
ime53

Nomat t
erwher eyouli
veorhow bi gyourcommuni tyis,
youprobablysee
afew thingsthatcoul
dbei mpr oved.Maybeyoudon'tknow whot ocallor
emai l
.Perhapsyou think someone el s
e wil
lreportit(oralr
eadyhas) .
Those unknowns go away wi th a simpletechnol
ogy that el
iminates
anxietyandempower sever ydaycit
izenstoimprovethei
rcommuni t
y.

The concept i
s si
mpl
e.You see a pr
obl
em,t
hen c
heck t
he mobi
le
53 Adapted f
rom 'Fi
xing your communit
y one cli
ck at a time,'(c)2011opensource.
com,
publi
shed under a Creati
ve Commons At tri
buti
on-Shar eAli
ke 3.0 Unpor
ted license,
avai
labl
e at ht tp:/
/opensource.
com/
gover
nment /11
/10/
fixing-your
-communit
y-one-cl
ick-
ti
me.

63
appli
cati
onorwebsi t
et oreportitorseeifsomeoneelsehasr eport
edit.
Yourlocalgovernmentr evi
ewst hereporttoseeifi
tcanbef ixedorifi
t's
alr
eady on theirt o-
do li
st.SeeClic
kFixremovest he barr
iersforlocal
governments,maki ngiteasytosetupapr oblem-r
epor t
ingplatf
ormfor
today'
sresource-constr
ainedmuni ci
pali
ti
es.

I
'vebeenaSeeCl ickFi
xus ersinceJanuar y2011.Wi t
hmor ethan40i ssues
reportedundermybel t
,I’
veearnedt heCi t
yFi xerbadge.Oneoft hebest
ways t hatI'
ve seen SeeCl i
ckFi
x desc ribed isi n an arti
cle by Bonner
Gaylordc aled,They shoul
l df i
xt hat .
54
It highl
ightst he essence of
SeeCli
ckFix:cit
izenempower ment .IincludedGayl ord’
sposti nthenext
secti
ont ohelpexpl ai
nhow SeeCl i
ckFixwasbr oughtt oRalei
gh.

SeeCli
ckFix beli
eves int he power of technology and communi ty.It
focus
esonf ourprinci
plest hatj
usthappent ocoinci
dewi ththepi
llarsof
theopen s ourceway:t ransparency,coll
abor at
ion,scal
e,and eff
iciency.
The transparency of r eporti
ng issues leads to partici
pati
on,whi ch
ult
imatelymakest hecommuni tybetter.

Igotachancet ocat c
hupwithBenBer kowit
z,SeeClickFi
xCEO andco-
founder.Iasked hi
m aboutt
herol
et hatSeeCl i
ckFi
xpl aysi
ntheopen
governmentmovementandhowithelpss t
rengthencommuni t
ies
.

Tel
lushowSeeCl
ickFi
xwor
ks.

Ac onc erned citi

zens eesani ssuei ntheirc ommuni tyand r epor tsitt o
SeeCl ickFixt hrough ourmai n site,through ourmobi le appl i
cations,or
throughaSeeCl i
ckFixwi dgetonal ocalgovernment ,medi a,orcommuni ty
group webs i
t e.When a r epor ti ss ubmi tt
ed,SeeCl ickFix displays t he
repor tpubl i
cly and al er t
s peopl ei nt he area such asnei ghbor s and
peopl e whoc an fi
xt he pr oblem.Thi sisdone t hr
ough ourwat ch ar ea
featur et hati savailablet oever yone.Gover nment srec eivenot i
fications
whent heysignupf orourser vicesorwhenaci tizencreatesawat char ea
on t hei r behalfusi ng a publ i
c emai laddr ess.Medi a out l
etsr eceive
notifications about i ssues i n t heir ar ea when t hey par tner wi th
SeeCl ickFixt o hel p br oadcastci tizen concer ns toal argeraudi ence.
Communi tygr oupsandot herci tizensar enot if
iedtohel ps tayconnect ed
tot hecommuni ty,andt oeachot her .Thef i
xingofi ssuess ubmi ttedt o
SeeCl ickFixi s done by any one oft hese gr oups orby col l
abor ation
54ht
tp:
//
sout
hwes
tral
eigh.
com/
201
1/04/
they-
shoul
d-f
ix-
that
/

64
bet
weens
omeoral
l.

How does SeeCl

ickFi
xfi
tint
othe open gover
nment and gov 2.
0
movement
?

SeeCl
ickFi
xi sthe fi
rstand larges
topen governmentc ommunityever ,
wit
h 70 government c l
ient
s,800 medi a part
ners,and thousands of
communi t
iesacrosssixcont
inentspar
tici
pati
ng.Eachday,wehel pbr i
ng
opengover nmenttomor eciti
zensandmor elocalgover
nment sthrough
ourpl
atform.

What
'smor
eimpor
tant
,tr
ans
par
enc
yorpar
tici
pat
ion?

Bot h ar e equall
yi mportantt o SeeCli
ckFi x.The transparenc y ofour
platform al lows more peopl eto participatei nthe pr ocess because
informat ion is made availableto ever yone.Gover nment s and other
organi zationsworkbestwhent heiract
ionsanddec isi
onsar ec arr
iedout
inpubl ic.Citi
zenswhot aket heti
met or epor tevenmi norissuesandsee
them f i
xed arel i
kel
ytogetmor eengaged i ntheirlocalcommuni t
ies.
Trans parenc yandparti
cipationgohand-in- handwithSeeCl i
ckFix.

What
'syourr
olei
nbei
ngacommuni
tybui
lder
?

SeeCli
ckFixpr ovidest het echnol ogy,butit’
st hehar d wor kofengaged
communi ti
es t hatmake ourpl atfor
m a power fult oolf orcommuni t
y
buil
dingandor ganizi
ng. Wer ecentlyaddeds everalcommuni t
ymanager s
to our team t o provide s uppor tt o nei
ghbor hood associ ati
ons and
communi ty groups ar ound t he wor ld usi
ng SeeCl i
ckFix.Citizens have
used SeeCli
c kFixtodoever ything from cl
eaningup bl ightt oi nstal
li
ng
more bike r acks .SeeClickFi x has even hel ped br i
ng a f ull-
servi
ce
supermarkett oacommuni tyt hatwasoncec onsi
dereda' f
ooddeser t.
'

Howcansomeonebr
ingSeeCl
ickFi
xtot
hei
rci
ty?

Cit
izenscan star
tbyr eporti
ng i
ssuesand encour agingt hei
rneighbors
and fri
endstodot hesame.I ftheirlocalgovernmentdoesnotr ecei
ve
al
ertsaboutissuesr eport
edt oSeeClickFi
x,t
heyc ansi gnupt hei
rmayor ,
ci
tymanager ,orpubl i
cwor ksdepartmentbyc reatingwat chareasus i
ng
publicemai
laddr essesforeachoffi
cialordepartment .Cit
izenscanshare

65
theirissueswi t
h each otherand advocat eforthe resolution ofiss
ues
withintheircommuni t
y.SeeClickFi
xusershaveatt endedc itymeet i
ngsto
discussorevendemonst r
atet hebenefit
sofusingourpl atformi nthei
r
communi t
y.Peoplecangett heirlocalmediaoutletsinvolvedbyaski ng
them toi mplementourt extandmapwi dgetsandr eportoni s
suesbeing
reportedwi t
hinthecommuni ty, gi
vingci
ti
zensagr eatervoice.

***

“
Theyshoul
dfi
xthat
”byBonnerGayl
ord55

How manyt imeshaveyous ai

dthattoyour
selfi
ny ournei
ghbor
hood?
Pas
sing byt hatl
eaning s
treetsi
gn,br
oken s
idewal
k,pil
eoftrash,pot
hol
e,gr
af f
iti
,orbrokenstr
eetli
ght
.Whatdi
dyoudonext ?

Didyouexpendt heener
gytostartdownament alr
oadthinking,“OK,it’
s
notafederali
ssue,maybeIc oul
dcalltheDepart
mentofTrans por
tation?
OrshouldIcallthecounty?No,t
hisisprobabl
ytheci
tygovernment .Yep,
that
’si
t…It
hink.”

Seedsofdoubtar
esownasy
ouconsi
dernextst
eps…

• Whodoyouact
ual
lycal
l?
• Whatar
ethechancesyouar
egoi
ngt
ogett
other
ightper
son?
• How manyvoi
cemai
lsar
eyougoi
ngt
ohavet
otr
adebackand
for
thover
?
• Howmanydaysi
nor
dert
oac
tual
lyconnect
?
• Onceyoudofindtheri
ghtperson,whatar
ethechancest
heywi
ll
cl
earl
yunder
standyourconcern?
• Eveni ft
heydounderst
andtheconc
ern,whati
ftheyimmediatel
y
spil
ltheircof
feeaft
eryourconver
sati
on and f
orgetaboutyou
forever?
• Whati
ftheyqui
tthataf
ter
noon?
• How i
nthewor
ldwi
llanyonebeac
count
abl
eforcor
rec
tingt
his
probl
em?

Kudosi
fyoucar
eaboutyourcommuni
tyenought
ohaveevent
hought
55 "They s
houl
dfi
xt hat,
"(c)2011BonnerGaylor
d,repri
nted wi
th per
missi
on,avai
labl
e at
http:
//
sout
hwes
tral
eigh.
com/2011
/04/
they-
shoul
d-f
ix-
that/
.

66
thi
sfar.
It’
sdr ai
ningtothi
nkabout,soifyouareli
keme, y
oudecidethatit
wouldbef areasiertoj
ustli
vewiththepr obl
em.Youthenmakeament al
notetoaddt histoyourannualt
axs easonrantt
hatyoursigni
fi
cantot
her
enj
oys.

Guesswhat
?

Youdon’thavet ogodownthatmentalr
oad.Ther
eisnow anew r
oadt
hat
youcant ake.I
t’
scall
edSeeCl
ickFi
xanditanswersorr
endersmootal
lof
thei
ssuesabov e.

SeeCli
ckFi
xallowsyoutoanonymousl
yrepor
taniss
uethatwil
lthenbe
postedonawebpagef orallt
oseeandemailedt
otheappropr
iat
estaf
f
memberwi thi
nyourgover
nment.

Youdon’ thavet of
indt herightper
son.Youdon’thavet owai tunt i
lthat
personisatt heirdesk.Youdon’thavet oworryabouthow c learl
yyour
mes sagewasr eceived.Youdon’thavetoworryi fyouwi llbef orgotten
andyoudon’ thavet owor r
yaboutaccountabi
li
ty.Your epor ti
t,andyour
governmenthasmadeacommi t
menttoopenlyr espond,f oll
ow up,and
behel daccountabl
e.

Checkitout.The“theyshoul
dfi
xt hat
”roadj
ustgotbypassed.Seehow
easyi
tisforyoursel
f.
***

How SeeCl
ickFi
xcamet
oRal
eigh

Withthefi
rstproposaltodeploySeeCli
ckFixi
nRaleighcamer esi
stance
and bl
ank st
aresatt he Ci
ty Counci
ltable.Event
uall
y,the Ci
ty would
unani
mouslybri
ngt heSeeCl
ickFi
xplatf
ormi n.

Again, City Council

or Bonner Gayl ord was a c hampion for open
government .Hewasi nstrument ali nbri
ngingSeeCl i
ckFi
xt oRalei
gh.At
fi
rst,hi
si deawasmetwi thr eluctancefrom councilandstaffaboutthe
program.T o prove i
twoul d wor k,he launched SeeCli
ckFixin hi
sown
dist
rict
.Af t
eras uccessf
ulpi lotpr ogr
am,hewor kedwi t
hal ocalmedia
partner,WRAL,tofunditscity-widedepl oyment.
56

56 ht
tp:
//
seecl
ickf
ix.
blogspot
.com/
201
2_08_01
_ar
chi
ve.
html

67
Afterpr esent
ingthes uccessoft hepi
lotprogr
am i
nhisdistri
ct,Gayl
ord
hadf ullsupportoftheCounci ltodeploytheappl
icat
ionacrosst heci
ty.
SeeClickFi
x was launched inJ anuar
y 2011by WRAL and continues t
o
enhanc etheciti
zenexper i
ence.

An open pl
atf
orm f
ort
hef
uture
I
n201 2,Ral ei
ghmadest ridesinadvanci ngopengover nmentand open
dat a.Itstar t
ed byadopt i
ng apol i
cyt hatf ormalized theexi sti
ngopen
sour ceculture. Ci
ti
zenscannow vi sitOpenRal eighast hei
rs tarti
ngpoi nt
foropendat a,opensour ceapplications,and wayst ogeti nvolved.The
technicalf oundationforanopens our cecityhasbeenc onstructed.The
plumbi ngf orgover nmentasapl atform hasbeeni nst
alledbyt heRal eigh
informationt echnologyt eam.Combi netheseef fortswiththei ngredients
ofa suppor t
ive,parti
cipat or
yciti
zen cul t
ur e,and the oppor tunit
iest o
takeopengover nmentt ot henextlevelhaveneverbeenhi gher .

68
Chapter 4: Supporti ng user groups,
conferences,and events
I
nChapt er2,wet al
ked abouts omeoft heuserc ommuni ti
est hathelp
createthecul tureinRaleighsuchasCi t
yCampRal eigh,
TriangleWi ki
,and
SPARKcon. Therear emanyot herusergroupst hroughoutRaleighandt he
Triangler egion thatfocuson sof twar
e dev elopmentl anguages,open
sour ces oftware,open sour ce communi ti
es,and ot her technologi
es
relatedtowebandmobi ledevelopment.

Af ew us ergr oupsthathavebeenact iveforanumberofyear si

nclude
Tri
LUG( TriangleLi
nuxUs erGr oup),Tri
DUG (Tri
angleDr upalUs erGroup)
,
Tri
JUG ( TriangleJava UserGr oup),and othergr oups ar ound Android
development ,soci
almedi a,and languages,li
keRubyonRai lsand PHP.
Thesegr oupsar eallsel
f-for
mingandoper ateindi
vidually.Somegr oups
aremor ef ormalwhi l
eothersar everycasual.Thec ommonal it
ybetween
eachgr oupi sthattheyarepassionat eabouttheiri
nterests.

FourwaysRal
eighsupportsusergroups
Theusergr oupst hatmeetinRal eigharefortunatetohaveas upporti
ve
businessand gover nmentcommuni t
y,asI’
m sur emanyot hercit
iesdo.
While each group has diff
er entneeds,t here areseveralways that
businessesandot herorganizationsar ehelpingout.Let’
stakeal ookat
fourwaysus ergroupsaresuppor tedbytheircommuni ty.

1
)Space:Fi
ndi
ngapl
acet
omeet

Mos tusergr oupsmeeton a weekl y,monthl

y,orquart er
lybasi
s.And
beforetheycan gat her
,theyneed a placeto meet.Theirneedsvary.
Sometimest heyneedameet ingr oom wit
haudioandvi sualequi
pment.
Othertimes,t heyjustneedat ableands omec hai
rsinar oom.Andf or
somegr oups,at ableinacoff
ees hoporar est
aurantwithWi Fiwi
llmeet
thei
rneeds.

Regar
dless ofwhata usergr oup'sspac e needsar e,there ar
e many
companies,rest
aurant
s,and otheror ganizati
ons t
hatwi llmake thei
r
meeti
ngr ooms,lar
get abl
es,and otherspac esavai
lablefortheseuser

69
groups.Somet i
mes ,the meeti
ng space comeswi th extra perks
.Some
sponsori
ng compani esand organizationsprovi
de food and beverages.
Some restaurantswi l
leven give discounts
,provi
de spec i
almenus ,or
i
ncludefreefoodf orgroupswhobr i
ngac rowd.Supporti
veor gani
zati
ons
are,manytimes,justhappytohavef olksuti
li
zethei
rs pac
e.

Thi
sisthetypeofs upportthathelpsourusercommuniti
esthr
ive.And
now thatthey have a pl
acet o meet,they’
l
lneed contentf
or thei
r
meeti
ngs.

2)Speaker
s:Fi
ndi
ngexper
tsf
orpr
esent
ati
ons

Usergroupsarepret
tygoodaboutcomingupwiththei
rownagendasf or
thei
rmeet i
ngsandmeet-ups.However
,someti
mesanexper tspeakeris
neededorthegroupwantstocross
-pol
li
nat
eideasandtopi
cs.

The Ralei
gh communi tyis good aboutpr ovidi
ng speakerst o vari
ous
meet-upsanddi ff
erentevent s.Expert
sar ewil
li
ngtogiveupt hei
rt i
met o
speaktovar iousgroupsand shar etheirexperti
se.Throughmyt ravels
andfrom whatI ’
veseenonl ine,othercommuni ti
esalsoexcelatbr i
ngi ng
top-
notchs peakerstotheirmeet -
ups.Everycommuni tyshouldleverage
thei
rspeakingassetsandst ar ttoshareasmuc hknowledgeaspos sible.

I
’vebeent oTri
DUG meet -upswher elocalDrupalshopshavesentt heir
searchengi
neoptimizati
on( SEO)expertstogiveapr esentati
on.Tr
iLUG,
whosemont hl
ymeet -upsar ehosted atRed Hat,bring i
n expertswho
keepupwi t
hthelatesttrendsinLinux,ontopicssuchass ecuri
tyornew
feat
ures.

I
naddi tiont oprovi
dings peaker
sf rom theirownor gani
zati
ons,members
oft he Triangl
e businesscommuni t yar e al
so greataboutt appi
ng i
nto
theirnet workson behal fofusergr oups.Ifsour ce matt
erexpertsare
travel
ingi nfrom outoftownandt het imingwor ksout ,
sometimesthey’
l
l
attendmeet -
upsandof tenthey’
llpres entonat opic.

ForRalei
ghi npart
icul
ar,it’seasytof
inds peaker sonavar i
etyoft opi
cs
becauseofourproximityt othreewor
ld-
classuni versit
ies
.Nor thCaroli
na
Stat
eUni versi
tyi
si n Raleigh whi
let
heUni versityofNor th Carol
inaat
ChapelHillandDukeUni ver s
ityar
ecl
ose-by,withint heTriangle.Withall

70
thoseprof
essor
sandPhDsnearby,i
tcanbeeasiert
hanyouthinktofi
nd
anexpertonwhatevert
opi
cisneeded.Mostcommunit
ieshaveacces
sto
simil
art
alent
.

3)Pr
omot
ion:Spr
eadi
ngt
hewor
daboutusergr
oupsandevent
s

Themar keting speciali

stsand soci almedi aexper tsint heRal eigh and
Triangl ear easar ever ysuppor t
iveoft heus ergr oup c ommuni t
iesand
help outbypr omot ing events.Soci almedi ahaspr ovi
ded aboostand
madei teas iertopr omot eus ergr oupact ivi
ties.Butt her ealaccel erator
iswhendi fferentor ganizat
ions,i
nc ludingloc almedi a,pi
tc hi ntopr omot e
the di fferentevent sand meet -
upshappeni ng int he ar ea.Event sget
post ed i n onl i
ne communi ty calendar s,shar ed on s oci almedi a,and
articles and bl og post s are wr i
t t
en by r eporters and var i
ous l oc al
blogger s,r espectively–both bef or e and af t
er event s .And i t’
st he
storyt ell
ingt hathappensaf terevent st hatcont ri
butet ot heover allstor y
ofRal eigh’ sopensour ceculture.

Spreading the word aboutusergroup events and happenings isnot

li
mitedt osupportfrom thebusi
nesscommuni ty.It’
snotuncommonf or
usergr oupsto supporteach ot
her.Well
-organized eventcoordinat
ors
wil
lreachoutt ootherusergroupsthatmaybei nt eres
tedintheirevent
.
Thisty
peofi n-net
wor ksuppor
tisoneofthethingst hatst
rengthensuser
communi ti
es.

Andi ts pr
eadsevenf urt
hert hroughoutt hec ommuni t
y.Thes upport/
buy
local movement doesn’ tjust appl yt os mal l busi
nesses and l ocal
agricult
ure anymor e–it’
sbeen al ong-st
anding t radit
ion i
n manyc i
ti
es
andt ownst os upportlocalusergr oups.I
nf act ,onecouldarguet hatthe
suppor tlocal trend may have s ome of i t’sr ootsin open sour ce
communi t
ies.Becausethebusi nesscommuni tyhasbeens os upport
iveof
thedi ff
erentusergr oups,it
’saneasychoi cef orus ergroupmember sto
reciprocat
et hatmindsetandact i
on.

4)Money:Get
tingf
inanc
ialcont
ribut
ionsands
ponsor
shi
ps

Ralei
ghi sbl
essedtohavesomanysuccessfult
ec hnol
ogycompaniesand
otherbus i
nessesthataresuppor
tive ofthe vari
oususergroupsand
events.Gett
ingthi
ssupporti
snoteasy,butwhent heeventmatchesthe

71
open sour
ce and t
echnol
ogy mi
ssi
ons of l
ocal or
gani
zat
ions, t
he
sponsor
shi
psaddup.

WhenCi tyCampRal ei
ghwasput t
ingtogethersponsorshipoppor t
unit
ies,
theplanningcommi tt
eewasabl etogatherthef i
nanci
als upporttohosta
frugal
,y et successfulevent two yearsi n ar ow.It mat ched gi
ving
opportuniti
eswi thappr opr
iat
esupportlevelsandtargetedor gani
zati
ons
thatfi
tthemi ssionoft heevent.

Anew movementt hatstartedin201 2cal

ledInnovat eRaleigh,whi chwe’l
l
look ati n mor e detailin Chapter5,ai ms t o gathermoment um and
awar enessar oundRal ei
gh’sinnovati
veefforts
. Var i
ousstakehol dersfr
om
thebusi nessc ommuni t
y,educationinsti
tut
ions ,andot heror ganizat
ions
quicklygather edar oundtheef fort
.Consequent ly,fi
nancialsuppor tfr
om
theseor ganizati
onshel pedt ohostasuccess fuleventt hatwel comed1 75
communi t
yandbusi nessleadersdur i
ngahal f
-dayi nnovations ummi t
.

A signature, open source t

echnol
ogy
conference
Whi l
e Ralei
gh doesn’
thave a signat ure open source confer
ence,li
ke
PortlandhasOSCON,ourcommuni tyiseagert ohostaneventt hatfit
s
with ourcultur
e,orgr ow an exi
sting eventr ighthere athome.Wi t
h
Raleigh’
sconventi
on centerboasting mor et hat32,000 squarefeetof
spaceand20meet ingrooms,therei splentyofavai l
abili
tyf
orhostinga
top-quali
ty,
annualopensourcetechnol ogyconference.
57

Ralei
gh hos t
ed the WWW201 0 Conf
erence (W3C)i n Apri
l201 0that
broughttogetheropen source,open standards,and open government
l
eadersf r
om al loverthe world.One oft he feat
ured panel
si nvol
ved
advocat
est al
kingaboutopengovernmentandt hewor l
dwideweb.

Theopeni ng ceremonyofWWW201 0incl

uded aplenarypanel,
“Open Gover nment and t he Wor l
d Wi de Web, ” off
eri
ng
perspecti
vesf rom both sidesoft he Atl
anti
con t he move t
o
makedat amor eopenandaccessi bleontheWeb( data.
govand
data.
gov.uk)
.Thepanelf eaturesinventoroftheWor l
dWi deWeb,
Sir Ti
m Ber ner s-
Lee;Ar chivi
st of the United Stat
es ,Davi
d
Ferri
ero;ProfessorJamesHendl erofRPI ,whowi l
lmoder at
ethe
57 ht
tp:
//
www.
ral
eighconvent
ion.
com/
about
/faci
li
ti
es/
meet
ing-
rooms

72
 discussion;UNCpr ofessorandDi r
ectorofiBibl
io.
org,PaulJones
;
Andr ew McLaughli
n,Deput yU.S.ChiefTechnologyOf f
icerinthe
ExecutiveOf f
iceofthePr esident;andUniversit
yofSout hampton
ProfessorNigelShadbol t ,Direct
oroft heWebSci enceTr ustand
oftheWebFoundat i
on.58

Whenyou l ookatt hecompani est hatspons or ed theW3C event,you’l

l
noticethet ypicalweb- r
elat
edt echnologygiant sthatyou’dexpect.Butif
yout akeac l
os erlook,you’
llseet helocalbusi nesscommuni tyst
eppi ng
up and sponsor ing the WWW201 0 Confer enc e.Lulu.
com,iCont act
,
LocalTechWi re,WRAL,Ral eigh Economi c Devel opment,Red Hat ,and
others.It’
st hist ype ofsuppor tf r
om localbus inessesthatwil
lmake
futureevent sinRal ei
ghsuccessful.

Host
ing aFOSS f
airt
heopen sourceway
TheOf ficeofInfor
mationTechnologyatNor t
hCarolinaStat
eUni versi
ty,
in cooperat
ion wit
h Red Hat,cr
eat ed theNCSU Open SourceInitiati
ve.
Since2009,aspar toft hei
rsuppor tfortheopens ourcecommuni ty,NC
Statehashost edanannualopensour ce-
focusedeventcall
edtheFOSS
Fair.I
ntheopensour cewor l
d,wer efertofreeandopens ourcesoftware
asFOSS.

TheFOSSFai ri
sanunconferences t
yleeventsi
milartoBarCamp. Thi
nkof
the FOSS Fair as a s pecial
ized BarCamp for open s our
ce. The
present
ati
onsar e dr
iven and deli
vered bythe parti
ci
pants.Anyt opi
c
rel
atedtofreeandopensour cesoftwarecanbepr esent
ed.

This eventbrings toget her open sour ce advocates inav eryc asual
setti
ng,allowi
ng par ti
cipatestos haret hei
rknowl edge and passion.I
att
ended my f i
rstFOSS Fai ri n 2012 and returned formy second i n
February2013.Iwasmor epr epared, andnotonl ydidIlearnafew t
hings,I
gotac hanc et
os har
emyknowl edge,exper ti
se,andpas si
onaboutopen
source.Icamepr eparedwi ththreepr esentati
ons,mostlynon-
technicalin
nature.

Remember ,thetalkst
hatearn aspeaking sl
otand getpresent
ed are
chosen by t
he att
endees.So,Iwentin wi t
ht he mi
ndsetthatitwas
perfect
lyalr
ightifmyt al
ksweren’
tselected.Tomysur pr
ise,al
lthree
58 ht
tp:
//
www201
0.or
g/www/
progr
am/
panel
s/i
ndex.
html

73
made itt othe schedul
ef ort he day.And al lthree proved to be wel
l
at
t ended.Mypr esentat
ionsincl uded Pat htot he open source ci
ty,10
wayst o getstarted wi
th open source [ wi
thoutwr it
ing anycode] ,and
Creati
ng an onli
necommuni t
yt heopensour ceway.Thepr esentati
ons
ar
eavai l
ableont heFOSSFairwi kipage.59

It
’sevent
slikethi
s,t
hatstartsmallandgrow organi
c al
ly,t
hatcont
ribute
totheopensour cecul
tureinRaleigh.Ther
ei snor easonwhyanev ent
suchastheFOSSFai rcouldnotgr ow i
ntoasignatur epartoftheopen
sourceci
tybrandinRal
eigh.

MakerFai
reand t
heDI
Y movement
Backi n2009,t heDoI tYoursel
f(DIY)movementi nRal ei
ght ookast ep
towards betters hari
ng and start
ed to organi
zef el
low hobbyistwho
identi
fyt hemselves as “
makers.”While nati
onalin nature,the maker
movement s t
ar t
ed tot ake holdi n North Carol
ina witht hei
rf i
r s
t
statewidegathering.

Iwoul dgoasf arastosaythatmakersareDIYerswithanent r

epr eneuri
al
spi
rit.Makersr epr
esentakeypartofAmer icaninnovat
ion,andRal ei
gh’s
cul
tur ei
sin-l
inewi t
hthisc
ommuni ty-
dri
venmakermovement .Enoughs o
tostartthei
rownMakerFai reNorthCarol
ina.

Maker
Fair
e.com saysthatmanymaker sare“hobby i
sts,ent
husi as
ts,or
st
udents(amateurs!)
–but t hey ar
e also a well
spr i
ng of innovati
on,
cr
eati
ng new products and producing val
ue i
nt he communi ty.Some
makersdobecomeent repreneursandstartcompanies.
”60

MakerF aireisa f ami l

y-friendl ys howcase ofi nventi
on,creati
vit
y,and
resourcefulness–a show- and- tell
,ifyou wi ll
,thathi ghli
ghtsthe open
sour c
epr inci
plesofshar ing,t ranspar ency,and c oll
aborati
on.Therear e
nationalandi nternationalMakerFai reevent shel daroundthewor ldthat
attr
ac tthousandsofpeopl e.Thatmovementhasgonel ocaland Maker
Fair
e event s ar e also independent ly organized and oper at
ed under
li
cens efrom O'Reill
yMedi a,s uchast heonehost edinRaleigh.Again,t
his
iss imilar tot he TEDx,I gnite,and Ci tyCamp model st hat enable
partici
pantst oorgani zeal oc alcommuni tyofpas sionunderawel l-
known

59 ht
tps:/
/opensource.ncsu.
edu/Foss
Fair201
3
60 ht
tp:/
/makerfai
re.com/ be-
a-maker.ht
ml

74
br
and.

Conceivedasanannualeventi
nOct ober2009,thefi
rstMakerFair
eNor th
Carol
inaeventwashel di
nApr il2010.Attendancehasgrownf rom about
2,
000i nthefi
rstyeart
oanes t
imat ed4,000attendeesin2012.

“Opensour ceiscer
tai
nlyas haperofMakerFair
eNor t
hCar ol
inaandisas
muc haf eeli
ngasi ti
slaw.Mostpeopl earec ompel
ledtos hare,t
obe
open,and wi l
li
ngtocollaborat
et oimprove.MakerFair
eNor thCaroli
na
providest hose peopl
e with a mechani
sm forcoll
aborati
ng inthe real
world,”saidJonDanfort
h, f
ounderofMakerFaireNorthCaroli
na.

The DI Y and makermovement s are exampl es ofli

ke-minded peopl
e
discoveringthei
rpassionand comingt ogethertof or
m acommuni t
yof
practic
e.Thehobbyi stwhoformedt hemakermov ementfoundawayt o
coll
ectivelyshar
et hei
rpassionusi
ngopens ourcepr i
nci
plestocreatea
successfulannualeventhost
edinNor t
hCar oli
na’
scapital
.

A pl
aybookf
orusergroups
An ideat hat’
sworth expl
oring i
sonet hatcouldt aketheus ergr
oups
planning experi
ence tothe nextlevel
.Therei s prime opport
uni
tyto
createanopensour ceplaybookforusergroups.WhatdoImeanbyt hi
s?
Letmeexpl ai
n.

Asausergr oup coordi

nator,Iknow we’realwayslookingforplac
est o
meetandpeoplet ospeak.I
twoul dbegreattohaveapl aybookf
il
ledwith
l
ocalknowl
edgef orcoor di
nators.Her
e’swhatt hi
sr esourcemightlook
l
ike.

Fi
rst,we’dlookatanonlinecal
endartopickadatet
hatwouldn’
tconf
li
ct
wit
hot herus ergr
oupsorothermajorevent
sthatmi
ghtat
tractt
hesame
audience.Then,we’
dlookatspaceneeds.

The playbook would be si

milarto booking a hotelroom.Itwouldl ist
meetings pacesavai
lableandcoordinatorswouldbeabl etoi
nputopt i
ons
suchasnumberofat tendeesandsel ectoptionsregardi
ngaudi o/
visual
equi
pment ,pri
vat
eroom orpublic/
socialspace,WiFi,
andfood/beverages.

Af
ter an avai
labl
e space c
an be i
dent
ifi
ed and r
eser
ved,pot
ent
ial

75
speakerswouldbethenextcomponent.Coordinat
orswoul
d beabl
eto
search ali
sti
ngofpasts
peakersand potenti
alspeaker
sbytopi
csand
avai
labil
it
y.Doyous
eewhereI’
m goi
ngwitht hi
s?

Thisplaybookwoul dbeasubst ant

ialr
esour ceforlocalusergroups.The
platf
ormi tsel
fwoul dbeopensour cesot hatanyonecoul denhanceand
improve i t. The playbook could pot enti
all
y live s omewhere l i
ke
meet up.
com–i fitwaswi l
li
ngt ohostandmanageanopensour c epr
oject
ofthisc al
iber.AndIdot hinkthecodebas eforthisneedst obeopen
sourcefort heplaybooktobesucc essful
.That’sthebes twayforittobe
reusedinot hercommuni ti
es.

Ther ealadvantagecomesfrom thecommuni ti

est hati
nputdat aintothe
playbook.Justli
ketheywouldent erinfor
mat i
ononawi kipage.Itwould
take t he effort of community or ganizer
s,l ocal bus i
nesses, and
organizati
onswho have meet i
ng space,and f inall
y,speakerswho ar e
will
ingtoshar ethei
rexpert
isewiththeusergr oups.

Apl
aybookl
iket
hisf
orl
ocalusergr
oupscoul
dber
evol
uti
onar
y.

Al
eaderi
nopensource
Thesuppor tf r
om t hel
ocalcommuni tytofosterusergr oupswi t
hs pac e,
speakers,pr omot i
on,and money i s evidentwi t
ht he succes s oft he
varioususerc ommuni ti
esin Raleigh.Furthermore,Raleighus ergr oups
couldunitetoc reateasubst
antialresourceinagame- changingpl aybook.
Thepl aybookcoul dbeus edwor ldwidebutwoul dhavei tscreativeand
innovati
ver ootsin Ralei
gh.It
’sar esource l
ike t
histhatwoul d add to
Raleigh’
sleadershipinopensour ce.

Whi le Ral
eigh isl ooki
ng to hosta t op-qual
ity,annualopen sour ce
technologyconf erence,wehavepl entyofc ommuni ty-
organi
zed events
alreadyhappeni ng.SPARKcon,foundedin2006, i
sRaleigh’
spremieropen
sour c
eevent .I
t’sfourdaysofawesomec reat
ivi
tythatcomeswi t
haDoI t
Your sel
fspi
r i
t.SPARKconhasast eadystream ofc r
eati
veideasondisplay
from averyt al
entedcommuni ty.

Andt heot
herevent
sinRalei
ghaddmor et othemix.FOSSFairstartedin
2009,MakerFair
e Nor
th Car
oli
nawasf irstheldin 2010,and Ci
tyCamp
Ralei
ghjoi
nedthescenein2011.I
ndi
vidually,t
hes
eev entshi
ghli
ghtt he

76
opensourcewaybyshowcasi
ngcr eativi
ty,
freeandopensour cesof
tware,
makers,and open gover
nment ,r especti
vel
y.Coll
ect
ively,they bri
ng
toget
hercommuniti
esofpassionandcont r
ibut
etothes t
or yofRalei
gh’
s
opensourcebr
and.

77
Chapter 5:A hub for i
nnovati
on fuel
ed
byopen source
Creat
ingjobsandf oster
inginnovat
ionisanot
hercomponentoft heopen
sourc
ec ity brand.Finding waysto boostthe st
artup community and
supportexisti
ngbusi nesscl
ustersusingopensourceprinci
plescangive
anycit
yacompet it
iveadvantage.

I
’llfi
rsts har
e some thoughtsf rom JamesSaulswi th Ral
eigh Economi
c
Development on how open sour ce can inf
luence Raleigh’
sf utur
e
technology and soft
war ec l
usters.Ironi
cal
ly,open source presentsa
chall
enget othetradi
tionaleconomicdevelopmentmodel .

Then,we’ l
lt al
k wit
h David Diaz,presidentand CEO oft he Downt own
RaleighAlli
ance,aboutestabli
shingabas eli
neforec onomicdev elopment
eff
or tsfocused on downtown Ral ei
gh.The Al l
iancei sres pons i
bl efor
being achampi on fordownt own Raleigh,bri
nging togethermer chants
,
businesses,andthecommuni tytowor kwithci
tygov ernmentf orabet ter
downt own.And bel i
eve it or not,open s our c
e pr i
nciples such as
tr
ans parencyandcol l
abor
ationar ekeycomponent st otheirstrategy .

Therei sast r
ongef fortafoott opromoteRal eighasaci tyofinnovation.
Being invol
ved in some oft hos e ef
forts,Iagr ee t
hatRaleigh hast he
foundation,buti s missing a few key connect ions.We’rereallyc l
ose
though.One i niti
ati
ve we’ l
lt ake a fur
t her l
ook ati nthisc hapteri s
I
nnovat e Raleigh.We’ l
lexpl ores ome of t he ideas behind branding
Raleigh asaci tyofi nnovati
on and how open sour ceisapar toft hat
discussion.

We’l
lal so explore some oft he effor
ts by NC St at
e and how i thas
part
ner edwitht heCityofRalei
ghandot heror
ganizationstos uppor
tthe
entr
epr eneuri
alcommuni ty.Lastl
y,we’lltake a look ats ome oft he
successfulopensour cecompani esinRal ei
ghthatar ec r
eatinganopen
sourcehubi nthebusi nesscommuni t
y.

78
How open source di
sruptst
radi
tionaleconomi
c
development
Before,Ialwaysinstinct
ivel
yt houghtthatopen source would offera
compet i
ti
veadvantaget oanycommuni tywhereanopensour cecompany
hadast rongpresence.ButbecauseI’vebeeninRaleighforover15years
andatRedHatf orover1 0year
s,myvi ewsareali
ttlebiasedands kewed
becauseofmyenvi ronment .

Itwaseye- openi
ng when It al
ked t oJamesSaul s,DirectorofRal ei
gh
EconomicDevelopment ,aprogr am sponsoredbyt heRal ei
ghChamberof
Commer cet o help supportt he city withits economi c development
str
ategy.Il
earnedthatt heidealsofopensour cepr esentar ealchall
enge
todevelopi
ngal egit
imat ebusinessclusterar
oundopens ource.Let’
ssee
whatSaulshadt osayaboutt hei nf
luenceofopens our ceinRaleigh.

Whatdoesopensour
cemeant
oRal
eighEconomi
cDevel
opment
?

I
nt hebeginningweknewt hatitmeantsoftware.
Wehadj ustsuccessfull
y
retai
nedoneofourmosti mpor t
antheadquarter
s,RedHat,andweknew
that they pr oduced open sour ce soft
ware. Through our ongoi ng
relat
ionshi
pwi ththem,we’velear nedthatitmeansmuc hmor e.I
ti snot
onlysoftware,butacul t
ur ethatcanhel pguideand shapeindividuals,
communi ti
es,andcorporati
ons.

Whati
sthepur
poseoft
heRal
eighEc
onomi
cDevel
opmentor
gani
zat
ion?

Raleigh Economic Devel opmenti s a program oft he GreaterRalei

gh
ChamberofCommer ce thatisf unded byt he Cit
yofRal ei
gh and t
he
pri
vat esectorthroughapr ogr am call
edCompet iti
veEDGE.Thepur pose
for the program ist o provide mar keti
ng,business recrui
tment,and
businessretenti
onf ortheCi tyofRal ei
gh.Themai ngoalsfortheprogram
aret omar ketRaleigh’svariousiniti
atives,c
reat
enew j obs,andincr
ease
thec i
ty'
staxbase.

What role does Ral

eigh Economi
c Devel
opment pl
ay i
n at
tract
ing
busi
nessesandtal
enttoRalei
gh?

Ral
eighEconomi
cDevel
opmenti
sthel
eadpar
tnert
otheCi
tyofRal
eigh

79
for bus i
nessrecruit
ment .The communi t
y pract
ices “cl
uster
-based”
recr
ui t
ment.The clustersfocus on IT/
soft
ware,li
fes c
iences,medical
devices,def
enset
echnol ogi
es,andcleantechnol
ogy.

The pr
ogram travel
st o st
rat
egi
ct r
adeshowsto meetwit
h compani
es,
meetwi t
hs it
el ocati
on consul
tant
s,and per
form di
rectbusi
ness-
to-
busi
nessrec
ruitmentcall
s.

Woul
d"opens
our
ce"makeagoodt
echnol
ogycl
ust
eri
nRal
eigh?

Yes,t he chall
enge forus i st of ully understand how t oi dentif
y and
promot e"opensour ce"s othatitdoesnotconf li
ctwitht hethinkingoft he
opensour cecult
ure.Inat r
aditi
onalmodel ,wewoul di denti
fycompani es
thatoper ateinacluster,identi
fythesuppor tresourcesavailabletot hose
compani es,and thenmakeacl aim ast owhywear e" t
hec i
tyfort hat
clust
er .
"Wi thopens our ce,thechal l
enget hatwe’ veexper i
enc edist hat
thec ult
ur edoesnotpr omot eitselfas" the.
"It'
smor eofawe.Andt hat
doesn'tfitourtradi
tionalmodel .

Anotherreasonopensourcemakesagoodt echnologyclusterforRalei
gh
i
st hat itconverges wi
th many of our est
abli
shed c l
us t
ers.Iti sa
phi
losophythattheci
tyhasadopt
edandi susinginitsownoper at
ions.

Whatadvant
agedoesbeinganopensour
ceci
tymeanf
rom aneconomi
c
devel
opmentst
andpoi
nt?

Itcertainl
yaddsabr and to Ral
eigh thatisconsistentwi t
h wheret he
globalmi ndsetisheaded.A cityt hatcan promot eitsel
fasan " open"
communi t
ywi l
lhave a competiti
ve advantage inrecruit
ing companies
and talent.Tomorrow’
st al
enti slooking f
orci t
est hathave an "open"
cultur
e. AndRalei
ghdefinit
elyhasthatgoingf orit
.

Open source devel

ops t
he f
uture ofdownt
own
61
Raleigh
Can you revi
tal
ize a ci
ty and att
ractbusi
nesses us
ing open s
ource
pri
nci
ples? Davi
d Diaz,presidentand CEO ofthe Downtown Ralei
gh
61 Adapted f r
om ' Open s ource devel
ops t he fut
ure of downtown Raleigh,'(
c) 2011
opensource.
com, published under a Cr eati
ve Commons At tri
but
ion-ShareAl
ike 3.
0
Unported l i
cense, available at http:
//
opensource.
com/gover
nment /
11/
8/open-
source-
devel
ops-future-
downtown- r
alei
gh.

80
All
iancethinksso.Infact,Igotachancet os i
tdownwi thDiaztodiscuss
how economi cdevelopmentor ganizati
onsar einteract
ingwiththeirlocal
and stat
egover nment ,ci
tizens,businesses,and landl
ords.Diazand hi s
organi
zation applyt he pr i
nci
ples of transparency,parti
c i
pat
ion,and
shari
ngt otheireconomicdevelopmentpr ograms.

Let’
sexplorehow opensourceisappli
edtoec onomi
cdevel
opment,how
hisorgani
zati
onworkswithlocalgover
nment,andwhatt
hepr ogr
amsare
theDowntownRaleighAll
iancehasimplement
ed.

WhatistheDownt
ownRal
eighAl
li
ance,i
tsmi
ssi
on,andi
tspur
pos
efor
exi
sti
ng?

Downt ownRaleighAl liancewasc reatedi n1996byacoal itionofrealtors

,
merchant s,l
ocalgover nment ,and communi ty advocates who l i
ve in
downtown orar e vest ed i n downtown.I t
'swel l
-known t hroughoutt he
countrythatnosi ngles ectorcanr evitali
zeadownt ownoni tsown.Many
government shavet riedt oleadadownt ownr evitali
zat
ionont heirown,
butaref acedwithunwi llinglandlords,landlordst hatwantt odomor e,an
acti
ve and cari
ng busi nesscommuni ty,and l ocalgover nment sleaders
whodon' thavethepassi on.

We'v e brought together these gr oups wi t

h as hared vision:be the
champi on thatcan mar shalthe bestr esourcesofeac h sectorforthe
common good.On a day- t
o-day basi s,we ar efocused on del i
veri
ng
servicesthatgobeyondwhatl ocalgover nmentcan/won'tdoorpr ovidi
ng
individualthingsthattheycan/ won'tdo.Wehav efourpr ogramst hatfi
ll
thes evoids:theambassadorpr ogram,economi cdevel
opment ,br
anding,
andpubl i
cs pacemanagement .62

Weal soplayabi groleinadvocacy–wehaveac loserelat

ionshipwi t
ht he
Cit
yofRal eighand doourbestt obal anc
et hat.However ,we'r
eal soa
cri
ti
calfri
endoft heCityofRaleighandof tenactasamedi at
or.Wet el
l
themer chantsand businessowner st hatwe'renotgoi ng tothrow t he
Cit
yundert he bus,butwe wi lldo ourbes tto discourage t
hem f rom
supporti
ng poli
ciest hathar
m downt own.Wear ealwaysbal ancing the
i
nterestfortheover al
lgoodofdownt own.

62 htt
p://
opensource.
com/
gover
nment
/11
/8/
open-
sour
ce-
devel
ops-
fut
ure-
downt
own-
ral
eigh#detai
ls

81
How does t
he Downt
own Ral
eigh Al
li
ance wor
k wi
thl
ocaland st
ate
gover
nments?

OurBoar dofDi r
ectorsincl
udesaCityCounci lli
aison,appoi
ntedoffi
c i
als,
cit
yand c ountymanager s,and t
wost atedel egates.It
'suni
quef ort hi
s
typeoforganizati
ontohavest atedelegates,buti tmakessensebec ause
we're al
sot he state capit
al.They serve on t he board and provide
direct
ionfortheorganizati
on.

Wear ealsoacli
entoftheCity.Wehaveacont rac
twithpubli
cwor kst
o
useourambassadorst
opat r
olparkinggarages.Theci
tyneededeyesand
earsi
nt hepar
kinggaragesthroughoutdownt ownandourambas sadors
werealr
eadytrai
nedtoprovidethistypeofservi
ce.

Anot herwaywewor kwithl ocalgovernmentiswit

hlong-ter
m planni
ng
fordownt own.We wor k coll
aborativel
y wi
ththe DepartmentofCi ty
Planning forthephysi
caldevel opmentofdownt own.Backin2 003,t
he
LivableStreetspr
ogramswasi ni
ti
ated.Thi
stypeofprogram hada5- 1
0
yearl i
fes
pan.

The planni
ng pr ocess f
orLi vabl
e Street
s was incredibl
y open tothe
publi
c.A cit
izenst askforcewasappoi nted tohelp guidetheplan.The
tas
kf orceincluded indi
vidualsinter
ested i
nt r
ansit
,t hetranspor
tati
on
network,andhow t omakedownt ownmor ewal kabl
e–c reat
ingabet t
er
pedestri
anenvi r
onment .

Wewantpeopl e[
thatl
ive]outsi
deofRaleightowei ghi
nondownt own
Raleigh.Wewanti tt
obet hei
rdowntownt oo.Ral
eighhaspot
entialt
obe
the state'sdownt
own.Open source i
sthe wayt hatwecan encourage
stewar dshipandowner
s hi
pofdownt ownt omakei tmoreresi
li
entand
successful.

Howi
mpor
tanti
sopens
our
cet
olocaleconomi
cdevel
opmentef
for
ts?

It
'shuge.Becauseoneoft hebiggestchallenges(i
ntermsofat t
ract
ing
companies to downtown) isl ack of good informati
on. The mor e
trans
parentwear ewithaprospectinter
estinattr
acti
nganew busi ness,
themor esuc c
essfulwetend tobe.When wedon' tshareinformation,
they'
llf
ind outlat
er.Ther
eisaper cepti
on ofurbanareasbei ng more

82
danger
ous
,andourdat
ahel
pst
opr
oveot
her
wis
e.

Wear ealwaystryingtopublishmoreinfor
mat i
onaboutdowntown.We
col
lectbasel
ine datasuch asthe numberofr esi
dent
sand compani
es
downtown,butalsofindinf
ormationaboutthenumberofout
doordini
ng
caf
es.It
hinkthi
smakeusuni que.

I
nt hebr andingdownt ownef f
or t
,opensour cehasbeeninval
uable.Focus
groups hel ped shape the [ award wi nning] You R Here brand.We
conducted intervi
ewswi th passionatef ol
ksaboutdownt own,inc l
uding
elect
ed of f
ici
als,propert
yowner s,advocat es,and al
soopened itup to
others.We as ked thingssuch as“ whatdo we need”and “ what '
st he
essence?”

The peoplet hatwer e mostpassi onat

e had the hardesttime st
epping
away f r
om i t and couldn't gi
ve us the insightsthat we eventuall
y
uncovered.Theper sonwi th alooseassociati
on[ t
odownt own]gaveus
better i
nsight.This was an ah- ha moment .I f you onl
yi nvol
ve the
advocates,youdon'tgett hebr oaderview.Par t
ici
pati
on f
r om al
lmade
theinformati
onbet t
er .

***

Connect
ing the dots: Open source,
63
government,and economi
cdevel
opment

I
nt he pr evious sect
ion we expl or ed how open sour cei s applied t o
economi cdevel opment,how theDownt ownRaleighAlli
anceor ganizat i
on
workswi thlocalgovernment ,andt hepr ogramsithasimpl ement ed.Now,
DavidDi aztellsushow inf l
uenti
alt heopens ourcephilosophyi st ol ocal
l
eader sandhow t heyeducat egover nmentandbus inessl eader sabout
the powerofopen sour ce.He also s har eshi
sexper ience wi th cit
izen
parti
cipati
onandhow heusest heopensour cewayinhisev erydaylife.

Do you t
hink mostl
ocall
eader
s vi
ew open sour
ce as i
mpor
tantt
o
63 Adapt ed from ' Connecti
ng the dot s: Open sour ce, government , and economic
development ,
'(c)201
1opensource.
com,publishedunderaCr eati
veCommonsAt tri
buti
on-
ShareAlike 3.
0 Unpor t
ed l
icense, avail
able at
http:
//opensource.
com/government/1
1/8/
connecti
ng-
dot s-open-s
ource-government-
and-
economi c-
development-part-
2.

83
economi
cdevel
opment
?

Yes.Mostpeopl es'initialreactionwoul dbet hatanec onomi cdeveloper

hastokeepi nformat i
oncl osetotheirchest .Theonl yt i
mey ouhavet odo
thati
swhent heclientt al
ksabouti tort hereisacl oseds es
sionwithci t
y
counci
ltoc loseadeal .Whateconomi cdevel oper swor ryaboutt hemost
is a prospec tive client get ting inaccuratei nformat i
on about t heir
product
s( land si t
es ,di stri
cts,etc.
).It'
scr ucialt hatt heyus e an open
sourcestrategyso t hatt he compet i
tion does n'tsaybad t hingsabout
them.

Weareconstantl
ytalki
ng abouttheproduc
t sand s
har
ing i
nfor
mation.
Weareinher
entlysupport
iveoftheopensour ceway–conf
ident
ial
it
yis
j
ustasmal
lpart,
butnecessaryint
hisbusi
ness.

How doweeducat
egover
nmentandbus
ines
sleader
saboutt
hepower
oft
heopensour
ceway?

Wehavegott osupportandc reateproces

sest hatareopen,butl eadto
tangibl
er esul
tsbyvi r
tueoft heopensour ceway.CityPl aza[
ac entr
al
gatheringplacei
ndownt ownRal ei
gh]isagr eatexampl e.AlyKhali
faat
DesignBoxi snotanur bandesi gneroranengi neer
,butt hecit
yopened
upt hedesignprocessforthecr eati
onoftheCi t
yPlaza.Therearepeople
li
kehi mthatdesi
gnedi tbecausehewasabl et opart
ici
pate.

Weal soneed tolinkt heproces

st ot hesuccessofapubl i
cplaceora
faci
li
ty.I
fyoujusttalkaboutthefactthatCi
tyPlazaattractsover1 00,
000
people peryear,peoplewon'tthinkaboutt he desi
gn and realizehow
important ci
ti
zen input was tot he outc
ome.Gover nment s have to
connectthedot switht heval
ueofanopensour cepr ocesstowhatt he
communi tyseesassuccess.Wedon' tdoenoughoft hat.Weneedt otal
k
moreaboutanopenpr ocessasameanst ocr
eati
ngagr eatci
ty.

Buttherear eaf ew thi

ngst hatrepresentac hallenge.Canyouhav ean
open processforan as si
sted li
ving communi t
yi n yourneighbor hood?
Government sfi
ndi thardtoembr aceopensour ceacr osstheboardwhen
theyknow they'
regoi ngtogethammer edbynei ghborswhoar elikelyto
takeaNI MBY(not-in-
my-backyard)appr oach.
Theycanseet hewr i
tingon
thewall
.Thec hallengeforopensour cei ssol
vingconf li
cti
ngissuessuc h

84
asnei
ghbor
sver
susdevel
oper
s.

I
sther
emor
eci
ti
zeni
nputi
nRal
eight
hanot
herpl
aces
?

Absolutely.
Ther eisaninversecorrel
ati
ontociti
zenparti
cipat
ionandt he
l
eveloft echnicalworkwithagover nmentproject
.Thi
sisevidentinmor e
ofthe compl ex st
uffsuch asr oad proj
ect
s,howeveri tvariesacross
department s.Ralei
ghsetst heexampleintermsofallowingciti
zeninput
–it
's part of our culture alr
eady becauset he government herei s
ref
lecti
veoft hecommuni t
y.

Ithi
nkciti
zenpar ti
cipati
onismor euniqueinRaleight haningener al.I
'
ve
been real
lyimpr essed bythe amountoft ime thatc i
ti
zensi n Ralei
gh
spend understanding verytechnicaland highly sophisti
cated issues.
Many citi
zens her e advocat
ei n an infor
med way,r ather than the
react
ionary,
les
st houghtfulwaythatisoft
enpubl i
cized.

I
nt hi
scontext,I'
m defi
ningcommunit
iesasaci
tyofmorethat420,
000
r
esident
s.Ther earen'
ttoomanycit
iesofthi
ssi
zethatbr
ingthatmuch
[
cit
izenparti
cipati
on]togover
nment.

Howdoyouappl
ytheopensour
cewayi
nyourever
ydayl
if
e?

WhileI
'm notanel
ectedoffic
ial,
mypositi
onisapubl i
cone.I'
mf requent
ly
askedtocommentont hi
ngsr el
atedtomyj ob.Iworkinanenvi ronment
whereIhavet orespondt othemedi aandbeopent ot hepublicabout
what'
shappeningindownt ownandt odownt own.Inessence,Ic
hooset o
beresponsivet
othepublicandver yt
ransparenti
nmyr esponses.

***

Does t hi
sc hange your views on how open sour ce can influence an
economi cdevelopments trategy?Beforemyi nterview withDi az,Inever
thoughtabouthow c ri
ticaltranspar
encyofi nformat i
onwast oec onomic
development .Andwhi l
eIhadagoodi deat hatcitizensinRal eighwer e
acti
ve withf eedback aboutt heirgrowing communi t
y,it’
sni ce tos ee
someone who r el
ocated t ot he area confi
r m how ef f
ective citi
zen
parti
cipati
on hasand cont i
nuest oinfl
uenc et he futur
e direction and
developmentofRal ei
gh.

85
Host
ing ani
nnovat
ionsummi
t
I
nJ anuary2 012,theCi t
yofRal ei
ghpar t
ner edwiththeRal ei
ghChamberof
Commer ce,NCSt ate,andl oc
albusi nessest ohostani nnovat i
ons ummi t.
Thepur poseoft hes ummi twast obr i
ngbus i
nessleaders,ent r
epr eneurs,
mar keter
s,i nvestors,cit
yof fi
cial
s,and t hought-l
eaderst oget herf oran
afternoon of di scovery.Open sour ce was at t he hear t of how t he
organizers wer el ooking to achieve consensus f r
om t hose i nvit
ed to
partici
pateint hef i
rstInnovateRal ei
ghSummi t.

There werefour mai

nt opics organi
zersfocused on t
o kick offthis
ini
ti
ative:f
undi
ng,par
t nerships,brandi
ng,and spaceforan innovation
center.TheSummitstarted witht wokeynotespeakersthathelped set
thestagefort
heday.

The fir
st speaker was Tom Mur phy,former mayor of Pittsburgh,
Pennsyl
vaniawhohel ped revi
tal
izehiscit
yt hroughurbanplanning.He
sharedsomeoft hes uccessstor
iesfrom Pit
tsburgh,butal
sodiscussed
how otherciti
esand r egi
onsar einnovat
ing i
nt he Uni
ted St
atesand
aroundtheglobe.

Murphy talked aboutSi li

con Vall
ey.He told attendees thatResearch
Tri
anglePar k(RTP)"enjoysthecountry'
ss econd-best[innovati
on]brand
behindSil
iconVal l
ey.Butyou'veli
vedoffthatbr andfor20y ears.
"Murphy
washinti
ngt hatRTPhasout li
vedtheinnovativeresearchbr andandits
ti
met orepositionit
selfinaglobalenvi
ronment .

ThenextspeakerwasMi tchellSil
ver,Ci t
yofRal ei
ghPlanning Direc
tor.
Sil
verhighlighted some oft hepopul ati
on trendsand out l
ooksf orthe
Research Triangle Par kregion.He st unned t he crowd wit
h his myt h
busters,
shar i
ngs ever almisconceptionsaboutt hearea,t
henshowi ngthe
databehindt hemyt h.Forexampl e,therei saper cepti
onthatRTPdoesn' t
have enough i nvest ors.I
nf act,as Silver pointed out,there are1 01
64
dif
ferentinves t
orsi n 25 activevent urecapi talcompanies. At
tendees
wereinspiredandr eadyt ocollaborate.

Afterthekeynot
es,at
tendeesspl
iti
ntofourgroups
,eac
h ali
gned t
oa
topicareamenti
onedabove.Il
edthebrandgroupinadesignthi
nking

64 Center for Economic Devel opment, p. 7, I nnovate Ral ei

gh r epor
t -
ht
tp:
//
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-I
nnovat
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86
sessi
on–a st ruct
ured br
ainst
orming process t
hat is creat
ive,
col
laborat
ive,
andleadst
hegrouptoasetoft
opanswersbas
edongroup
consensus.

The40par t
ici
pantsi
ntheroom didn'
tknow t
hattheopensour
ceprocess
theywereus i
ngduri
ngt hesessi
onwaspar toftheless
on.Wecaptured
i
deas,vot
edont hem,anddis
cussedthewinners.

Thes essi
onl astedfort
wohours.Wespli
ttheroom intofourgr
oups,each
answer i
ngt hesamequest i
onsatthei
rindivi
dualtables.Iwascuri
ousi f
therewoul dbeanover lapofi
deasacr
osst hegroups,buttomys ur
prise,
therewas n't.Thereweresomecommont hemes,butt herewasal otof
diver
sityintheanswer s.

Thedesi gn thi
nking processhelped usc reat
ean at mosphereoft rust
,
sharing,and coll
aboration.Notonlywast hisef f
ectivefort hebranding
group, buttheothergroupsexper iencedsimil
arr es
ul t
s.I
nf act
,theother
three groups successfull
y used the desi
gn thinki
ng pr ocesstor each
simil
arc onclus
ions.Thet ranspar
ency,openness,andshar i
ngdiscovered
throught hi
sexer ci
sepr ovedtotheat t
endeest hatthepowerofusi ngan
opensour ceappr oachcanl eadtothedesir
edr esult
s .

At the end of the day,allt he groups came back together and a

spokespersongaveas ummar yofwhathappenedi nhisorherses si
on.
Thebes tpartabouttheinnovati
ons ummitwas n'
tthatwec ametogether
ands haredideas,butthatther ealworkwoul dconti
nuel ongafterthe
li
ghtswentout .

Aftertheeventwasover ,arepor twasc r

eat edaboutt heday'spr ogress
and made openly avai
labl
e.65
Mont hl
y meet -
ups helped to maintaina
constant drumbeat and advoc ates cont i
nue t o highl
ight innovative
businessesand i
deashappeni ng i
nt hecommuni ty.Youcan al sos eea
constantstr
eam ofupdat esbyf ollowing the hashtag #innovateralon
Twitter
.

I
twasr eallypower f
ultoseemyl ocalgovernmentpartnerwit
hamaj or
educati
onal inst
ituti
on and the businessc ommunit
yt o hostt he
I
nnovationSummi t.Anditwas
n'tjustaone-offeventwherepeopl
ecame
toget
hert ogenerateabunchofideasandt hengohome. Aft
ertheevent
,
65 ht
tp:
//
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ch.
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innovat
ion/
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es/
201
2/02/
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-I
nnovat
e-Ral
eigh-
repor
t.pdf

87
organizersdevelopedar oadmapandcr eatedmilestonesforthef ut
ur e.
The icing on the cake was using an open source appr oach as the
foundat i
on for the summit.I t al
lowed the organizerst oc reat
ea
coll
abor ati
ve atmospheret hat was inclusi
ve for allattendees and
advocat essotheycouldshareinformati
onands t
or i
esfrom theevent.

A yearaf
tert
hei
nnovat
ion summi
t
TheInnovateRaleigh Summi twast hef i
rstdomi not ofall
,addi ng real
moment um andef fortbehindbr andingRaleighasac it
yofi nnovation.It
star
ted a chai
nr eaction ofevent s and sparked t
he ent repreneur i
al
communi t
ytojointoget her.Par
toft heroadmapf r
om theor gani
zerswas
tohostmont hl
ymeet -ups.We’l
ltakeabr ieflookatsomeoft hosemeet -
upsands omeoft heot herdomi noesthatfel
lintoplaceafterthes ummi t.

Wi t
houta " champion"behi nd t he scenes ,an i nit
iative l
ike I nnovat e
Raleighdoesn’ tcomet ogetheroni tsown.At -LargeCi tyCounc i
lor,Mar y-
Ann Bal dwin,was t hatchampi on for Innovat e Raleigh.She s pent a
tremendousamountoft i
meandef fortbringingt heev enttof ruition.She
helpedpul lallthemaj orplayer
st oget hert ohostt hei nnovations ummi t
and cont i
nues t he ef fortby leading a st eer i
ng commi ttee t hathas
continued tof ost
er i deas gener ated fr om I nnovate Raleigh.I nf ull
transparency,Iparticipateasamemberoft heI nnovateRal eighst eeri
ng
commi ttee.

nnovat
I eRal
eigh meet
-ups

AsIment i
oned,one oft he rolesIpl ayed dur i
ng the Innovate Ral
eigh
Summi twas tol ead t
he brand br eakoutgr oup in a des i
gn thi
nking
sessi
on.Aftertheevent,Iconti
nuedt opar t
ici
pat eintheInnovat eRal
eigh
steer
ing commi ttee.Ialso assis
ted J ames Saul s,Director ofRaleigh
EconomicDevel opment,and Der ri
ckMi nor,then DirectorofDownt own
Developmentwi t
ht he Downt own Ral eigh Alli
ance,wi th planni
ng the
monthlymeet -
ups .

During t
he Innovate Ralei
gh Summitplanning,Iwas adamantabout
havi
ngatl eastonef oll
ow-upeventforattendeesandotherinteres
ted
fol
kstoputont heircalendar.I
twoul
dservet wopurposes
.Fi
rst,i
twould
coi
ncide wit
ht he deadline fort
he wri
tten repor
tf r
om the Summi t
.

88
Second,itwoul
d give an oppor
tuni
tyfort
he broadercommuni
tyt
o
parti
cipat
eandl
earnmor eaboutI
nnovat
eRal
eigh.

Thefir
stmeet-up,hel
daboutamont haf
tertheSummi tinFebruary2012,
wasahugesuccess.Over1 00peopleattended.Thereport(ref
erenced
above) was made avail
able and as expected,the entr
epreneurial
communityst
ar t
edtotakenoti
ce.

I
nMar ch201 2,InnovateRal ei
ght eamedupwi thTri
angl
eWi kit
osupport
the offici
allaunch oft ri
anglewiki.
org aspartoft he second meet-
up.
Subsequentmeet -upsf ocused ont opi
cssuc hasfashi
on,s pacedesi
gn,
andt alentattractioninApr il
,May,andJ une,r
especti
vel
y.Oneoft hefi
nal
meet -ups,inJuly,highl
ightedt heresult
sf r
om Cit
yCampRal eigh201
2and
i
ncludedademof rom thewi nningteam.

Theformalmeet -
upsst oppedhal f
wayt hrought
heyear .
Itwasn’
tbec
ause
theattendeesdidn’tenjoythet opicsorthenetworkingcomponent
.The
for
malpl anni
ngoft hemeet -upshadac hi
evedthei
rgoal.Thecommunit
y
was starti
ng to network on theirown and hostt hei
rown meet-ups.
Missi
onac compli
shed.

Sparki
ng connect
ions i
n t
he ai
r and on t
he
ground

One oft he t
op wi sh l
istit
ems t hatcame f rom t he Innovate Ral ei
gh
Summi twasf ortheret obeadi rectf l
ighttoandf rom Raleigh-Dur ham
I
nter nati
onalAirport(RDU)andSanFr anciscoI
nt er
nat ionalAi
rpor t(SFO) .
Thatwi shcamet rueinAugus t2012whenUni t
edAi rl
inesbeganof fering
directfli
ghtsf r
om RDU t oSFO.I’vebeenont hisf li
ghtandi ts avedme
hour soft r
aveltime.Iwasabl etol eaveSanFr anciscoat2: 00pm Paci fi
c
Timeand wasbacki nRal ei
gh shor t
lyafter10:00 pm East ernTi me.No
connect i
ons,nolayovers.J
ustaqui ckcoastt ocoastf li
ghtandmor et i
me
withmyf amil
y.

Thedirectfl
ighti
sexpected tohelp busines
st raveler
sl i
kemys el
fcut
down on travelti
me,but al so pr
ovide better connecti
ons between
entr
epreneursandinvest
ors.Thefli
ghtalsoconnec tsRalei
ghtoamaj or
west coast hub, which should assist in economi c development
opport
uniti
esinAsi
anmar kets.

89
Member sfrom theInnovateRalei
ghs teer
ingc ommit
teepl ayedakeyrole
in worki
ng behind the sc
enest o make thishappen.Theycoor dinat
ed
research wi
thl ocalcompanies around travelhabits and coor
dinat
ed
effort
s witht he appropriat
e airport authori
ti
es.The end r esul
ti s
somet hi
ngallt
r avel
erswil
lbenefitfrom.

Theot hermajortopicwast oc reateaphysi

c alst
oref
ronttohighlightt
he
i
nnovat i
onhappeni ngin Raleigh–aplacef orpeopletoc reat
e,connect,
andcol l
aborate.Whil
eRal ei
ghdoesn’ thavet hatonecentralplacetogo
tor i
ghtnow,we have s een a numberofi ncubat
ors and co-worki
ng
spacesc ometogetherinthel asttwoyears.

A fashi
on incubator named Ral
eigh Emergi
ng Desi
gnersI nnovat
ion
I
ncubator(REDii
)openedinMay2012.HUBRalei
gh,aco-
worki
ngs pacefor
entr
epreneursthatbringsit
sown globalnetwor
k,opened i
tsdoor sin
September2012.

DesignBox,aco- working spaceforindependentc r

eati
ve prof
essi
onals,
thathelped create SPARKcon,hasbeen ar ound si
nce 2003.Otherco-
workingspacesi ncl
udet heRal ei
ghForum andt heWi lmooreLofts.New
co-worki
ng spaces i n 2012i ncl
ude LocalSense HQ and t he Ralei
gh
Foundry,whi
c hopenedi nJulyandAugus t
,respecti
vely.

Compar ed t
oot hercit
iesl i
keDenver ,Colorado,thereisanoppor tuni
ty
for Ral
eigh to gr ow its entrepreneur i
aland s tart
up presence.The
resourc
es,entrepreneurs,andi nvestor sinRalei
ghar ephysic
allyspread
outaroundt hecityandl ackacent rallocati
on.Theideabehindhavingan
i
nnovationcenteri nRaleighist ohaveacent ralhubthatwoul dconnect
thevari
ouscomponent soft hi
sinnovat i
vecommuni t
y.

Whi lethec onc eptofhavi ngani nnovat i

vestorefrontisst
il
lbeingfl
ushed
out by t he I nnovat e Raleigh s t
eering commi t
tee,the Councilfor
Ent r
epreneur ialDevel opment( CED)and NC St ate have committ
ed to
creatinganonl i
ner esource.Thisdi gi
talstorefr
ontwoul dbeagui defor
innovators,ent r epr
eneur s,investors,and smallbus i
nessowner sinthe
Triangler egion.The Counci lforEnt r
epreneurialDevelopmenthired a
dedi cat
ed per s on i
nt hef allof201 2t oworkon t hi
sproject
.And fr
om
whatIunder s tand,t hereisast r
ongdesi ret obuildthisresour
ceus i
ng

90
t
heopensour
cemet
hodol
ogyandopens
our
cet
echnol
ogi
es.

NC St
atef
eedsthei
nnovat
iveengi
ne
Whatel se,besidesgovernmenti ni
ti
ati
ves ,i
sfueli
ngt heneedf ormor e
co-worki
ngandi ncubatorspaceinRaleigh,andhow doest hatr elat
et o
opens ource?Par toftheanswerl i
esint heuniversi
tiesandc ommuni ty
coll
eges int he area.Primari
ly,NC State Univer
s i
ty has a vari
ety of
programsandpar tnershi
psthatarefeedingt heeconomi cdevelopment
engineofRaleigh.

The Ent repreneurshi

p I ni
tiat
ive at NC St ate66 is focused on
mul t
idi
scipl
inary parti
cipati
on between facul
ty,st aff
,industr
y,and
students.Thepr ogram isbuildingacommunitytoc reateanimmer si
ve
entrepreneurialexperi
ence.Onewayi ti
saccompl i
shingthi
siswi t
han
innovat
ivemeet i
ngspacecalledTheGarage.

TheGar agepr ovi

desst udentsapl acetofos t
ernew i deasandwor kon
theirent repreneurialendeavor s.ThePhaseIf acil
it
ywasdesi gned asa
proofofconceptwi th2,000s q.ft.ofmeet i
ngr ooms ,loungespace,basic
l
abor atorys pace,a wood wor king shop,and pr ototypi
ng area.The
Universityispl anni
nga20, 000sq.f t.f
acil
it
yf ortheGar agePhaseIIthat
willbe t he cent erpiece of the Ent repr
eneur s Vill
age on Centennial
Campus ,al i
ving/l
earningcommuni tyforstudentsbui ltonthethemeof
i
nnovat ionandent repreneurship.

67
The Office of Research,Innovat i
on,and Economi c Devel
opment i
s
l
eadingt heinnovati
veef fort
satNCSt ate.I
tisrespons i
bleforbri
ngi ng
part
nerst ogetherwi t
hr esearcherst ocreateac ult
ur eofinnovat
ion.I t
supported and partnered withI nnovate Ral
eigh to pl
an and hostt he
i
nnovationsummi t.I
talsohos t
si nformati
onaboutI nnovateRalei
ghoni t
s
websit
e.

I
n 201 2,NC St ateannounced t heNC St at
eFast1 5,68
aprogram tohelp
doublet he number of st artups l
aunched by NC St atef acul
ty and
student s.The NC St ate Fast 15i s a portf
oli
o of t he fif
teen most
compel ling business opportuniti
esacrosst he uni
ver si
ty.The program
provides ment ori
ng by exper i
enced entrepreneur s,businesslaunch
66 ht
tp:
//
ei.
ncsu.
edu/
67 ht
tp:
//
researc
h.nc
su.
edu/
68 ht
tp:
//
researc
h.nc
su.
edu/
ott
/for
-ent
repr
eneur
s/nc-
stat
e-f
ast
-15/

91
pl
anni
ng,
andas
sist
ancei
nat
tract
ingi
nter
estf
rom pot
ent
iali
nvest
ors
.

Thesear ejustaf ew examplesofsomeoft heeffort

sfrom NCSt ate.The
university definit
ely sees t
he value i
nf oster
ing ent
repreneurship by
providingpr ogr ams,suchast heNCSt ateFast15,andphysicalspacefor
innovation, suc
hasTheGar age.It
seffort
sliketheseandestablis
hingkey,
coll
abor ativepar t
ner s
hipsinRalei
gh,thatcontri
butetoitbeinganopen
sourcec ityandaci t
yofinnovati
on.

Opensource:A pi
llarofan i
nnovat
ivebrand
Ral
eighiswell-
knownf orbeingthe“CityofOaks.
”Butthatbranddoes
n’t
do much f or our economic development eff
orts.Bei
ng a “ci
ty of
i
nnovati
on,”however,doesresonatewithstar
tupsandbusiness
esl
ooki
ng
tor
elocateorexpandandor ganizati
onslooki
ngtohostevents.

I
nnovat i
on and open sourc
es eem to go hand-i
n-hand i
n Ralei
gh.The
cultur
ei si
nfluenci
nginnovati
veideas,butmor eimportantl
y,how t
hose
ideasarecomi ngtofr
uiti
on.

I
’vebeent al
kingalotaboutt heideaofanopensourcecit
ybrand,but
haven’
texplained t
he larger conceptofbr
and i
tsel
f.There ar
etwo
defi
nit
ionsIusewhenIthinkofbr andi
ng:

1. Abr
andi
sapromise.
2.Abrandi
swhatyourcust
omer
s,orc
iti
zensi
nthi
scas
e,sayi
tis.

Raleighwoul dbeunsuccessf ulincl

aimingtheopensour cecitybrandifi
t
didn’t have t he proof points and stori
es t o bac
ki t up.This book
establishest herelevanceoft heacti
onst akenbyci ti
zens,government
,
business es,andotheror ganizati
onshighl
ightingthevariouscomponents
ofRal ei
gh’sopensour ceci
tybr and.

Ihave f ocused t he lastfew sections on economic developmentand

entrepr eneurship–dr iversofinnovationinanycommuni ty.Whatmakes
Raleigh differenti sthe factthatt he open sourcewayi nfl
uenceshow
decisionsar ebei ngmade,whati nformationisbeingshared,andhow we
cancol l
abor ateacr ossindust
ryclusters.

Ral
eigh'
sef
for
ttobr
andi
tsel
fasaci
tyofi
nnovat
iondoesnotcompet
e

92
wi
ththeopens
our
ceci
tybr
and.I
nfact
,theycompl
imenteachot
herver
y
ni
cel
y.

When Il ed the brandi

ng session att he I
nnovat
e Ralei
gh Summi tin
January2012,It
oldtheattendeest hefoll
owing:Thechal
lengewehavei s
how t o brand Ral
eigh as a city of i
nnovati
on wit
houtsayi ng we’r
e
i
nnovat i
ve.Idescri
bed the fol
lowing frameworkt othe par
ticipant
st o
provideavisualai
df ort
hisbrandingeffort.

Picturet heGr eekParthenon.Envisi

oninnovat i
onast her oof,the
over archingbr and i
fyouwi l
l,and thes upporti
ngconcept sand
cl
us terst hatsuppor tthe brand asthe pi l
lars.Some oft hose
pill
ar swouldbeexi sti
ngandf utureclus t
ers.Tec hnology,smar t
ener gy,fashion,li
fesci
ences,biot
ech,textil
es,andmi crobrewi ng
woul dbeaf ewt hatwouldsupportRaleighasani nnovativec it
y.

Before,Ithoughtthatopensour cewasoneoft hoses upporti

ngpi ll
ars
.
But,asIf ur
therdevelopedtheconcept ,Ir
eali
zedt hatopensour cewas
the foundati
on.In Ralei
gh,the open source way is embedded i n our
cult
ur eandtheref
oreper meatesthrougheachs upporti
ngpi l
lartoc r
eate
ourbr andofinnovati
on.Eachc l
ustersupporti
ngt heinnovationbr andis
inf
luencedbyt heopensourceway.

A hub ofopen sourcecompani

es
Beingahubf oropensour cecompani esandacat alystforopens ource
start
upsisacompet i
ti
veadvant agef orRal
eigh.RedHathasi tsglobal
headquartersin downt ownRal eigh.Having i
tswor kforc
epar t
ici
patei n
localcommuni ty event s,causes,and or ganizat
ions has shaped the
communi t
yandi nfluencedt hecul tur
et oacceptopensour ceasabet ter
wayt oapproachlif
eandbus iness.

Whi l
eRedHati salar
ge,publi
clytradedcompany,t
her
eareotheropen
sourcecompaniesandremotewor kersofopensour
cecompani
esinthe
Ralei
ghareathatal
socontr
ibut
et othecult
ure.

Lulu69 i
sanopenpubl i
shi
ngcompanybasedinRaleigh,f
oundedbyBob
Young,aco-founderofRedHat.Lul
uhasbuil
tas el
f-publ
ishingplat
form
thatal l
owsauthorsandothercr
eator
stoself
-publi
shhar dcoverbooks,
69 ht
tp:
//
www.
l
ulu.
com/
us/
en/
about

93
eBooks,photobooks,cal
endars,andmor e.Authorsmaint
ainal
lther
ight
s
totheirworkandt ake80perc entoftheirprofi
t.Lul
uisblazi
nganopen
sourc
et rai
lint
hepubl i
shingi
ndus t
ry.

New Kind70 i
sacons ult
ingcompanyi nRaleighthats prinkl
esi
npartsofa
communi cationsand designagencyt obui l
d and culti
vatecommuniti
es.
Essenti
all
y,itisacommuni tycatal
ystthatreli
esont heopensourceway
to hel
p or ganizat
ionssolve problemsand engage communi ti
es.Open
sourceandc ommuni t
ybuildi
ngar eessenti
altoit
swor k.

Iknow mostoftheteam atNew Ki

nd.I
’
veeit
herworkedwiththem i
npast
rol
esatRedHatoronnew i ni
ti
ati
veswit
hintheRal
eighcommunity.Thi
s
isacompanyt hatisprovi
ngthatopensourcecanbeappliedouts
ideof
thetechnol
ogyindustr
y.

AxialExchange isa healthcaretechnol

ogystartup ai
ming t o enhance
communicationsbet weent hehospit
al,i
tspati
ents,and thei
rpr ovi
ders.
It
st eam includes f
ormerRed Hatassoci ates t
hatar e applyi
ng open
sourcepri
nc i
plestoinnovatetheexchangeofhealt
hinformation.

Anothercompanyt hathast i
est oRal
eighi sAlf
resco.I
tprovidesanopen
source,enter
prisecontentmanagementsol uti
on.Whi l
ei tdoesn’
thave
offi
cespacei n Ral
eigh,severalofAlfresco'
skeyl eaders
hip posi
ti
ons–
incl
uding Chi
efMar keti
ng Off i
cer
,VP Cust omerSer vi
ces,and General
Couns el
–arefil
ledbypeopl ewhol i
veint heRaleighareaandpr evi
ously
workedatRedHat .

rPathwasanot herRal ei
ghcompanyi nt heopens ourcet echnologysector.
Itprovidedanaut omat i
onplat
for mf ordeployingandupdat i
ngsof tware
stac
ksacr ossavar i
etyoftechnologyenvi r
onment s.
Itdevel opedanopen
source package management and conf igurat i
on toolcal led Conar y.
SimilartootherRaleighcompani es,r
Pat hhadt iestoRedHatempl oyees .
Itwasacquiredbyt heSASI nst
ituteinNovember201 2.71

Thesearej
ustafew exampl esofcompani esintheRaleighareat hathave
ti
estoopensource.It’
sinteresti
ngt os eethepr i
nci
plesofopensour ce
beingappl
iedoutsi
deoft het radit
ionalsoftwareindustry.I
nt heabov e
sampli
ng,we have il
lust
rated open s ource appl
ied tos el
f-publi
shi
ng,
70 ht
tp:
//
newki
nd.com/
home/
our-
story/
71 ht
tp:
//
www.sas.
com/
news/
prel
eases/
rpat
h-ass
et-
acqui
sit
ion.
html

94
healthcar
e,andcommuni t
ybuil
ding.Andwhileal
loftheseexampleshave
ti
esbac ktoRedHat ,i
tspeaksvol
umesaboutt heimpactRedHatc ul
ture,
and consequentl
y open source cult
ure,has had on infl
uenci
ng the
ci
tizensintheRal
eighandResearchTriangl
ecommuni t
ies.

Ralei
ghi spr imedt oseef utureopensour cecompani esrisetosol ve21st

centurypr obl emsand expl oredisrupti

vebusi nessmodel swher eopen
sourcepr inciplescans how thei
rstrengths.Compani eslookingt outil
ize
thec ompet i
tiveadvant agesofopensour ceshoul dc onsi
derRal ei
ghasa
future destinat i
on forthei
rbusi ness.And f oropen s ource cit
ieslike
Ralei
gh,t hemi grat
ionofpeopl emovi ngtot hear eaisani ndicatorthat
theinnovat i
veef for
tshappeni ngherearen’tgoingunnot i
ced.

95
Chapter 6:The princi
ples of bei
ng an
open sourceci
tyin acti
on
Now thatwe’ veexploredthefivechar acteristi
csofanopensour cecit
y –
fost
eringacul tureofciti
zenpar ti
cipation,devel opi
nganef fect
iveopen
government pol icy,implementi
ng an ef fecti
ve open dat ainiti
ati
ve,
promot i
ngopensour ceusergroupsandconf erences,andprovi
dinghubs
forinnovation and open source businesses –we' re goi
ng toleave the
confi
nesofRal eightoseehow otheror gani zati
onsandci ti
esareapplying
theprinci
plesofopensour cet
ot hei
rgover nment s.

I
npar tone, we'
l
ltakealookatCodef orAmerica,
anamazi ngor ganizat
ion
pushingt heopengovernmentmovement .Inparttwo,we'llt
akeat ourof
afewCi tyCampeventsfrom aroundtheUnit
edSt at
es.Then,inpar tthr
ee,
we'l
lbringitbackaroundtot hecapit
alofNort
hCar ol
inatot akeal ookat
Ci
tyCampRal ei
ghandhow i t'
sevolvi
ngintosomethingmor et hanj usta
weekendevent .

Part1
:Codef
orAmeri
ca
Code for Amer ica72 helps governments work bet
ter f
or ever
yone by
mobili
zingci
tizenpar tici
pationand usingthepoweroft heweb.I twas
foundedin2009andhel ditsinauguralfel
lowshi
pin2011with19fell
ows
7
3
andthreecit
ies.

Codef orAmer icabui l

dsopensour ceapplicati
onsand communi ti
esby
sat
isf
yinganunmetci vicneed.It’
sof t
endes cri
bedasa“ Peacecor
pfor
ci
vicmi nded geeks.
”7
475
Ci
tiesapplyeachyeart opartnerwithCodefor
America.Afterthesel ecti
onpr ocess ,tec
h-savvyfel
lowsar eassi
gnedto
ci
ti
estobui l
danopensour ceapplicat i
onofthec i
ty'
schoosing.

Adoptais a web appli

cati
on thatencourages ci
tizens t
o adoptc i
vic
i
nfrast
ruct
ure,suchasfirehydrants
,storm drai
ns,andt r
ees.It
’ssi
milar
toadopt-
a-hi
ghwayoradopt -
a-str
eam programswher ecit
izensgat
hert o
doroadsi
deorst r
eam cl
ean-ups.
72 htt
p:/
/codeforamer i
ca.
org/
73 htt
p:/
/codeforamer i
ca.
org/wp-cont
ent/upl
oads/2012/
11/
2012-
11_PressPacket.
pdf
74 htt
p:/
/www. good.i
s/post
s/part-
peace-
corps-par
t-venture-
capital
-code-f
or-ameri
ca-s-
plan-
for
-publi
c-i
nnovation
75 htt
p:/
/onli
ne.wsj
.com/arti
cle/
SB10000872396390444270404577 605622944527722.
html

96
TheAdopt aappl
icat
ionwasbuiltforBost
on,Massachuset
tsandstar
ted
asAdopt-A-Hydr
ant.Cit
izensareabletoadoptaf i
rehydrantusi
ngthe
web appl
icati
onand arer es
ponsi
bleforclear
ingoutthehy dr
antafter
snowstor
ms.

TheAdopt acodehasbeenr epurposedinot hercit

iesaroundtheUnited
Stat
es.I
nChi cago,Il
li
nois,theappl i
cat
ionwasus edforciti
zenstoadopt
si
dewalks.Adopt er
sar er esponsibleforclearing si
dewalksaft
ersnow
andicest
or ms.InHonolulu,Hawaii,Adoptaallowsciti
zenstoadoptsi
rens
tohelpwi
thmont hl
ytsunamisi rentesti
ng.

How canci tiestakeadvant ageoft heseexist

ing, opensour ceappli
cations
andbr i
ngt hem tot heirci
tizens?TheCodef orAmer icaBr i
gadepr ogram
isbuil
dingopensour cecommuni t
iesandhel pingt odepl oyexist
ingci vi
c
appli
cations. Byincreasingtheadopt ionofthes eapplicat
ions,morec iti
es
wil
lbeus i
ngopensour ce.Thecommuni t
iesar oundthec i
vicappli
cations
wil
l grow. I deal
ly,cities become net wor ked t hrough open s ource
communi tiesandt heapplicati
onswi l
lbeenhancedandi mproved.

Let
’sf
indoutmor
eaboutt
heamazi
ngwor
kandl
eader
shi
pofCodef
or
Ameri
ca.

Hacki
ng on code and cul
ture: Fai
lure as
76
val
idat
ed l
earni
ng
Asyou'vebeenablet osee,open s ourceisaboutmuchmor ethant he
code–it’
s about t
he culture.Thisc ul
turet hat many open s ource
communi t
ies embrace i
s entrenched in organizati
ons l
ike Code for
Amer i
ca.ThatwasobviousasIl istened duri
ngt heopening dayoft he
Codef orAmer i
caSummi tin SanFr anci
sco,Cali
forni
a,i
near lyOctober
2012.

Jenni
ferPahl ka,founderand executi
ve di
rect
orofCode forAmer i
ca,
start
edofft hec onf
erencewi
thacal lt
oacti
on,"Bel
ief
sar
en'
tenough,we
havet oact
."
76 Adapted from ' Hacki
ng on code and culture:Fail
ure as val
idated learni
ng,'(c)2012
opensource.com, published under a Cr eati
ve Commons At tri
bution-ShareAli
ke 3.
0
Unportedlicense,avai
lableathtt
p:/
/opensource.com/
government /
12/1
0/hacking-code-
and-
cul
ture.

97
One oft hose act
ions was announced dur i
ng her keynot e.Code for
Amer i
ca announced a new peer net wor
kf or citi
es.Why ? Because
"net
wor ks do whatindivi
duals can'
t."The pr ogram aims to connect
change agentsi n local gover
nment ar ound bi g ideas and make
governmentmor eengagingforci
tizens.

Ti
m O’Reill
ytookthest agewithEr
icRies,authorofTheLeanSt ar
tupand
anewl y-
announcedCodef orAmeri
caboar dmember .Theytalkedmost l
y
aboutt he book and how the pri
nci
ples outli
ned i
nt he book can be
appli
edt ogovernment .Themodelofas tar
tupandt hec onceptoffai
lure
werethet wohott opi
cs.

Riesdefi
nesas t
artupasahumani nstitut
ion.Thesizeoftheinsti
tut
ion
doesn’
tmat t
erand the sect
ordoesn’tmat tereit
her.Whil
eRi esnever
consi
deredgovernmentasector
,theideaofappl yi
nghisconceptsabout
star
tupstogovernmenthasmadeitallthewayt oTheWhiteHouse.

Doyoul iveinacul t
urewher efai
lur
ei snotanopt i
on?Ri ess aysthati
f
youare,youar elyingtoyourteam oror ganizati
on.O’Reil
lyandRi eswent
backandf or
thabouthow muchandhow of ten"government "couldfai
l.
Riessummar i
zedf ai
lur
easval i
datedlear ning.Andgover nment scanfai
l
safel
yasl ongast hereisst
rongexecutivel eadershi
pands ponsorshi
p.

David Eaves,t
he mast
erofcer
emony f
ort
he day,r
eal
lys
ummar
ized
thi
ngsf ormewhenhesaid:

"CodeforAmer
icai
snotr
eal
lyabouthacki
ng code–i
t’
sabouthac
king
cult
ure.
"

Thismi ndsethighl
ight
sthepowerofopens ourcecommunit
ies,l
ikeCode
forAmer ica.AsPalhkasai
d,"Ever
yoneint
hisroom i
soneofthef ounder
s
oft his movement."Iwould elabor
atethat:Ever
yone who choosesto
partici
pateispartofthesoluti
onandthemovement.

Ot
hergoodquot
esf
rom t
hec
onf
erence:

• "
Bui
ldi
ngthewr
ongt
hingsef
fici
ent
lyi
snotagoodus
eoft
ime.
"
–Er
icRies

98
 • "
We'real
lheretocol
lect
ivel
yfi
gur
eoutt
her
ightt
hingt
odo.
"–
J
enni
ferPal
hka
• [
CodeforAmeri
cais]"ahac
kon t
hegover
nmentpr
ocur
ement
s
ystem.
"–Ti
m O'Rei
ll
y

***

Whatdoesopen governmentmean toyou?77

You’l
lrememberf rom Chapter1thatopengovernmentmeansdi fferent
thi
ngst odiff
er entpeople.Themostcommonc haracter
isti
csassociated
withthe open gover nmentmovementar etr
ans parency,col
laboration,
andpar t
ici
pation.WhenTi m O’Rei
ll
yspeaksaboutopengover nment ,he
tal
ksabouthisvi si
onforgovernmentasaplatf
orm.

O'Reill
yt al
ksaboutt hecomponent sofweb2. 0:cl
oudcomput ing,social
medi a,and much mor e.Partic
ularl
y,the goods and s er
vices that
gover nmentc ouldproduce.Hefocusesontheabi l
ityofthemar ketpl
ace
todel iveronbi gdatasuppli
edbyt hegover nment;thi
nkabouthow t he
Nat i
onal Oc eanic and Atmospheric Adminis
trat
ion (NOAA) pr ovi
des
forecast dat at o weather or
ganizati
ons around the worl
d–f ree of
charge. 78

WhileattheCodef orAmer i
caSummi t,Ihadthechancet
ofi
ndouthow
othersonthefrontli
nesoft heopengover nmentmovementdefi
neopen
government.Iasked severalpar t
ici
pant swhatitmeanstothem–thei
r
answersprovedtobedi ver
se, yetli
ke-minded.

ForestFri
zzel
l,Deput
yDi
rect
orCi
tyofHonol
ulu

"I
t’
sbeing open,i ncl
usive,and coll
abor
at i
ve wit
h citi
zenss otheyf eel
comfortabl
ewi t
hwhatgover nmenti sdoing.Sot hatci
t i
zenswanttobe
part of the soluti
on.I t’
s al
so about dr i
ving effi
cienci
es f
rom t he
government s
.Wedot hi
ngsbas ed ontraditi
on,notlaw and poli
cy.The
opengover nmentproces sisavehicl
etofixthat.
"

77 Adapt ed fr
om ' Whatdoes open governmentmean t o you?,'(c
)201 2 opensour
ce.com,
publi
shed under a Cr eat
ive Commons At tributi
on-Shar eAli
ke 3.0 Unpor t
ed li
cense,
avail
ableatht t
p://
opensource.
com/government/12/
11/
defining-open-government.
78 http:
//opensource.
com/government/1
1/1
0/sur
fing-open-data-wave

99
J
en Palhka, Founder and Execut
ive Di
rect
or of Code f
or
Ameri
ca

"I
t’
s not just about being open so that we can hol
d government
accountabl
e.It
’ss ymboli
cal
lyopening t
he doorso thati
t’si
nvit
ing f
or
ci
tizens
."

EugeneKi
m,Cof
ounderofGroupaya

"Ul
timat el
y,opengovernmenti saboutengagementandt ransparency.I
t
doesn’tr equiretec
hnology.It’s somet
hing that peopl
e are already
practi
cing.Seeingasit
uati
onwher epeoplecanpr acti
cegover
nmenti na
practi
calway .Andweneedt hosegoodstoriesaboutgover
nment .
"

Bri
anGryt
h,Founderand Presi
dentofOpenCol
orado

"I
t’
st hewayourgover nmenti ssupposetowor k.It’
sdemoc racyinaction.
It
’sagover nmentthatisr es
ponsivetoi t
speopl e.Ital
lowspeopl etobe
mor einvol
ved.Transparencybuildstrust
.Itbuildsawi ndow thatallows
cit
izenstos eewhatt heirgovernmenti sdoing.It’
sbui l
dingcommuni t
y
andi t
’swhatthefoundersbelievedin.I
t’
sreal
izingthec onsti
tuti
on."

Abhi Nemani
, Direct
or of St
rat
egy and Communi
cat
ions at
CodeforAmerica

"
Gover
nmentsthatworkli
ket
he I
nter
net
.Net
wor
ked.Gener
ati
ve.And
r
efl
ect
iveofwhoweare.
"

J
asonLal
ly,Di
rect
oroftheDeci
sionLab f
orPl
aceMat
ters

"Open gover nmentmeanst he re-

establ
ishmentoftrusti
n democ r
ati
c
values .Today,wehearal otofnoisein poli
ti
cs.Theopen gover
nment
appr oachisnon- parti
sanandit
’sreal
lyaboutconnecti
ngpeoplebackto
theirc ommuni t
ies.Thatmeanspeoplewillbeconnect
edwitheachother.
Andt hat’
sexcit
ing!"

Cyd Harrel
l,advi
sortoCodef
orAmeri
ca

"
Ithi
nkofi
tinsl
ight
lydi
ffer
entt
erms
.Agover
nmenti
sforci
ti
zensandi
t

1
00
must deliver a cycl
e of trust so t
hat ci
ti
zens can part
ici
patei n
government .Ther
earet hr
eedesignvaluest
hatarepartofthi
s:res
pect,
parti
cipat
ion,and unit
y.The import
antone isuni
ty,because i
tbrings
ci
ti
zensandgover nmentbackonthesameside.
"

Even though advocates ofopen gover

nmentdef
ine i
tdi
ffer
entl
y,the
missi
on i s c onstant t hr
oughout: open gover
nment i s about
empower ment.

***

Send i
nthebri
gade
Overtheyear s,Codef orAmer icahasbui ltan arsenalofopens our
ce,
civi
cappl
icati
onsf orpartnerci
ti
es. Oneoft hemajorchallengesitfacesis
theadoptionandr euseoft hos
eappl icat
ionsinothercities.That’
swher e
theCodef orAmer i
caBrigadepr ogram comesi n;ithelpsor gani
zecivic
geeksandhacker slocal
lytoreuseanddepl oycivicsoft
war e.

Volunteerteams,cal
ledbrigades,aref orminginciti
esar oundt heUnited
States.They are gett
ing organized and host i
ng meet -ups and other
eventst o promotetheircausesand make t hei
rcitiesa bet terplace
throughc i
vichacki
ng.Codef orAmer icaiss upport
ingt hisef
for twit
hi t
s
brigade program.Onewayi taccelerated theadopt i
on ofaf ew select
applicat
ionswasthroughit
sRacef orReus ecampaign.

Race f
or reuse gives open source proj
ect
sa
79
second wi
nd
TheCodef orAmer i
caBr igadel aunchedRacef orReusei nOctober201 2.
It
'sadi fferentki ndofcont estt hataimstoincreaseadopt i
onofexisting
opensour cepr oject
s.Thegoali sn'ttobuil
ds omethingbr andnew–i t
'sto
enc ouragebr i
gadesac r
osst heUni ted St
atest ostand up and suppor t
existing open sour ce pr ojects.One of t he mor e diffi
cul
t parts of
depl oyi
ng an open s ource appl i
cati
on i
sbui l
ding the usercommuni t
y
around t hepr ojectsand get ti
ngci ti
zensengaged–and t hat’
swhatt hi
s
campai gnai mst oaddr ess.
79 Adapt ed from ' Contest ai
ms to give open sour
ce proj
ect
s a second wind,'(c)2012
opensour ce.com, publ i
shed under a Cr eat
ive Commons Attributi
on-ShareAli
ke 3.
0
Unpor tedlicense,avail
ableatht
tp:/
/opensource.
com/gover
nment/
12/10/
accel
erating-
open-
source-project-
adopt i
on.

1
01
Ther
ear
efourappl
icat
ionst
hatbr
igadescoul
dusei
nthec
ont
est
:

• Adopta-awebappl i
cati
onthatencouragesci
tizensto"adopt"
ci
vicinf
rast
ruct
ure,examplesprevi
ousl
yment i
onedi ncl
udefir
e
hydrant
sandsidewalks.
• Local
Wiki-aplatf
ormf orbuil
dingcommunityi
nformat
ionhubs;
Local
Wikisarewebsi
tesaboutapl acewrit
tenbyt hepeopl
eof
thatpl
ace.(
Forexample,Ral
eighhasTri
angl
eWiki.
)
• Shareabouts-a mappi ng t
oolto gat
hercrowdsour
ced publ
ic
i
nput ;used t
o col
lectsuggest
ed l
ocati
onsand commentsina
soci
al,engagi
ngprocess.
• Texti
zen-af eedbacktoolforthemobileage,usingtext
ingor
shortmessageser vi
ce(SMS),thatal
lowsci
ti
zensorgovernment
off
ici
alst
oor ganizeapollf
oraci t
yandpubli
shresult
sinpubl
ic.

Thecampaignchall
engedbr i
gadesin28citi
estolaunchoneoft hef
our
feat
uredappli
cat
ionsintheirci
tybyNovember6,201 2.We’l
ltakeal
ook
atsomeoftheresult
sinjustabit
.Butf
irs
t,backt
oRal eight
oseehow we
gotourBr
igadeupandr unning.

St
art
ing aRal
eigh Codef
orAmeri
caBri
gade
Cit
yCampRal eighhosted ameet -
uponOct ober24,2012toshowcasea
few proj
ects and announce ourCode f
orAmer i
ca Bri
gade.Ci
tyCamp
Ralei
ghisevolvingint
osomet hi
ngmorethananannualeventandaCode
forAmericaBrigadeseemslikeanatur
alprogres
sionforus.

Thebr i
gadedeci ded t
oor ganizeusi ngaco-captainmodel .Fellow ci
vic
geeksChadFol eyandRei dSer ozij oi
nedmet ol eadt hi
sef f
ort,andwe
formali
zed ourcommi tmentwi thanof f
ici
alcharteroutliningourgoal s
fortheyear .Wepl anonhos t
ingmont hlymeet-upsandpar ti
cipati
ngi n
two tot hr
ee annualevent swi th Cit
yCamp Raleigh being the pr i
mar y
event.Weal sowantedtodeployanexi st
ingCodef orAmer icaappl i
cation
i
nRal ei
ghandt heRacef orReus ecampai gnwasaper fectoppor tunity.

TheRalei
gh bri
gade selected t
heAdoptaappli
cati
on becauseitwoul
d
provi
deatechnicalf
ront-endtoanexi
sti
ngcityprogram al
readyi
nplac
e
foradopt
ing busshelters.Hereisan excer
ptfrom the pressrel
eas
e

1
02
announci
ngt
heAdopt
-A-
Shel
terappl
icat
ioni
nRal
eighf
rom November1
3,
2012.
80

Citi
zensi nter estedi nmai ntai
ningandmoni toringt heirfavori
te
CityofRal ei ghbusshel t
ernow haveahel pi
nghand:t heAdopt -
A-Shel t
eri nt er
act i
vewebappl icat
ion.Adopt-A-Shelterinstantl
y
displ
ayst he adopt i
on statusofal lcit
ybusshel ters.Code for
Ralei
gh,ar ecentlyf or
medCodef orAmer i
cabr igadei nRaleigh
thati ncl
udesvol unteersf r
om Ci t
yCamp Raleigh,depl oyed the
applicati
onf orus einRaleigh.

Code f or Ral eigh advocat es for existi

ng appl icat
ions and
technologyc reat ed byCode f orAmer i
ca,anat i
onalnon- profi
t
focusedoni mpr ovinggover nmentt hrought echnology.Codef or
Raleighhasr ecent lydepl oyedanAdopt -
A-Shelterappl i
cati
onat
adopt ashelter.
r alei
ghnc. gov highl
ight
ing 184 shelters avail
able
foradopt ioninRal eigh.Citi
zenscaneasi lysi
gnupf oraone- year
commi t
mentt ohel pkeepRal eighbusshel t
erscleanf orCapi t
al
AreaTr ans i
t(CAT)r iders.

“I
t’
sani nteracti
vewayf orresidentst oseewhi chbusshel t
ers
have been adopt ed,
” said David Eatman,t he Cit
y’stransi
t
administ
rator.“We ar e deli
ghted thatcitizens fr
om Code for
Ralei
gh have st epped up to offer thi
st echnicalresour
ce to
encouragepar t
icipati
oninthisCit
ypr ogram.”

Code f or Ral
eigh r
ecently entered t hei
r Adopt -A-Shel
ter
appli
cati
oninaCodeforAmer i
caRaceforReusecampai gn.Only
fi
ve weeks remainto promot ethe projectand increase the
adopti
onr at
e.CodeforRaleighhopest ohave20new shel t
ers
adoptedbyDecember6, 201
2t omeettheirsuccesscri
teria.

TheRaleighAdopt -A-Shelt
erpr ogram begani nSeptember2012 .Cit
izens
whoadoptabusshel terarer equired t
o help mai
ntai
nt he shelterby
removing trashin and ar ound the shelterarea on a mont hly basis.
Adoptersar e pr
ovided wi t
ht rash bags,disposabl
e gl
oves,and s afety
veststo assisti
nr emoving trash around thei
radopted shelt er
s.The
volunt
eersar ealsoaskedt or eportanyvandal i
sm orsuspici
ousact ivi
ty
80 ht
tp:
//
cit
ycampral
.or
g/201
2/1
1/r
alei
gh-
code-
for
-amer
ica-
bri
gade-
launches-
adopt
-a-
shel
ter
-
web-
appli
cat
ion/

1
03
andnotif
yc i
tystaf
fofanymaintenanc
eiss
ues.Ci
tizenswhoadoptbus
shel
ter
sar easkedtomakeaone-
yearcommitment
.

Gettingt heAdopt aappl i

cationi nstal
led waspr obablytheeasiestpar t
.
And Chad Fol ey deser ves a maj or shout-out f or gett
ing t hat
accompl i
shed.WhatIl ear ned by par ti
cipati
ng int he RaceforReus e
campai gnwast hatwheni t’sallsaidi tdone,thi
si sanawar enessissue.
Mos tciti
zensandbusi nessesdon’ tknow aboutthepr ogram,butcit
izens,
organizations,and business es are mor et han wil
li
ng to adopta bus
shelteronc etheyknow theyc an.

81
Ral
eigh Bri
gadepresentsatci
tycounci
l
On t he evening ofDecember4,201 2 Chad Foley,Reid Serozi
,and I
presentedanupdat etot heRalei
ghCityCouncilontheRaleighCodef or
Amer icaBrigadeRacef orReus ecampaign.Oneoft hehighlightsofthe
eveningwasconduct i
ngademooft heAdopt-A-Shelt
erappl i
cati
on.The
mai nhighli
ght,however ,wasthechall
engeissuedbyCounci lorCrowder
toCounc il
orGaylordt hatult
imatelyhel
peddriveawar enessaroundt his
effort.

The councilwas ver y enthusi

astic aboutt he Adopta application.The
publicchall
engebet weenCounci lorsCr owderandGayl ordwast ogetat
l
eas tfournew adopt ionsby t he end oft he week int heirr especti
ve
distr
ict
s.At -
Large CouncilorBaldwin al so agreed t
o adopta new bus
shelter not vi
sibl
ei n the appl i
cation yet ,that isl ocated i n her
neighborhood.J
okingly,Council
orCr owderc lai
medCounc il
orBal dwinfor
histeam.

Aspr es enters,ourstrategywast omakesur etheCounc i

lwasf ami
liar
with Code f orAmer i
ca,the brigade pr ogram,and t he Race f orReuse
campai gn.Wekepti tveryhi ghlevel,us ed analogies,suchasCodef or
Amer icai slikeTeachf orAmer ica,butf orlocalmuni ci
palit
ies.Thenwe
wenti ntodet ail
saboutourgoal s,didademooft heapplicati
on, andmos t
import antl
y,wepubl icl
ythankedal loft heCi tystaf
fwhohel ped.Thiswas
import anttodobecauset hi
scampai gnwasmor ethanjus tFoley,Ser
ozi,
and mysel f.City st
affr eal
ly stepped up t ot he platet o make t his
successf ul
.Remember ,t
hisisapar tnershi p.

81 ht
tp:
//
cit
ycampr
al.
org/
201
2/1
2/counci
l-
chal
lenge-
issued-
for
-bus-
shel
ter
-adopt
ion/

1
04
Weal soshowedt heCityCouncilwherewewer ei nt hecampai gn.Atthe
ti
meoft hepr esentat
ion,wehads ixnew busshel teradopt i
onsthrough
the appl
icati
on sinceitlaunched.Dur i
ng t he ques ti
on and comment
peri
od,thingsgotexciti
ng.Council
orswant edt oexpl oretheapplicat
ion,
hadquest i
onsaboutnew busshel t
ers,andexpr ess edt hei
rappreciat
ion.
We needed t o have 14shelter
s adopted int hr ee days to meetour
campaign goal.And from whatIcoul dt ell
,Raleigh'sCi t
yCounc ilwas
ampedt ohelpmeett hatgoalandhelpwi t
hawar enes s.

Racef
orReuseresul
ts
The r esults weret all
ied up in mi d-December of 201 2 by Code for
Amer ica.
82
Intotal
,therewer e31civicappli
cati
onsdepl oyed(reused)in28
citi
es.Themos tpopularappl i
cati
onwasLocal Wiki,aprojectthatRalei
gh
launchedi nMar chof201 2undert heTr i
angleWi kiname.Aswel earned
throughourexper ience,theengagementpar tist hebiggesthurdle.And
byt hat,Imean,maki ngcitizensawar eoft heproj
ectandget t
ingthem to
usei t
.

Dur i
ng the Code f
orAmer i
ca campai
gn,Local
Wikiwasdeployed i
n10
ci
tiesandhadmor ethan2,
000new pagescreat
edbymorethan400new
contributor
s.

Grand pr
izes were awarded to Anchorage,Alaska fordeployi
ng the
Adopt-
A-Hydrantapplicat
ion and f
osteri
ng 1
42adopt ions.Tol
edo,Ohio
wasalsoagr andprizewinnerf ordeployi
ngitsLocalWikiproj
ectcal
led
Tol
edoWiki–whichnett
edal most90newcont ri
butors
.

How did Raleigh far

e in thisf r
iendl
y contest
? We r eceived an
engagementawardf orthe Adopt
-A-Shel
terappli
cati
on and s
ur pas
sed
ourgoalof20adopti
onswit
h26newadopt edshel
ters.

Otherengagementawar d wi
nnersincluded twomor eLocal
Wikipr
oject
deployments
,one i
n Balt
imore,Mar yl
and call
ed “B’
MOREPipeli
ne”and
anotherot
herinKansasCit
y,Missour
icall
ed“ wiki
KC.”

Thegrand pri
zewasabl ockpartysponsored byCodef orAmericaf or
each wi
nning ci
ty and a year of f
ree hosti
ng for t
heir appl
icat
ion.
Engagementawar d wi
nnersgotayearoff reehos t
ing t
ohel psustain
82 ht
tp:
//
codef
oramer
ica.
org/
201
2/1
2/1
3/announci
ng-
winner
s-of
-the-
race-
for
-reuse/

1
05
t
hei
ref
for
t.

Whyengagementdaysmat
ter
Oner easonwhymanycommuniti
esparti
cipat
ingintheRaceforReuse
campaign wer
esuccessf
ulwasbecauseofengagementdays–adayor
eveni
ngsetasidef
ort hecommuni
tytocomet oget
herandworkont he
proj
ect.

I
nRal eigh,wecall
edourengagementdayf orthecampai gnaCi vi
c-a-
thon.
Ourbr igade wanted t
oi ncl
ude ci t
izensofal lspecialt
ies,ev en ifthat
meantnotasi ngleounceoft echnicalknow-how. Wepr ovidedot herway s
toengagepeopl e,suchasc reatingTr i
angleWi kipagesor ,i
nonec ase,
submi t
ting a desi
gn for a bus s helter adopti
on adver tisement.We
real
ized thatsoluti
onscan comef rom anyand al lciti
zens:s omet i
mes
theyjustneedtobeengagedt her i
ghtway.

SimilartoTri
angleWi kiDay,othercommunit
ieshostedc ontentspri
ntsor
write-a-
thonstot eachpeopl eaboutLocal
Wi kiand populatetheirwikis
withl oc
alknowledge.Tech-focusedengagementdayst hatarepr i
mar i
ly
focused oncodedevel opmentar ecal
ledhackathons.Communi ti
esthat
hosthac kat
honsar edoingthegoodki ndofhacking.I
t’
spar tofthei
rcivic
duty.

Beyond t he Race forReuse campai

gn,engagementev ents are being
hostedallovert heworld.Opengover
nment -
focusedunconferencess uch
asCi t
yCamp,Tr anspar
encyCamp,and Government2.0 Camp ar e other
exampl esofengagementdays.

TheSunli
ghtFoundati
on83 st
artedTr ansparencyCampi n2009asawayof
bri
dging communiti
es interested in open gover nment.The Sunli
ght
Foundati
onisanonparti
san,nonpr ofi
tbasedi nWas hi
ngton,DC,wor
king
toincr
easegover
nmentt ranspar encythroughtechnology.

Thef i
rstTrans parencyCampwashel d atGeorgeWashi ngt onUniversit
y
and drew around 1 00 part
icipants.Att
endeesdi scussed thec hal
lenges
i
nvolvedincreat ingandi mplement i
ngt ranspar
encypolici
esi ntheUnited
Stat
es gover nment .Those conver sat
ions led to“ TransparencyCamp
West,” hel
dl ater in 2009,co- hosted by Googlei n Mount ain View,
83 ht
tp:
//
sunl
ight
foundat
ion.
com/

1
06
Cali
forni
a.Formoredetai
lsontheor i
ginsofTr
ansparencyCampandt he
rat
ionaleforrunni
ngtheev ent
,checkoutitshow-toguide84 and br
ing
onet oyourci
ty.

Mor erecentwor kbytheSunlightFoundationincl

udesres pondingtothe
waveofopendat apoli
ciesandopengover nmentdi r
ecti
vest aki
ngrootat
thelocallevelandbeyond.In2012,theypublishedaseriesofOpenDat a
Poli
cyGui deli
nes, whi
85
cht heyhopet oevolveastheycont i
nuet oengage
with government offi
cial
s,civi
c hackers,civilsoci
ety advocates,and
others.

The Sunl
ight Foundat
ion has been an inspir
ation t
o both Code f
or
America and Ci t
yCamp. Jen Pahlka and Kevi n Curry have ci
ted
Trans
parencyCampast hei
ns pi
rat
ionalcat
alystforthei
rpr
oject
s.

I
’vebeenmosti nvol
vedwitht
heCityCampmovementasanor ganizerfor
twoCi t
yCampsi nRalei
ghandasanat tendeeandspeakeratnumer ous
CityCampsacrosstheUnit
edStates.Next,I
’dl
iket
os haremyt houghts
from myCityCamp experi
enc
es,whichhavebeenat rueinspirati
onf or
me.

84 ht
tp:
//
transpar
encycamp.org/
how-to/
85 ht
tp:
//
sunli
ghtfoundat
ion.
com/pol
icy/
opendat
a/

1
07
Part2:Ci
tyCamp t
ourand bestpract
ices
Ci
tyCampi sagr eatwayt ostarttheengagementpr ocesswithdi f
ferent
st
akeholdersincl
udingcit
izens,
cityst
aff
,elect
edoffi
cials
,journali
sts,
and
manyother s.I
t’
salsoagreatwayt ogenerateideasaboutpr oblemsy our
ci
tyisf
ac i
ngandexpl or
epot enti
alsol
uti
ons.

I
’dliket otakeyouonat ourofmyotherCityCampexperi
ences.Through
myj obatRedHat ,I
’vehadt heopport
uni
tytot r
avelt
oCit
yCampev ent
sin
Denv er,Honolul
u,andKansasCi t
y.Imetsomeamazi ngpeopl
eal ongthe
way.Il earned aboutt heircommuniti
es and documented some best
practic
esf orfutureorganizers
.

Ci
tyCamp Col
orado
Therei sastr ongopengover nmentandopendat amovementi nCol or
ado,
86
thankst othef olksatOpen Col orado. They’vehosted threeCi t
yCamp
eventsovert hel astthreeyearsandIwasabl etoattend thecampsi n
2011and201 2.We’ l
lfi
rsttakeal ookatsomeoft hekeyt ake-awaysfrom
the sec ond Ci tyCamp Colorado heldin 2011.Then I
’l
lexpl ain how the
communi tyisshar ing i
tstechni
calexper t
isebygi vi
ng bac k,withnews
from theirthir dCi t
yCamphel din2012.

Fir
st,it’
si mportantt o ment i
on thatattendees atthe fi
rstCi t
yCamp
87
Coloradocreatedal ocalOpenGover nmentDi r
ecti
ve. It
'satemplatefor
othermuni ci
pali
tiest o use,modeled aft
ert heObamaAdmi ni
strat
ion'
s
Open Gover nment Di r
ect i
ve.
88
I
t highl
ightst he workt hat can be
accompl i
shedwhenl ike-mindedcivicgeeksc ometogetherforacommon
cause.Progressismadeandt hensharedf orotherst
ouse.That ’
soneof
themaj orbenefi
tsoft heopens ourcemodel .

89
Enhanci
ng accesst
ogovernment

Mor
ethan70peopl
egat
heredtopar
tici
pat
ein,lear
nabout,
andadvanc e
t
heopengover
nmentmovementatthe2011Ci
tyCampColoradoevent
.It
86 http:
//opencol
orado.org/
87 http:
//opengovernment i
niti
ative.or
g/
88 http:
//www.whitehouse.gov/open
89 Adapt ed fr
om 'The power s hifteff
ectofopen government
,'(c)2011opensource.com,
publi
shed under a Cr eative Commons At tr
ibuti
on-Shar
eAl
ike 3.0 Unported li
cense,
avail
ableathttp:/
/opensour ce.com/gover
nment/
11/
11/
power-
shi
ft-
effect
-open-
government .

1
08
star
ted offwit
h Tom Downeyand Stephani
eO'Mall
eyfrom t
heCi t
yof
Denver sett
ing t
he stage f
or t
he day’
st heme:Enhanci
ng access t
o
government.

Tom Downey,Dir
ect
orofExc i
seandLi censingfort
heCityandCount yof
Denver,i
sexcit
edaboutt headopt i
onofopengover nment.Hesai dthe
beautyofamovementlikeCityCampi st hatt
heorgani
zati
onalstr
ucture
isfl
at(wit
houtmuchhierarchy),deci
sionsaremadedemocr at
ical
ly,and
thi
ngscangetdoneandmov ef orward.

Downey'sday- to-
dayf unctionsi
ncludeworkingwi thavarietyofli
censes
forthe City and Count y ofDenver,ranging fr
om medi calmar i
juana
permit
st oliquorlic
ens esandevenmanagi ngpar kingzones–allofwhich
runonanal l-
papers ystem.TheDepar t
mentofExc is
eandLi censi
nghas
noonli
nel i
c ensesystem, notevenforpayment s
.Downeysai dithurtsthe
cit
ywhent heirDepar t
mentdoesn' toperatehow cons umersareusedt o
doingbusiness.

Bymovi ngt oanonl i

nesys tem wheret helicenseproces sisdigiti
zedand
payment sc an be made onl i
ne,itwillmake Denverbet ter
,f aster,and
moret ransparent.Forlicensees,itwil
lmakei teasi
ert odobusi nesswi t
h
the Cityand Count y.Forconc erned cit
izens,the processwi llbe mor e
openandt ransparent,allowingthem t oseewhoi sappl yi
ngf orlicenses,
wher etheyar einthepr ocess,andift herear eanyres tri
cti
onsont hem.
Theyc andot hisnow, butt heyhavet ophysicallygotot heofficeandl ook
atthepapercopy,cr eatingabar ri
eraswel laswas t
ingt imeandmoney
forbothciti
zensandCi tyempl oyees.

"Whatar ewedoi ngt ocreateanatmosphereofIt'

seas ytodobusi ness
wit
hDenver ?"asked Downey.Hi sDepartmentwant stoputdoc uments
onl
ineandal low peopletosearchinfor
mationandapplicati
ons,payf i
nes,
andr enew appli
cat i
ons.Thiswil
lcreat
eamor eopengover nmentanda
bett
erbusi nessat mosphere.Whil
esimplygoingonli
nei s
n'tnecessari
lya
hugeadvanc etowar dsopen government,itisafirststep toens uri
ng
fut
ureef f
or t
saremor einli
newithopengovernmentiniti
ati
ves.

Whi
ledoi
ngt hi
swillsavemoney,anothers avi
ngscomesi nadifferent
f
orm–i
ttakestheburdenof foft
hestaff
.Theyc annow shi
ftpr
ior
iti
est o
wor
konstrat
egicpr
ojectsandprovi
debettercustomerservi
cei
nsteadof

1
09
l
ooki
ngforpapercopiesofali
cense.Downeysai
ditwi
llal
somaket he
i
nfor
mat
ionmor eacc
essibl
eandshif
tsthepowert
onei
ghborhoods.

Downeyal sos pokebr i

ef lyabouti mpr ovement st oitsnot i
ficat i
onpr ocess
forper mitappl i
cations.Pr evious l
y,t hi
spr ocesswashar dt oi mpl ement
usingt heGI Ssyst em becaus et hel aw requi rednot i
cesbegi venwi thi
na
five-blockradius,whi chwasnotanat uralf or
mul af orthes ys tem. TheGI S
sys t
em coul dc reat e a ci rcle wi th af ive-bl
oc kr adius,but Denver '
s
compl icated citybl ocks tructure meantt hatnotal lstakehol der swer e
get t
ing not i
ficati
ons as s pecified by t he or dinance.Hi s depar t
ment
wor kedwi tht heGI Sdi visiont oi mpr ovet hes ystem andc i
ti
zensaf fected
ar e now gett i
ng t he r equi red not ifi
cati
ons.Movi ng these appl i
cat i
ons
onl i
ne willimpr ove t he sys t em f urther,by cr eat ing trans par ency and
allowingal lci
t i
zenst or eview appl icati
ons,notj ustt hosei mpact edoras
requi r
edbyt hel aw.

How isopengover nmentstar

tingtoadvanc einColor
ado?"I
t'
sallthese
li
ttl
et hi
ngsthatbuil
dintosomethingthatist r
emendous,
"saidDowney.
Ast he Cit
ystartsto web-
enablet he f
il
ing ofbr
iefsand i
mprove the
noti
ficat
ionsyst
em, i
tmakesprogress.

I
t'
snotonemajorinnovati
onorpr ocesschangethat'
sgoi
ngtooneday
make our gover
nment mor e open. I t'
s buil
ding on indi
vidual
i
mprovement
soneatat imethatshif
tsthepowertothepeopl
e.

***

Combat
ing dupl
icat
ion wi
thopen government90

AfterTom Downeyt al
kedaboutenhanci ngaccesstogovernment ,Deput y
ChiefofSt af
fSt ephani e O'
Mall
ey forDenverMay orMi c haelHanc ock
explai
ned theimpor t
anceofci ti
zensknowing how tof i
nd gover nment
i
nformat i
on.This ment ali
tyis a di
recti
ve t
hatshe wor ks t o achi
eve
everyday,and the MayorofDenveri sdedicated t
ot rans parencyand
openness,bel
ievingcitizensshouldknow what'
shappeningi nt hei
rcity.

90 Adapted f
rom '
Combating dupl
icat
ion wi
th open government ,
'(c
)2011opensource.com,
publi
shed under a Creati
ve Commons At tri
buti
on-ShareAlike 3.
0 Unported li
cense,
avai
labl
e at htt
p://
opensource.
com/government/11
/11
/combati
ng-dupl
icat
ion-open-
government.

1
10
Oneoft hemostobvi ouschall
engesf orDenveri si
tsbudgetl imitati
ons.
O'Mal l
eyment i
onedt hatt heITDepar tmenthasmor et han$10mi lli
onin
request s,bothinternalandexternal,butcanfundonly$2mi l
li
on.TheCi t
y
real
izest hatdataisver ypower f
ul,andlikeotherci
ties,i
tstruggleswi t
h
how t or espond tot hevol umeofr equestswithli
mi t
ed resources.The
decisionsmadear ebasedont hepr i
ori
tiesoftheMayorandmaxi mizi
ng
ther eturnoni nvestment .

One ofDenver ’
s bi ggestchallenges i s dupli
cati
on.Notonl yi st here
duplicationint hewor koft heCityagenci es,whowantt odogr eatt hings,
butital soappl i
est omunicipal
iti
esi ns urr
oundingar eas .O'
Malleys eesan
oppor tunityt o br eak down t he s i
los and cons olidate eff
or t
s ,bot h
int
er nallyandac r ossther egi
on. Shealsoseesanoppor tuni
tyforr egional
coll
abor ation."Citiesneed t obemor ewi ll
ing t
os har einfor
mat ion and
notputupbar rier stoit,
"shes aid.Basedont heparticipant
swhower eat
Cit
yCamp Col orado,Denver Count yi s primed tot ake advant age of
regionalcol l
abor ation.

O'Malleythi
nkst het ransi
ti
ont oopensour ces ol
uti
onsand mor eopen
gover nmentini
tiat
iveswi l
lmakedat amor eacc essi
ble.Thepowerofa
regionalopengover nmenti sanunt appedoppor tuni
ty,butchangetakes
ti
meandef fort
."Folksareac cust
omedt odoingbus i
nessinamor etech-
savvyway,"shesaid."Itwil
ltakeal otofconversati
onandi twil
ltaketime.
That'swhywe'reher etoday."

Cit
yCampi sagr eatwayt ogetst akehol
der sfrom di
fferentmunicipali
ties
tal
kingaboutissuestheyf ac
eandexpl or
ingpot enti
alsoluti
ons.Ther eis
toomuchdupl i
cat edeffortbetweenf ederal,stat
e,county,ci
ty,andt own
muni ci
paldi
str
ictsar ound t he Uni
ted Statesand per hapsar ound t he
world.Weneedmor er egionalcoll
aborati
ont osavet axpayerdollar
sand
developmentti
meandef f
or t
.

***

1
11
Open government t echies gi
ve back wi
th
91
technol
ogyand expert
ise

Smallergover nment s,typi

call
ythosei nruralt
owns ,us ual
lydon’thave
the I
Tcapac ityt ofosterseriousi
nnovati
on in cit
izen parti
cipati
on li
ke
government si nlar
gerci ti
esdo.OpenCol orado and Colorado Code for
Communi ties s
92
har
edt heirtechni
calknowledgeandexper ti
set oc r
eate
ahost ed ser
vi cepl
at f
or mthatprovidesopendat aus i
ngdi fferentweb
andmobi leappl i
cat
ions.

OpenCol
oradoannouncesAdopt-
A-Ci
typrogram

The newsofa new Adopt -A-Ci

typr ogr
am wasmade dur i
ng the t
hir
d
annualCity
Camp Colorado eventt hatwasheld on October26,201 2i
n
Denver.Tokickoffthepr ogram,thegoalwass ettoadoptatl easttwo
ci
ti
esinColoradoovert henextyearandst and-
upinfrast
ructur
et hatwil
l
encouragecit
izenengagement .

"Whatwe’ r
elookingtodoisgivebacktotheruralcommunities.
Theones
thatgrow ourf ood,dri
llforouroil
,and powerourc i
ti
es,”said Br
ian
Gr yt
h,Presi
dentand Co-founderofOpen Colorado."
It’
stimef orust o
givebacktothoseciti
eswithourexpert
iseandtechnol
ogy."

Codef
orCommuni
tiesbui
ldsahuman-
dri
venpl
atf
orm

Color
adoCodef orCommuni ti
es,aCodef orAmer icaBrigadeinDenver
,
hasbigplansfor2013.I
twantst odepl
oyeights oftwareappli
cati
onsby
the end of the year,suc
h as Adopt a,add 400 new dat asetsto
opencol
orado.
org bySeptember,and gettwo r egionalcommuniti
esin
Color
adotopassanopengover nmentdirect
ive.

"Codef orCommuni ti
esisaboutbuil
dingahuman- dr
ivenpl
at f
ormt hat
can existindependentofanyone per s
on ororgani
zati
on,
"sai dJason
Lall
y,Color
adoCodef orCommuniti
esBr i
gadecapt
ainandDirectorofthe

91 Adapted f rom ' Opengov t echi

es give back with apps and exper t
ise,
'(c) 2012
opensour ce.com, publ is
hed under a Cr eat
ive Commons Attri
buti
on-ShareAl
ike 3.0
Unport ed li
cense,avai l
able athttp:
//
opensource.
com/gover
nment/
12/
10/opengov-
techi
es-
give-
back- apps- expert
ise.
92 http:
//codefor communi ti
es.
or g/

1
12
Decisi
onLabatPlacematter
s."
Technologyi
snotanendbutameanst o
solvi
ng communit
y probl
ems i
nt he 21stc
entury.The onl
y way we’
re
successf
uli
sift
hiseff
orti
sownedbymanypar tnersandindi
vidual
s.
"

Endpoi
nt.
coand OpenBi
kedemos

Demonst rat
ionswer egivenatCi t
yCamp Coloradoofot herapplicati
ons
developed attheCodef orCommuni tieshackat
hon pr i
ortot hi
sevent.
Fir
st was endpoi nt.
co,a dat a nor mali
zat
ion system that pr ovi
des
inf
ormat i
onaboutt hechar acteri
sti
csofanei ghborhood.Thepur poseis
tointegrateinfor
mat ion such asc r
ime data,demogr aphi
cs,and other
avail
ableopendat af oreasyuserconsumpt i
on."Wet akebigdat aand
makei tsi
mpl etouse,
"saidWi lli
am Golde,endpoi
nt.coevangel
ist.

TheOpenBi keappl icati

on,current
lyunderdevel opment ,wasint
roduced
bydevel operMi chaelLockwi t
z.Hei screati
ngt heplatf
ormt osolvean
absence-of-
inf
ormat i
on pr obl
em f or the bi ki
ng communi ty.It’
s an
i
nteracti
ve biking pl atfor
m combi ning quant i
tati
ve,open dat a wi
th
quali
tati
ve,user -provided dataf or charact
er i
sti
cs such as s
afeness,
beauty,anddiffi
cultyofr outes.

Therearemanyotherlof
ty,y
etachi
evablegoalssetbyColor
adoCodef or
Communi t
iesandIforone,l
ookforwardtos eeinghow t
heyconti
nuet o
sharethei
ropensourceandopendat aknowl edgeandexpert
iseacr
os s
Color
adoandbeyond.

Ci
tyCamp Honol
ulu
I
t’
st i
met oheadt otheisl
andofOahu,Hawai itoseetheimpactofopen
governmenti nt he “Al
oha State.”Ifirstwantt o share wi
t h you an
i
nterview Idi d with Forest Fri
zzel
l,Deput y Dir
ector of Honol ul
u’s
Department of Informati
on Technology,i n pr
eparat
ion for CityCamp
Honolulu.Itpr
ovidessomebackgr oundi nformati
onandhi ghl
ightss ome
oftheef f
ortshappeningintheCityandCount yofHonolul
u.

Asyou’l
ldiscover,Honolul
uusedCi t
yCamp,inpar
t,tofost
erideasf ori t
s
CodeforAmer i
cafell
owship.It
houghtthiswasabril
li
antwayt oengage
ci
ti
zensi n preparati
on forthe Code f
orAmer i
ca proj
ect,whi ch l
ater
devel
opedani nteracti
vequesti
onandanswerplatf
ormf orcit
izenscalled

1
13
Honol
uluAns
wer
s.93

Then,I’
l
lgi veyouar ecapofCi t
yCampHonol uluandsharesomeoft he
themest hatemergedaswel lasnextst eps.
Iwasveryimpress
edwiththe
amountofopengover nmentact ivi
ty,how engagedtheci
ti
zenswere,and
theknowl edgeabl
eITs tafft
hat’smaki ngalotofthi
shappen.Let
’stakea
lookatCityCampHonol ulu.

94
TheAl
ohaSt
ateand opengovernment

Beforet heCityCampHonol ul ueventbegan,ac onversati

onhad already
start
edont heCi ty'
sideaf orum,spar ki
ngal most50i deasrangingf r
om
creati
ng a mobi le appl
ication for bus routes to displ
ayi
ng Ci t
yt ax
revenueandspendi ngtr
ends.I twasgr eattoseet hecommuni t
yi nter
act
beforet he event,suggesting topics t
hatar ei mportanttot hem and
taki
ngt hefirststeptowardsi denti
fyi
ngt hi
ngstheyc ouldworkonatt he
camp.

Alsoinadvanceoft hebi gday,Igotachanc etoc atchupwi thoneoft he

organizer
s,ForestFrizzel
l,DeputyDirectorofHonol ulu’
sDepar t
mentof
I
nf ormati
on Technology.Imetwi th Fri
zzellsoon af tertheyannounc ed
CityCamp Honol ul
u,and we di scussed t he intri
cac i
es of how muc h
planning goesinto an unconfer
ence.I n my interview with Fri
zzel
l,he
provided the l
andscape foropen gover nmenti n Honolulu,whatt hey
hopedt oachievewiththeirCit
yCamp, andmuchmor e.

Whatdoesopengover
nmentc
urr
ent
lyl
ookl
ikef
ort
heCi
tyofHonol
ulu?

Wemadeaconc ertedeffortin201 1t
ocomeupwi t
hideasonhow t obea
mor eopengover nment .Thel ow-hangi
ngf ruitforuswaspos tingal lof
ourf i
nanc i
alinformat i
on.Citi
zensofHonol uluc andownloadourbudget s
i
nl ine item,. csv95 f
orm.We have a f ull
yi ntegrated ERP (
Enterpr i
se
Resour c
ePl anni ng)system,s ogener at
ingt hesereportswassomet hing
that could be done r elativ
el y qui
ckl
y.We al so posted al
lf i
nanci al
disc
losurest atement sforappoi ntedoff
ici
als.
93 http:
//answers.
honolul
u.gov/
94 Adapt ed from 'Showing aloha through open government ,
'(c) 201
1 opensour
ce.com,
publi
shed under a Cr eati
ve Commons At t
ribut
ion-
ShareAl i
ke 3.0 Unport
ed li
cense,
avail
able at ht
tp:/
/opensource.
com/government/1
1/1
1/showi
ng-aloha-
thr
ough-open-
government .
95 Comma- separ
atedvalues

1
14
Simult aneousl y,wes tartedtalkingtoourdepar t
ment saboutopeni ngup
Twitterand Facebookaccount s.Addi ngsoc i
almedi aasamedi um took
someget ti
ngusedt o,butt her eareanumberofDepar t
ment st hathave
doneagr eatj ob wi
tht heseaccount s.TheCi tyhost ed theAsi aPacifi
c
Economi cCooper ati
on( APEC)meet i
ngsher ei nHonol ului n2011.With21
dignitar i
esf rom Pacif i
cRi m countries,incl
udi ng Russi
a,Chi na,and the
United St ates,r oad closures i n an already c ongested c it
y wer ea
troubles omet hought .Wi t
ht hehel p ofTwi tter,Facebook,and Ni xle[a
notif
icat i
ons ervi
ceusedbyl awenf orcement ]wer api
dlygotthewor dout
aboutr oadcl osuresandkeptpeopl eoutoft raffi
c.

Next we'r
e doing a pi
lot project wi
th Ci
ty Sour
ced,a mobil
e/web
appli
cat
ionthatal
lowsci
tizenstot akepi
ctur
esofthi
ngsli
kepot
holesor
brokenstr
eetli
ghtsandreportthem.

Whatdot
heor
gani
zer
shopet
oaccompl
ishatCi
tyCampHonol
ulu?

Wehopet oleveraget heCityCampexper i

enceforafew thi
ngs.Thef i
rst
i
st oletthepubl icknow wear eseriousin wanti
ng t
ohearbackf rom
them abouthow wecanl everagetechnologytomakei tconvenientfor
them toworkwi thgover nmentorbemor eacti
veintheirc ommuniti
es.
Weal sowantt ogetourl ocaldevel
opercommuni tymor einvol
vedwi th
helpi
ngusc r
eat ecit
izen-f
ocus edappl
icat
ions.

Theideaofgovernmentdataasapl atformisanew conceptandonet hat

i
sgoi ngtotaketi
met ofull
yunder st andandgetbuy- i
nf rom t
hepublic
on.Ibeli
eveoncewecans how at angi bl
eappli
cati
onl i
ker eal
-ti
mebus
arr
ivals or an appli
cat
ion t hat shows r efuse pick-up times for
nei
ghborhoods,peopl
ewillstar
tt of ull
yunderst
andt heconceptofopen
data.

Fi
nally,Honol
uluwasselect
edasa201 2Codef orAmericacit
y.Ci
tyCamp
wil
lbeanexcel lentwayforustocrowdsourceandhaveal argeamount
ofdiscussedandvettedi
deasandsuggesti
onsforthatengagement.

Howcant
heaver
ageci
ti
zenpar
tici
pat
eatCi
tyCampHonol
ulu?

Thef
irstwaywoul
dbet
osi
mpl
ysi
gnupandat
tend.Wewantt
ospr
ead

1
15
themessaget hatCityCampisn'tjustforthedev el
oper sofHonol ul
u,but
alsoci vi
cgr oups,designer
s,usersofgover nmentser vices,andf or
war d-
thinkingpeopl e.Youdon’thavet obeacomput erexper ttor eal
izethatif
one coul dr eserve acampsite online i
nstead ofc omi ng to ci
tyhallt o
standi nline,thatwoul dbeamuchmor eef f
ici
entuseoft ime.Thevoice
oft heaver ageciti
zenisaveryimpor t
antpiec etothisinit
iati
ve.

Whathasbeenthebiggestsur
pri
sesof
ar,
asyouhel
ppl
anandor
gani
ze
Ci
tyCampHonol
ulu?

Thet remendousamountofsuppor tfrom theCityCampgr ouphasbeen

overwhel ming.Wedi dn’thavet ocreateourcamp f rom thegr oundup,
ratherjusttweaki thereandt hereforourneeds. I
’vealsobeenener gi
zed
byt heamountofcommuni t
yent husi
asm thishasgener at
ed. We’vebeen
ablet opul ltogethersomequal i
tysponsorsinashor tamountoft i
me,
whic hspeaksvol umesf orhow readypeoplearetot al
kaboutt hissubj
ect.
We’ ve als
o had a numberofcommuni ty member sst ep up and off
er
assistanceinplanningt heevent.

***

Asyoucans ee,
Honolul
u’sopengovernmentini
ti
ati
vesareofft
oagreat
star
t.Nowt hatyouunderstandali
ttl
ebitmoreabouttheeff
orts
underwayint heCit
yandCount yofHonolul
u,l
et’
sseewhathappenedat
thei
rCityCamp.

96
Rest
ori
ng t
rusti
n government

Thet hemet hatemer gedf rom thef i

rstCityCampHonol uluwasr estori
ng
cit
izen confidence int heir government .In a ver y collaborative and
partici
patoryatmospher e,organizerslookedt ocit
izenst ogener ateideas
fortheCi tyofHonol ulu'sCodef orAmer icapr oj
ectand t ohar nesst he
power ofdesi gn t
hinking tor api
dly prototype ten topi cs gener at
ed
duringtheunc onference.

Desi
gnthinki
ngr ef
erst
othemethodsandproces
sesfori
nvesti
gati
ngil
l-
defi
ned problems,acqui
ri
ng i
nformat
ion,anal
yzi
ng knowledge,and
96 Adaptedfrom '
Restori
ngtrustingovernment ,
'(c)2012opensour
ce.
com, publ
ishedundera
Creati
ve Commons At tri
buti
on-ShareAli
ke 3. 0 Unpor t
ed license, avail
abl
e at
ht
t p:
//
opensour
ce.com/government/1
1/1
2/r
estoring-tr
ust-
government.

1
16
posit
ingsoluti
onsint hedesignandpl anni
ngf i
elds.
97
I
t’
sbr ai
nst
orming
withas t
r uct
ured process
.Design t
hinki
ngallowsamas si
veamountof
i
deast obegener atedinashortamountoft i
me,whi l
eal soensuri
ngthat
thebestideasrisetothetop.

Governmentpaneland f
irstbreakoutsessi
ons

BurtLum,aCi t
yCamp Honol uluorgani zer,kicked offthedayand kept
parti
cipant sontrackduringt heevent .Lum pr ovidedabr i
efint
r oduct
ion
aboutwhatt o expect.The day s tarted wi t
h a gover nmentpanelt o
provi
deanupdat eoncurrentandf ut ureinit
iativesintheCityandCount y
ofHonol ulu.ThepanelincludedGor donBr uce,CIO oftheCityandCount y
of Honol ulu,Forest Fri
zzell
,Deput y Director of the Depar tment of
I
nformat ionTechnology,andDougChi n,Managi ngDirectorfortheCityof
Honolulu.

Fri
zzellshared atimeli
net hathighli
ght ed i
niti
ati
vesthathaveal ready
happened,s uc
hasCanDoHonol ul
u,98
anonlineportalforci t
izens.The
ti
meline then showed the CityCamp eventand a 24- hourhackat hon
scheduledforJanuary2012.
Themoment um f
rom theseevent swoul dfeed
theCodef orAmer i
cakickoffi
nFebr uary2012andanant i
cipatedOpen31 1
proj
ectalsoin2012.

Brucet al
ked aboutthe vi
sion to cr
eateasmartercit
izen.He saidif
governmentI Tcanpresentacl earvisi
ont
hatimprovesservi
ces,saves
money ,andmanagesITcosts,theresult
swoul
dleadtoengagedc it
izens
whopar ti
cipat
einthei
rgovernment .

Bruce also t
ouched on the Offi
ce ofI
nfor
mation Pr
acti
ces'open dat
a
poli
cy.Ifitgetsar equestf oropendata,i
tproducesthedat asetand
opensitt othepublic."
Ifmedi aXcomesinandas ksfordata,i
nst
eadof
j
ustgivingittothemedi a,we'regoi
ngtogivei
tt othepubli
c.We'l
lgetit
ontheCanDosi t
e,"Brucestated.

"I
t'sarealchangeinhow wet hi
nkandhow wedot hi
ngs,"hesaid.I
t'st
his
type of shiftin ment al
it
yt hat is making real pr
ogr es
si n open
government .MoreI
Tdepar tmentsshoul
dt akenoteandl ooktoestabl
ish
simil
arpoli
ciestoprovi
deopendat atocit
izensinthi
smanner .
97 ht
tp:
//
en.wiki
pedi
a.or
g/wiki
/Desi
gn_t
hinki
ng
98 ht
tp:
//
can-do.
honolul
u.gov/

1
17
Aftert hepanel,attendeest ransit
ionedintounconf er
enc emode.Vot i
ng
for the day'ss essions concluded,and t he fir
st five sessions wer e
announc ed.Parti
cipant smoved t ot he breakoutr oomsand st art
ed to
col
labor at
e on thei r chosen topi
cs.Iat tended and par t
icipated ina
sessi
onaboutS. W. E.
E.T.S.
:Surf,Weather,Emer gencies,Events,Traffi
c,and
Servi
c es.Theideawast ocreateonepl atf
or mt hatbr i
ngsal loft heCi t
y
andCount ydepart ment stogether.I
twoul dleverager eal
-ti
me,l ocati
on-
baseddat atokeepci t
izensinformedonwhat '
shappeni ngrightnow.

Busi
nesspanelandsecond breakoutsessi
ons

After a shortl unch break,t he second panelof t he day pr ovi

ded
perspecti
vesf r
om outsideofHawai i.Ijoi
ned apanelwi t
hAl issaBlack,
formerGover nmentRel ationsDi r
ectoratCodef orAmer i
ca,and Steve
Bretches,a consult
antatI BM.Ourgoalwast o provi
de i
nsightt othe
audienceaboutwhatwe' res eei
ngar oundtherestofNor t
hAmer icaand
beyond.

Blackhighli
ght edCodeforAmer i
capr oj
ect
sli
keChangeByUs ,Classtalk,
and Wher e's My SchoolBus .
99
Bret
ches hel
ped to draw compar isons
betweent echnologyandt hepeoplewhousei t.
"It
'snotabouttechnology,
i
t'
s about t he cooperation with the government,c ommunity,and
businesses,
"c l
aimedBretches.

Iadded lessonswe coul dlearnfrom the open s

our c
e wor l
d,such as
creati
ng apar ti
cipat
oryand invi
ti
ng envi
ronmentt hatwoul dlead t
oa
cult
ureoft ransparencyandaccountabil
it
y.Ialsoprovided examplesof
what'shappeningatot herCi
tyCamps.

The sec ond round ofsessions s

tart
ed.Ij umped i
n and moder at
ed a
sessiononmaki ngtheCityofHonol ulu'
sbudgetmor etranspar
ent.The
partici
pantsandImadeanout l
ineofwhatisc ur
rent
lyavail
ablefr
om the
cit
yanddr af
tedactionstepstoexpl orehow anopenbudgetwoul dbe
cit
izen-fri
endlybyprotot
ypingseveralusecasesandscenari
os.

Desi
gnt
hinki
ng

Thef
inalchar
gef
ort
hedaywast
obegi
npr
otot
ypi
ngt
het
opt
eni
deas.
99 ht
tp:
//
codef
oramer
ica.
org/
proj
ect
s/

1
18
Theorgani
zersprepared abr i
efintroducti
on bys howing avideof r
om
NYU Wagneron design thinking f
orpubl ic pol
icy and soci
alimpact.
Par
tici
pant
sbrokeintotendi f
ferentgr oupsandbegant oprototypethe
i
deasfrom t
heday,whichinc
luded:

• S.
W. E.
E.T.
S.
:Sur f
,Weat
her,Emergenci
es,Event
s,Tr
aff
ic,and
Servic
es(real
-ti
meci
tyi
nfor
mati
on)
• Adopt
-A-
Node(
wif
i)
• Real
-ti
mebusar
rival
• St
andar
dAPI
• Expandonl
ines
ervi
ce
• Tr
asht
otr
easur
e
• Payf
orpar
king/
findapar
kings
potappl
icat
ion
• Mapabi
kel
ane/
findabi
ker
out
eappl
icat
ion
• Ci
tyt
axr
evenue/
spendi
ngt
rends(
transpar
entbudget
)
• Ci
tyr
emi
nder
s

Eachteam dri
ll
eddowni ntothei
rtopi
c.Somecameupwi
thact
ionplans
,
other
sdevelopeddesignmock-ups.Al
lthet
eamsshar
edt
hei
rprotot
ypes
bypresent
ingtothelargergr
oup.

A successf
ulCi
tyCamp

Cit
yCampHonol uluwasahugesuccess.Frizzel
lreactedattheendoft he
day,"I
'm overwhelmed.Ican'
tbel i
evehow manypeopl es howed.Today
wasahuges uccess.Wegotat onofi deasthatwec ouldacton–t hatwe
could devel
op in-house ori
n partnershi
p witht he l
ocaldevelopment
communi ty.
CityCampwassous eful
,andwei ns
piredalotofpeople."

Iwasi nspi
redbytheat tendees,ideas,andthepar t
icipantsatCi
tyCamp
Honolulutoo.I
n cl
osing,or ganizerFr i
zzel
lcharged CityCamperswitha
missi
on.Hec hall
enged t hecommuni tyt ohelptransiti
on theCi
tyCamp
eventf r
om an emot i
onalmovementi ntoar eal
it
y." How dowei nspir
e
peopl
et obecomei nvolved?"heas ked.

Fri
zzellpr
oclai
med,"
It'
snotabouttheapp,i
t'snotaboutt
heopendat
a,
it
'saboutpeoplet
aki
ngamor eact
iverol
lint
heircommunit
y."

1
19
Whatc anaCi tyCampdof oryourcommuni ty?AsFrizzel
lpoi nt
edout,it'
s
amovementt hatcanengageyourl ocalcommuni t
y.I'
lladdt hatCit
yCamp
can r
estoret rustin government.The act ivi
ti
esand pr oj
ectsfrom the
Cit
yCampmov ementar ere-engagingci t
izenswhot hinktheydon'thavea
voi
ceingover nment.It'
sgivi
ngpeopl ear easontopar ti
cipate,r
atherthan
j
ustcri
tici
zingt hest
atusquo.

***

Ci
tyCamp KansasCi
ty
Now we’l
lheadoutt othemi dwest,t
oKansasCi
ty,
whereIpresent
edand
fi
rststart
edt oexploret hec oncept
sofanopensourcecit
yandgather
feedbackfrom new audiences.

Fir
stI'
dliketoshareaninter
view wi
thCi
tyCamp KansasCi
tyor
gani
zer
JaseWil
son,aci
vicent
repr
eneurandCEOofLuminopoli
s.

Kansas City explores open government

,ci
vic
l
ife,and i
nnovation100

Iwanted tolearn more abouttheopen governmentmovementi nt he

KansasCit
ymet roareabeforeatt
endi
ngt heirCit
yCamp.Igotachanceto
i
ntervi
ew Jas
eWi lson,oneoft hemainor gani
zersforCit
yCamp Kansas
Cit
y,tounderst
andwhatt heyhopetoaccompl i
sh.

Tel
lusaboutCi
tyCampKansasCi
ty.

Cit
yCampKansasCi t
yi sj
usttheKansasCi t
ymet roareai nstall
mentofthe
i
mmensel ys uccessfulCityCamp ser ies st
arted by Kevi n Cur r
y and
advanced byi nnovativeciti
esl i
keRaleigh.Our si
spr et t
yopen- ended–
parti
cipantssubmi tted presentati
on i
deasand pr oposed t heoutli
neof
theday.Att he50, 000f ootlevel,thethemet hatemer gedi saboutc i
vic
li
feandi nnovati
on.

Whatdot
heor
gani
zer
shopet
oaccompl
ishwi
thCi
tyCampKansasCi
ty?
1
00Adapted from 'KansasCityexplor
esopengovernment ,civi
cli
fe,and innovati
on,'(
c)2012
opensource.com, published under a Creat
ive Commons At t
ribut
ion-ShareAli
ke 3.0
Unported l icense, avail
able at http:
//
opensource.com/government /
12/
4/kansas-
cit
y-
expl
ores-ci
vi c-
li
fe-and-
innovat
ion.

1
20
I
fwec anhelpfacil
itatejustonecollaborati
onbet weenourr egion'
s110+
localgover nment or ganizati
ons and the pr ogrammer s,citi
zens,and
communi tyleaders,t hen the eventi sa s uccess.We wantt o br
ing
awar eness tot he signif
icance ofopen sour ce,open dat a,and open
collaborati
on toattendeesand mot ivat
et hem t o shar
et hes amewi th
theirnet works.With ourhackat hon,we hope t o demonstrate whatis
poss i
blewhenyoubr ingthos ethi
ngst obearinc i
vicmatters.

Weal sowanttoexposeattendeest oaf ew innovati

velinesofthinki
ng
from otherpart
softhecountryandhi ghli
ghtsomeoft heexcel
lentwork
alreadyhappeningi
nsmallpocketsar oundourr egion,soother
scanget
inspir
edandj oi
ninontheci
vicinnovationalr
eadyt aki
ngr oot
.

Whatcanat
tendeesexpectf
rom t
heevent
?

Asanunconference,thequest
ionmi
ghtbewhatt
heeventexpec
tsf
rom
at
tendees.
Af ewthings:
• Di
scover–There'
saspect
rum oftopi
csand act
ivit
iesli
ned up.
Mostattendeeswil
lcomeawayknowing s
omething t
heydidn't
al
readyknow.
• Discuss–Thetopicsand acti
viti
esaren'tuniversal
lyhashed out
oragr eedupon.Attendeeswillhearcertai
nlinesofthi
nking,but
they'l
lhaveampleoppor tuni
tyt odeliberat
eamongt hemselves
regardingthei
rownper spect
ives.
• Do–Afteranenl i
ghteningmorni
ngofs peaker
-ledsessionsanda
l
unchbr eakaroundt henei
ghborhood,at
tendeeswilltakeparti
n
amini
-hackathonf orBikeWal
kKC.

Howdi
dtheor
gani
zer
sgetl
ocalof
fici
alsi
nvol
ved?

We'r
eblessedwi thadevel opi
ngnew waveofopen- mi ndedl ocaloff
icials
whoaregenui nelyinterestedinbetterservingt heirc onsti
tuent sdespi t
e
havi
ng f
ewerr esources.Wehaven' thad todo anyt hi ng special
.Soci al
media,afew emai ls,postsoncer tainli
stservs101,and mosti mportant l
y,
wordofmout h,havenet t
eddozensofl ocaloff i
cialsfrom thr oughoutt he
metroarea.
Landi ngacoupl eoftheli
vel
ierlocalof f
ici
alsasspeaker s–t he
mayorsofKans asCity,MissouriandKansasCi ty,Kansas–pr obablyhel ped
1
01Li
stserv
sar
eanot
hert
ermt
o descr
ibe amai
li
ng l
ist
,suc
h asGoogl
e Gr
oupsorYahoo!
Groups.

1
21
l
endcr
edi
bil
it
ytot
heeventf
orot
her
s.

What
'st
heopengover
nmentvi
bei
ntheKansasCi
tymet
roar
ea?

Emer gi
ng,butgat her i
ng moment um i npleasing and unexpec ted ways.
Theopengover nmentvi bei sdefi
nitelygrowingf ast
ert hant histi
mel ast
year.Forinstance,we hel ped Kans as City,Mi ssouriand Kans as City,
Kansasapplyjoint
lyf ort heCodef orAmer ica201 3applicat
ioncyc l
e.The
amountofnew ent husiasm t hatcameoutoft hats mal lexerciseproved
themov ementi sunder wayher e.Wesuspec tt hatbet weent hepent -up
demand f or open gover nment and al l of t he incredible citi
zens,
leaders
hip,andent repreneur ialr
esour cesalreadybas edher e,wemi ght
evensomedaybeal eader .
CityCampKansasCi tyhopest obeacat al
yst.

***

Shari ng t
he open source j
ourney wi
th Kansas
1
02
Cit
y

Thef i
rstCityCamp KansasCi ty,hel
d on April28,201
2,waspr oducti
ve,
coll
aborati
ve,andeye- opening.Themor ni
ngwasover fl
owingwithopen
source knowledge,t he shari
ng ofideas,and expertt al
ks.The event
start
ed wi t
h1 4l i
ghti
ng t al
ks–a ton of informati
on crammed i nto
indi
vidualfi
ve-minutetalks.

Mor ethan150attendeeslear
nedaboutt heGoogleFiberini
ti
ative,spat
ial
cit
ymappi ng,SeeCli
ckFi
x,BikeWal kKC,OpenMi ssouri
,andmuc hmor e.
ThenIgott oshareopensourcestor i
esf r
om Ral
eigh,NorthCaroli
nai nmy
presentat
ion,"How opensourceischangi ngcit
izenengagement .
"Based
ont heini
ti
alfeedbackfrom afew folks,i
twasinspiri
ngand" s
par kedthe
indi
vidual
/col
lecti
veimaginat
ion.
"1
03

Mystor
ywasaboutaj
our
ney–aj
our
neyIcal
lthepat
htot
heopensour
ce
ci
ty.

1
02Adapt edfrom 'Shari
ngt heopensour cejourneywi t
hKansasCi t
y,'(
c)2012opensource.com,
published under a Cr eati
ve Commons At tri
bution-Shar eAl
ike 3.0 Unported li
cense,
avail
ableatht tp:/
/opensource.
com/gover nment/12/
4/shar i
ng-open-source-
jour
ney-kansas-
ci
ty.
1
03https:/
/twi
tter
.com/ mrj
erryj
onesj
r/st
at us/
1962859032521 03168

1
22
I
n mypr esentat
ion,Istar
ted bysharing myexperienceofi
ntervi
ewing
formerRal ei
ghMayorChar lesMeekeraboutopengover nment.Ispoke
abouthow t hepublicat
ionoft hei
ntervi
ew ledtoCityCampRalei
gh,the
startofac i
ti
zenmovement ,
andathirstforopengovernment
.

Ishared manyoft hest ori

esI '
vealreadyoutli
ned inpreviouschapt
ers.
The stori
es about Innovate Ralei
gh,SPARKcon,Wal k Your Cit
y,and
Tri
angle Wiki.I
twas dur ing this present
ati
on thatIs hared t
he fi
rst
it
erat
ionoft hecharacteri
sticsofanopensour cecit
y,t
hei deasyousee
hereinthisbook.Theorigi
nalconcept swere:

• Cr
eat
ingahubofopensour
cec
ompani
es
• Attr
act
ing maj
or open sour
ce conf
erences and cont
inui
ng t
o
suppor
tthemanyopensour c
e-f
ocusedusergroups
• Ampl
if
yingt
hec
ult
ureofopensour
cet
hatal
readyexi
sts
• Advanci
ngt
heopengover
nmentmovement

Shari
ng t hese st
ories wit
h otherciti
es and st
ates i
s a greatway to
highl
ighthow i ndividualevents ar
e partofa l arger i
nit
iati
ve.More
importantly,Igotto show offthe powerofopen sour ce and how i
t'
s
changingt heworld.Takeanidea,buildonit,makeitbett
er,andshareit.
That'
st heopensour ceway.

***

Ci
tyCamp and unconf
erencebestpract
ices
As you can s
ee,I’ve lear
ned about open government thr
ough my
Cit
yCamp experi
ences.One way t o give back t
o any open sour
ce
communityi
stocapt ur
et hest
ories.Andthat’
swhatI’vedonealongmy
j
ourney.

Another way to gi
ve back ist o help ot
hers.Thr
ough my r ol
e as a
Cit
yCampRal eighorganizer,I
’
veofferedmyt i
met ohel
pot herCit
yCamp
organizer
salongtheway.I '
vealwaysagreednottoplantheirconf
erence
forthem buttoassi
stthem andgett hei
rcampsstart
edfaster.

Hel
pingotherorganizer
stypical
lyi
nvol
vesashort,
30-minuteconfer
enc
e
cal
lwalki
ng them through how we or
gani
zed Ralei
gh and ans
werany

1
23
questi
ons
.Eventual
ly,Idocument
ed someofthosebestpract
icesasa
resour
ceforf
utureorgani
zers.
Let
’st
akealookatwhatIl
ear
ned.

Best practices f
or organi
zing a successf
ul
CiyCamp104
t

I
fyou'
rethi
nki
ngaboutplanni
ngaCi t
yCamp, beginbyrevi
ewingthe'st
art
acamp'pageatci
tycamp.
govf
resh.
com.1
05
Then,implementthes
et i
ps:

1. Generat e i deas bef ore t he camp. Par ticipating i n an

unconf er ence l i
ke Ci tyCamp i snew t o manypeopl e,es pec i
ally
wheny oui nc ludevar i
edpar ticipant s:citi
zens , muni cipalwor ker s
,
devel oper s, desi gner s, el ect ed of fi
cials, and anyone el se
i
nt erest ed inpar ticipat ing.Youcanover comet hes ebar riersby
gat hering pr oblems ci ti
zens f ace and gener ating i deas f or
solving t hem bef or eyourconf er enc es tarts.Thi shel pspeopl e
maket heconnect i
on bet ween opengov ernmentand how t hey
canpar ticipat e. I
tal sogi vespeopl ear eas ont oat tendandal lows
the or gani zer st oi nvi te key s takehol der sf rom t heirl ocal
gover nment .Mostgr oupsar edoi ngt hisonl i
neus ingt echnol ogy
such asUs erVoi ce106 orGoogl e Moder ator,1
07
whi ch includesa
voting f eat ur e.The keyher ei st o make sur et her e arei deas
popul ated on t hef or um whenpeopl evi sit
.Haveyourpl anni ng
groupgener ateatl eas t3- 5i deasbef orey ouannouncei t.Al so,
makesur euser swhovi sitcanbui ldont hosei deas.
2. Pai rmuni ci palst af fwi thi deas.Now t haty ou'vegotsome
i
deas bef or e your camp s tar ts,i nvite key s takehol der st o
par ti
cipat e.I fyouhaveani deawi t
h communi t
yi nterestand a
highnumberofvot es,s how t hi smoment um t oadepar tmentor
agenc yt hatcan f ost ert he idea and make r ealpr ogress .Iti s
i
mpor tantt hatmuni c ipalst af fpar ti
cipate,because t hey hav e
accesst o dat a ori nt ernalknowl edge aboutbar ri
erst hatwi l
l
needt obeover comeorot herpl anst hatneedt obec onsi der ed.
You' l
lfindt hatt hes taf fof tenwant st ohel poutandi shappyt o

1
04Adapted from ' Five essent i
alelementsofan open gover
nmentunconf erence,
'(c)2012
opensource.com, publ i
shed under a Cr eat
ive Commons At t
ribut
ion-ShareAli
ke 3.0
Unported l icense, avai labl
e at ht tp:
//
opensour
ce.
com/gover
nment /1
2/1/
five-
essent
ial
-
el
ement s-open- government -
unconfer
ence.
1
05htt
p:/
/cit
ycamp. govf resh.com/
1
06htt
p:/
/www. user voice.
com/
1
07htt
p:/
/www. googl e.com/moder at
or/

1
24
 engage wi th Ci tyCamper s becaus e you ar e wor king t oget her
towar dsacommongoal .Asat eam wor ki ngt owar dst hes ame
goal s,any' usver sust hem'ment ali
tygoesaway.I tal sohel pst o
creat eaccount abi li
tyont hegover nmentsi de, aswel lasal evelof
exci tement –new peopl e wor king on s omet hing new t ot hem,
with( hopef ully)newandcr eat iveappr oac hes. Ihavef oundt hati f
you don' t have acces st o muni cipal s t aff,your i deas c an
pot ent iallyst allandpr ogr esswi lltakel onger .
3. Document .Document .Document .Itmaysoundl ikeas impl e,
and t her efor e,t rivialt hingt odo,butmynumberonepi ec eof
advi ce: Don' tl et document ation become an af ter thought .
CityCamp Honol ulu hooked up wi th Uni ver sit y of Hawai i
j
our nal i
sm st udent s who hel ped t o documenteach br eakout
ses sion.Thes esummar iesar enow post edoni tswi ki.1
08
Thi shas
twomaj orbenef its.First,i deasands ess ionsar edocument edf or
peopl et hat c annot at tend camp i n per son.Thi sl etst hem
par ticipat el at erand s ervesasar efer enc ef ort hos ewhower e
ther e.Second,t hei nvolvementofs t udent shel psboostener gy
andi nc reasest hef ami li
ar itywi thal otoft het echnol ogies, tool s,
andpr oc ess es. I
nmostmaj oruni ver si
t ies, student sar ecomi ngi n
cont ac twi thsomef or m ofopensour ce.St udent sar emor el ikel y
tobeus ersofsoci almedi aand web- bas ed col labor at i
ont ool s.
Theyar et omor row' sl eader s–and i t'si mpor tantt oi nvit e and
i
ncl udet hem i nyourcamp.
4. Bri ng i n an out si de perspect ive.Ateach camp t hatI '
ve
attended,t her ehavebeenat tendeesf rom out -of-town.Thi swas
ext remel y val uabl ef or Ci tyCamp Ral ei gh,bec aus ei t hel ped
gener at edi ffer enti deasandbui ldonwhat '
shappeni ngatot her
campsi not herci ti
es.Thi sc ross- pollinat ionofi deasi spower ful
and,asmor e campsst ar tup,t hiswi llbe mor ei mpor tant .At
CityCamp Honol ulu,Iwasoneofahandf ulofpeopl epr ovi ding
thatout sideper spect i
ve.If oundmys el fhel pingt heor gani zer s,
brai ns tormi ng wi that tendees,moder at ing s essi ons ,and s i
tt i
ng
forapanel .Ifyou' reat tendi ngaCi tyCamp–whet hernearorf ar–
bepr epar edt opl aymul tipler oles.
5. Haveanact ionpl anaf t ert hecamp.You' l
lhav eagr eatt ime
atyourCi tyCampevent .Itwi llbeevenbet teri fat t
endeeshave
somet hingt ol ookf orwar dt oatt heend.What everyoudeci det o
do,It hink i t'si mpor tant t o est abl ish a cadenc e–a r egul ar
1
08ht
tp:
//
cit
ycamphnl
.
wiki
spaces.
com/

1
25
 repeat
ed event or engagement
–that keeps t
he communi
ty
comingbacktoget
her.Therear
eavari
etyofwaystodothi
s.

Bef oretheendofyourcamp,hostas essi

ont oorganizethenext
steps.Getfolkswhowantt ohelpadvanceyourl ocalmovement
gener at
eideast okeept
hingsmoving.Thiswillhelpy ougetnew
folksonyourpl anni
ngcommitt
eeand,i nt helong-term,prevent
bur nout
.

• CityCampSanFr anciscoparti
c i
patesinThirdThur sdays,
a mont hlymeet -
up s er
ies.Theyal so hel
d a hackathon
thatbr oughtt ogether developers and other creati
ve
professionals.The goalwas t o buil
d appli
cati
ons that
delivervaluableresour c
est othecommuni ty.
• Cit
yCamp Col or ado helped create a l ocal Open
GovernmentDi rect i
veatthei
rfir
s tcamp.Att heir201
1
camp,theyexpl or edwaystohelpfurt
hertheadopt i
onof
thedirective.Inot herwor
ds,haveyourcampwor kona
proj
ectt hatext endsbeyondyourunconf erenc
et okeep
camper smot ivatedandengaged.
• Cit
yCamp Ral ei
ghhasbeenhos ti
ngquar ter
lymeet-ups
and star
ted TriangleWiki
.The wikiprojectall
owsbot h
devel
oper s and citi
zens to contri
but
et o a common
knowledge platfor
m and i s a greatway t o getnon-
devel
oper si
nvolved.
• CityCampHonol ul
ul ai
doutat imeli
neatthest artofits
camp.Theypl annedahac kathonandhel dt hei
rcampi n
preparation f
or their Code f or Ameri
ca pr oj
ect that
started aft
erthe camp.Or ganizersFores
tFr izzel
land
Bur tLum have also commi t
ted to monthly meet -
ups.
Having ar oad map isimpor tantt oshow c amperst he
j
our neyyouplanont aki
ng.

Thesebestpr
act
icescanhel
pot
her
sbr
ingasucces
sfulCi
tyCampt
othei
r
ci
ty.

1
26
Part3:Evol
ving Ci
tyCamp Ral
eigh
As I'ver eflected on my Ci tyCamp experiences,I
’ve real
ized whata
catalystthef i
rstCityCampeventwasf orRal
eigh.Over200peopl e,l
otsof
ideas,andanengagedci tycouncil
,ci
tystaf
f,andciti
zens.Weac cel
erated
acitizen-led,opengover nmentmovementbacki n2011anditwast i
met o
regaint hatmoment um i
n201 2.

Itshoul
dbenosur prisethattheteam ofvolunteerswhoor ganizedthe
fi
rstCit
yCampRal eighin2011wer ebackformor einthes equeleventin
2012.Weevol ved t
he camp,learning f
rom ourpas texperienc
esabout
whatwor ked,
whatdi dn’
twork,andhowwecoul dtakeitt
ot henextlevel
.

I
nt hiss ecti
on,we’l
ltakeal ookatthesecond Ci t
yCamp Raleighevent,
then I’l
lshare some thoughtsaboutt he winni
ng team and i
tsmobi l
e
applicati
on call
ed RGreenway.Final
ly,we’l
lexplore how the Ci
tyCamp
Raleighor gani
zersareevolvi
ngthegr ouptomeett hechangingneedsof
cit
izensandourgover nment .

Whatgovernmentoffici
alsl
earned f
rom doi
ng
1
09
i
ttheopen sourceway
Whatst art
edwithaunani mousvotebyRaleighCityCounciltoadoptan
open sourceresol
ution bec
ame a long-
ter
m commi tmenttothe open
source way.How many ofyou have had an elected off
ici
alatt
end a
ci
tizen-
ledevent
?Pr obablysomeofyou.Buthow manyofyouhav ehad
yourentir
ecit
yortowncounci lat
tendanunconference?

AlloftheRalei
ghCi tyCounc
ilmember s
–incl
udingtheMayor –att
ended
some or all of Cit
yCamp Ralei
gh 2012.Their at
tendance wasn'ta
requir
ement–andi twasn’
tapoli
ti
caldri
ve-
by.I
twasgenuineandnat ural
.
Andsomeoft hem gotknee-deepinthe“code,
”whilecompet i
nginthe
civi
chackat
hon.

Thismarkedt hef
irstti
mei nCit
yCamphi
stor
ywhenallel
ectedoffi
cial
s
fr
om thelocalmunici
pali
tyatt
endedacamp.I
tmayal
sobet hefi
rstti
me
1
09Someoft hissecti
onwasor i
ginal
lypublished and adopted f
rom 'Whatopen sourcecan
teach gover nment offi
cial
s,
'( c) 2012 opensource.
com,publ ished under a Creati
ve
Commons Attr
ibut
ion-ShareAl
ike 3.
0 Unpor t
ed li
cens e, avail
able at
http:
//opensource.
com/government /1
2/6/
what-open-source-
can-teach-gover
nment-
offi
cial
s.

1
27
multi
pleelected of
fici
alsacti
vel
ypar t
icipated and competed i
n aci
vic
hackthon.Ralei
gh’s Mayor was on a team expl or
ing how community
healt
hscoringcouldbeappliedtourbanpl anni
ng.

"My f
avorit
e par tofCityCamp Ralei
gh was seei
ng how many peopl
e
devot
edt heirthoughtsandtime–itgoesalongway, "sai
dMayorNancy
McFarl
ane."Isaw thecoll
aborat
ionofopensourcefir
st-
hand.Theeff
ort
s
thi
sweekendar emaki ngourcit
ybetter.
"

Having t
heMayorand theenti
reCityCouncilattend Ci
tyCamp Raleigh
exemplif
ies t
hei
r commitment to open source.Not onl y di
d t hey
unanimousl
ypassanopengover nmentdirect
ivei nFebruary2012,they
att
endedandpartici
pat
edinCit
yCamp.

CityCamp Ral ei
gh t ook pl
aceJ une 1-
3.On Fri
day,June 1,Cit
yCampers
enjoyedagover nmentper spectivespanel
,abus i
nessperspecti
vepanel,
and sever al l i
ghtning t alks. Runtime Expect ati
ons, a l i
ve
technol ogy
/developmentt alkshow on CodebassRadi
o,recorded al
lthe
talks.
1
10

Sat ur
day,June 2,was the CityCamp unconf er
ence,where attendees
pitched i
deas,groupsrefi
ned t hose i
deasdur i
ng sessi
ons,and teams
formedar oundthebestideas.Thecivichackat
honoc curr
edSunday ,J
une
3,andonet eam walkedawaywi t
ha$5, 000(USD)pri
ze.

Whenci
tizenscal
lthepubl
icmeeti
ng

Theel ected of
ficialsjumpedrightinand somethi
ngmagi calhappened.
Cit
izenswer el ooki ng t
osolveproblemsand theelect
ed offi
cial
swere
partoft hesolution–anequalci t
izenatthesamet abl
e.“That
'sunusual
,”
sai
dCi tyCampco- f ounderKevi
nCur r
y.

“Normal l
y,Councilseeks cit
izen i
nputby c al
li
ng a publi
c meet i
ng or
works hop,”Currysaid.“Usuall
yit'
si nt he mi
ddle ofthe day ins ome
obscur e gover
nmentbui ldi
ng you'
d neverot herwi
se go t
o.In Raleigh,
theyf li
pped thatwholedynami car ound.TheMayorand al lCouncilor
s
camebecaus ecit
izenssoughtgover nmentinputtosolvi
ngci t
izens'own
problems .”
1
10 htt
p://
blog.
runt
imeexpect
ati
ons.
com/
rte/
201
2/06/
04/
runt
ime-
expect
ati
ons
-25-
cit
ycamp-
ral
eigh/

1
28
Otheropengover nmentadvocateswi l
linevit
abl yaskmehow t or epl
icate
thi
ss ucces s–how togett hei
relected offi
cialsmor ei nvolved i
ncitizen
movement s–butI'm notsurewhatt otellthem.Her e'sthebestans werI
have:establ i
shanopens ourc
eculture–notaneasyt hi
ngt odo.I tt
akes
ti
me.Obvi ously,t
hef i
rststep i
stoi nvit
eof f
icial
st o eventsand teach
them theopensour ceway.It’
supt othem t omaket hec ommitmentand
getinvolved.

Whathappened att
heunconf
erence?

Groups pi t
ched mor e than 30 i
deas, works
hops,and pr
oject
s at
Saturday'
sunc onf
erence.Only25oftheideasmadeitto"
thegrid"
–the
unconference agenda c reated on-t
he-f
ly based on vot
es f rom
Cit
yCamper s.

Afteror ganizer
ss ettheagenda,at t
endeeswer eoffand runni
ng.One
Cit
y Counci lor pi
tched an idea for community heal
th scori
ng that
att
r act
edmor ethan20peopl et otheses si
on;t
heyformedat eam that
eventuallycompetedinthecivichackathon.

Duri
ng t he unconference,attendeesdocument ed asmanys essi
onsas
theycouldont heTr i
angleWi kiworkshopspage. Al
1
11
thought
heTr i
angle
Wikipr oj
ectwas n’
tpitched atlastyear'scamp,i ti
sone ofthe major
successs t
oriesthatcameoutofCi t
yCampRal ei
gh.

“Ci
tyCampvalidatedhow i
mportantandvaluabl
eopencontentistothe
community,
”saidReidSerozi
,aCityCampRalei
ghorgani
zerandTr i
angle
Wikienthusi
ast.“Al
mosteveryfinalCit
yCamp i
deahad inc
orporated a
str
eam ofcontentfr
om Tr
iangl
eWi ki.
"

Bytheendoftheunconf
erence,t
ent eamshadsubmitt
edtherequi
red
for
mt ocompet
eforthe$5,
000prize.Thet
eam pr
ojec
tideasl
ookedl
ike
thi
s:

• Tr
iangl
e search–an open s
our ces earch engi
ne t
o hel
pfi
nd
usef
ull
ocalinfor
mati
onf r
om localsources
• You’
vebeent
owed–at
owi
ngal
erts
yst
em

1
11 ht
tps:
//
tri
angl
ewi
ki.
org/
Cit
yCamp_Ral
eigh_201
2_Wor
kshops

1
29
 • Pri
ori
ty1–an earl
y st
age pl
an tos
tandar
dize and enc
our
age
openuseandaccessbyci
tygover
nment
• RGreenway–amobi leapplicat
ionthatwould show mapsoft he
Capit
alAr eaGr eenwayTr ai
lSystem (agroup ofmul t
i-
purpose
pathsinRaleigh),al
lowi
ngpeopl et oknow wher etheyareand
howt oconnecttoothertrail
s
• Communit
y heal
th scor
e–a way t
o cal
cul
atet
he communi
ty'
s
heal
thi
mpactforur
banpl anni
ng
• Cit
ySeek Ral
eigh–a mobi
le game t
hat encour
ages user
sto
explor
eint
eresti
ngsi
tesi
nRaleigh
• WelcometoRDU–aci t
izen-
powered sit
et hatseekstoconnec
t
peoplei
ntheTr
iangl
ewithevent
s,business,andbrands
• Augmented reali
ty pi
ctur
es–an appl
icati
on that provi
des a
window t
othepas t
,matchi
ngthephotographer
'sposit
iontothe
wayitusedtolook
• QRcodeal
lthethings–anappl
icat
iont
ogener
ateQRcodesf
or
Tr
iangl
eWi
kipages
• Ral
eighret
old–anappl
icat
iontoallow t
heusertotel
lthest
ory
of t
he neighbor
hood by col
lec
ting audi
o,video,and ot
her
mult
imedia

Thought
sont
hewi
nni
ngt
eam

Alltenpr esentati
onswer eamazi ng;t
hei deasweresol
id.
Asajudge,Ic an
attestthati twashar dt opickawi nner.Buti nt
heend,oneteam stood
abovet her est.Perhapsitwast hesimplici
tyofthei
dea.Ormaybeitwas
thef actthatthet eam combinedavailableCityGI
Sdatawithot
herass ets
thatmadeabet teruserexperiencetocr eatesomethi
ngmanycit
izensi n
Raleighloveandusef requentl
y:ourgr eenways.

Thewi nningteam pr esentedthe" RGreenway "appli

cat
ion.Themapswere
alr
eadyavai l
able,andt hepr oblem itsolvedwassi mpl
e:How doesauser
connectt oothert rail
sand pr ovidef eedbacktot hecitywhil
etheyare
usingt hegreenway?Thet eam includedot hercomponent sli
keparki
ng
mapsand i ntegrated SeeCl i
ckFix,sogr eenwayuser scouldrepor
tnon-
emer gencyissuesli
kegr af
fit
i,downedt reelimbs,orabrokenparkbench.

I
ntheweeksandmont
hsaf
terCi
tyCampRal
eigh201
2,t
hewi
nni
ngt
eam

1
30
has continued to develop itsi dea and r eleased a functi
onalmobi l
e
appli
cation foriPhone and Andr oi
d platforms.I ’
mr eall
ypr oud ofthe
eff
ortsf rom Lor
enaAki ns,Patri
ckGr avi
nese,Br adJohnson,Eri
cMajewicz,
DavidMat t
hews,andTraciTi l
li
s.Theycamet ogetheratCityCampRal ei
gh
andcr eatedawonder fulr esourcef orourcommuni t
y.Ar esourcethati
s
hel
pingt o“ cr
eateAmer ica’
ss mar t
estpar k.
”1
12

Keyt
ake-
awaysf
rom Ci
tyCamp Ral
eigh

Onet hi
ngt hati
mpr essed mewast heattendanceofs t
udentsfr
om NC
Stat
e’sDesignGraphicsLab. Thr
1
13
eeoft hefourteamst hatcamefrom NC
Stat
eplacedi nt
het opfive.
Oneofourgoal sasorgani
zer swastoinc
lude
mores tudents and youth.We accompl i
shed that goalby engaging
st
udentswhower epreparedt opar
tici
pateinCityCamp.

Anothersat
isfyi
ngpar toftheweekendwast henumberofment ionsand
ref
erences t
ot he Tri
angle Wiki
.Attendeesused the Tr
iangl
e Wikito
documenttheirsessi
onsandpr oj
ect
s,andorgani
zersareus i
ngittotr
ack
thefutur
eprogressofalltheteams.

Compared t
olastyear,wehad mor eparti
cipantsand bett
erideas.We
had moreteams pit
ch ideas.We have mor e momentum to keep t
he
proj
ect
smovingforward,i
mpr ovi
ng,
andbec omingar eal
it
y.

Whenyourent ir
eCi t
yCounci
lshowsupt oyourunconf
erence,
itindicat
es
theirs tr
ongcommi tmenttoopensour ceandopengover nment.Seeing
this happen was ver yf
ulf
il
li
ng forme as an organiz
er.And justas
impor tantl
y,i
tmakesmor eofadiffer
encewhenat t
endeesrecognizethe
signi
ficanceofthis
.

Ralei
ghisdefini
tel
yaccel
erati
ngoni t
spat ht obec omi
nganopensour ce
ci
ty.Open sourceischangi
ng thewor l
d.I n Ral
eigh,i
t’shappening one
el
ec t
ed off
ici
alata time.Citi
zensar e shaping the open government
movementbecausei tmeanssomet hi
ngt othem.Opengover nmentand
opensourcearepartofourcult
ure.

On t
he f
li
p si
de,t
her
e ar
efew t
hings t
hatcoul
d be i
mpr
oved.As

1
12 ht
tp:
//
rgreenway.
com/
1
13 ht
tp:
//
designgr
aphic
s.nc
su.
edu/

1
31
CityCampor ganizer
s,Ithi
nkwecoul dhavedoneabet t
erj
obatf os
teri
ng
mor e ofthe t op i
deas and the RGreenway pr
ojectaf
ter t
he event.
Ment orsar
eani mport
antpartoftheprocessandweneedt oi
ncorpor
ate
thatinthefuture.

Natur all
y,organi
zersofeventsliket hisareexhaustedaf t
er wards,butit
is impor t
ant t o schedule appr opri
ate follow-up meet i
ngs and
conver sati
onswi t
ht he winni
ng teamsand ot hergr oupswho wantt o
continue developi
ng theirideas.Whi le or
gani
zer slose a li
ttl
e wind in
theirs ail
sf rom t
he fi
nalpus ht o hostan event ,t
eamst hatgener ate
awesome i deasli
ke RGreewayand a communi tyhealth score arejust
gainingmoment um.

I
nfact,thecommunityhealt
hscoreteam wasre-br
anded asCi t
yShape
andenteredtheMayorsChall
engeoffer
edbyBloombergPhilanthropi
es.
We’l
ltakeamoredetail
edlookatCi
tyShapei
nChapter7.Thankfull
y,bot
h
RGreenwayandCit
yShapehaveconti
nuedtoprogres
s.

TheCityCampRaleighorgani
zer
sar elookingatnewwaystoorganizeand
evolve the or
gani
zati
on.And I’ve already hi
nted t
hat t
he Code for
Amer i
caBr i
gadeseemsl i
keanaturalpr ogr
essi
onforourevol
uti
on.We’l
l
takealookatthatnext.

***

Transi
tioni
ng t
othef
uture
Cit
yCamp Ral ei
gh hasbeen ver ysuccessfulasacatalys
tf ortheopen
governmentmovementi nRaleighandCi tyCampRalei
ghi sevolvi
ngi nt
o
somet hing mor ethan an annualt hree-day,open source event.The
organizershave tried afew thingssuch asmeet -
upsand bl ogging t
o
extendCi tyCampfr om anannualeventt othepuls
eofopengover nment
inRaleight hr
oughouttheyear.Thoseef f
ortshavehadvaryingsuccess.

When If i
rstlearned aboutthe Code forAmer i
ca Bri
gade program,it
seemed l ike a naturalpr ogression for our Ci t
yCamp.One of t he
chall
engest hattheCityCampRal eighplanningt eam facedwast oattr
act
mor ecoder stotheevent .We’vealwaysbeeni nc l
usiveofallci
ti
zens,but
wes truggled withcoders.Iimaginet hattheTr i
angleareahasal otof
technicalexperti
seandcoder swhoar ei
nterestedi ngovernment,t
hough

1
32
t
appi
ngint
ot hatt
alentf
orcivi
chackinghaspr oveddi
ffi
cul
t.Wehaven’
t
f
oundanenti
cingwaytoatt
ractthem toourci
vichacki
ngevents.

Thebr igadecapt ai
nsdeci dedt oexpl or
et herouteofnami ngourgr oup,
Codef orRaleigh;attempt i
ngt oaddr esstheneedt oattractmor ecoders
to our c i
vic hacki
ng cause,whi l
e model i
ng the nami ng aft
er other
brigades around the count ry.And we s eemed t o have found some
successdur i
ngt heRacef orReus ecampai gnafterdeployingtheAdopt -
A-Shelterappl i
cati
on.Thr ee volunteercoder sjoined the bri
gade and
started looking at t he Adopt a code- base. We made a l ist of
enhanc ements and ar e organizi
ng t he bri
gade to workt ogetherand
movef orward.

The CiyCamp Raleigh planning team agr eest hatwe’re ata transiti
on
point.TheideathattheCodef orRal ei
ghBr i
gadewast hewayt oorganize
maynotbet her i
ghtfitf orRaleigh.Ourdi lemmai schoosi ngbet ween
havinganover -ar
chingor ganizati
on,keepingwi ththebr i
gade,orusi nga
modi fi
edmodelbasedonwhathaswor kedovert helasttwoy ears.Keep
i
nmi nd,we’r
ejustagroupofvol unteersfoll
owingourpas sion.

The pl anning team isexpl ori

ng severaloptions.One i deai st oc r
eat e
anot her l ayer t hat brings ever yt
hing t ogether under a s ingl e
organi zati
on.Es senti
all
y,itwouldbet hesamegr oupofpeopl e,butr e-
pur posed as an umbr ell
a organizati
on thatwoul d be r espons i
blef or
planning t he annualCityCamp event ,suppor t
ing the Code f orRalei gh
Brigadeandt heTr i
angleWi kiproject
,andment ori
ngi niti
ativessuchas
RGr eenway,Ci t
yShape,and f uture proj
ects.Naturally,alloft hes ef all
undert heopengover nmentmovementandhavebeenspawnedbyt he
CityCampevent ,buttherei s
n’tanexi st
inggr oupt hatfoc usesonal lof
thes eef f
orts.

Thebes tpartaboutthi
str
ansiti
onisthatit’
shappeningbec ausewear
e
successf
ul.Whateverwedecidewillbeagooddec i
sion.Wehaveavery
smar tgroupofpeopleontheplanni
ngt eam andI’
m positi
vethatwewil
l
fi
ndt herightpat
hformovi
ngf orwardandmaki ngprogress.

Anot
herexci t
ing devel
opmenthappened i
n February2013 atthe Cary
OpenDat aDay event
1
14
.TheRal
eighBri
gadecaptainspresentedtoover
80attendeesaboutourbr i
gadeandhow toorganizethei
rownbr igade.
1
14 ht
tps:
//
tri
angl
ewi
ki.
org/
Open_dat
a_day_201
3

1
33
Therewer ecitizensandel ec t
edoffi
cial
sf rom surroundingt ownsinthe
Raleigh-metroareai ncludi
ngCary,Mor r
isvil
le,andDur ham.Eac hl
ocat
ion
isi
nt erest
edinf ormingaCodef orAmer icaBr i
gade.Ther ealoppor
tunit
y
infrontofusi stouni tebyf or
mingaCodef orAmer icaDivisi
onandwor k
col
labor at
ivel
yacr osstheTriangl
eregion.

1
34
Chapter 7: The future f
or an open
sourceci
ty
Thef utureforRal eighasanopens ourcecit
yisverypromising.Wehavea
strong,par t
icipat
or ycul
turethatisbot hleadi
ngandaddi ngval uetothe
open sour ce,open gover nment ,and open data movement shappening
acros sthegl obe.Ourel ected off
icial
sand ci
tys t
aff,part
icularl
ytheIT
staff,arecommi ttedtoopens ourceand understand thevalueofopen
data.Thismakest heeconomicf utureofRalei
ghr i
pef ornew busines
ses
andent repreneur swithideasthats parki
nnovati
on.

I
fRal eighcontinuestofosterpassionateusergr oups
,t herei snor eason
whyRal ei
ghwon’ tconti
nuet obeagr eatplacetoli
ve,wor k,learn,and
play.Ourus ercommuni t
iescomet oget herbecauseoft hepas sionthey
havef ortheirgroups.Thoseusergr oupsandot herorgani zati
onschoose
tohos tc onf
erencesand gatheringsi nt heRalei
ghar eabecauseoft he
qualit
yvenuesandt heattent
iontheevent sgetfr
om thel ocalcommuni t
y
andbeyond.

Butwhatel sedoesthef utureholdf orRalei

ghasanopensour cecit
y?
Fir
st,Iwanttoincl
udeabr iefconversat
ionwi t
hRal ei
ghCIO GailRoper.
Then,I’
dli
ketofocusonaf ew pr oj
ectsthatarec ur
rentl
ydevelopingand
could have a real impact on t he cultur
e and,cons equently,the
developmentofRalei
gh’sopens ourcebrand.

Ral
eigh:A compl
etel
yopen gl
obalci
ty
Gai
lRoper,Cit
yofRal ei
ghCIO,isanadvocat
eforc losi
ngthedigit
aldivide
andhasar enewedf ocusoncommuni tyinherroleasaCI O.Herinsi
ght s
andthoughtsont hefutur
ear ecri
ti
caltounderstandingRalei
gh’sf
ut ure
asanopensour ceci
ty.Let
’sseewhatshehast osay.

WhatmakesOpenRal
eighs
uchani
mpor
tanti
nit
iat
ive?

I
nformati
on and data have become i
mpor t
antto deci
sion making and
predi
cti
veanalysi
s.Thef ocusongover nmentopennessand c ommuni t
y
enabl
ementisenhancedbymaki ngdataconsumabl
ebybot hcit
izensand
ci
tygovernment.Open Ral ei
gh promotessyst
emst hatc an dri
vedown

1
35
operati
ngc ostsandimproveopportuni
ti
estoshareacros
sj ur
isdi
cti
ons.
OpenRal ei
ghput semphasi
sonaccesstotheInt
ernetandstandardsthat
makedat aavailabletot
hepublic.I
thasthepotent
ialt
odr i
veeconomi c
development,entrepr
eneurs
hip,
andeducati
on.

Whatwasthemostdi
ffi
cul
tpar
tofget
tingt
heopens
our
cer
esol
uti
on
passedi
nRal
eigh?

Themos tchallengingaspectiscommuni tyawar enes

sandt heeducat i
on
andclari
fic
ati
onofobj ecti
ves.Defini
ngthec onceptsaroundopensour ce,
open data,and open gover nmenti n a way thatrefl
ectsthe i
nherent
benefi
ts caused us t orethink our messaging.Recruit
ing and hiri
ng
i
ndivi
duals witht he ski
ll
st o supportthe developmentofknowl edge
shari
ngdat amodel swasalsochallengi
ng.

What
'sbeenyourbi
ggestsur
pri
sesi
ncel
aunchi
ngOpenRal
eigh?

Iam s urpris
edandpl easedbyt hecultureoft heopendat a,opensour ce,
andevent heopennet workc ommuni ty.I
tbr i
ngst oget hert hescienceof
technologyand t hedesi retos hareinwayst hati mpr ovet hequal it
yof
knowl edge int he communi ty.Ibel i
eve itisl ife changing bec ausei t
removesbar rierst oinformation.WewantRal eight obet hemostopen
digit
alcityint heUni tedSt at
es.Thatmeanst hatweneedt of ocusonal l
aspect s of pr ovidi
ng our c iti
zens wi t
hs ystems t hat suppor tt hei r
partici
pationi nt hedi gi
taleconomy.Iwasal s osur pri
s ed and elated to
receive the suppor tofCi tyofRal eigh leaders hi
p,ourMayorand Ci t
y
Counc il
,andt hebus inesscommuni t
y.

Whereis Ral
eigh on t
he open gover
nmentr
oadmap and whatcan
ci
ti
zensl
ookforwardtoi
n2013?

Wehavebeenf ocusedonr ecrui t

inganopendat apr ogram managert o
dri
ves t
rategicef for
tsandat eam ofopensour ceprofessionalsthathav e
apass i
on fort heirwor kand t hevaluet heycan br ing tot hecity.The
cult
ureofopensour ceplatformsi sbecomi ngembeddedi nourdeci sion
makingpr ocess.Wear eestablishingopendat aprioriti
esr outi
nelyaswe
conti
nuouslyimpr ove ouropen dat a portal
.We ar e developing team
concepts around t he informat i
on ar chi
tect
uret hat willcont i
nue t o
supportthedevel opmentofacol laborati
onpor t
al,datawar ehousing,and

1
36
t
hei
ntegr
ati
onwi
thl
egac
ysyst
emsast
hei
ndust
ryevol
ves
.

Whatdoest
hef
utur
ehol
dforRal
eighasanopensour
ceci
ty?

Wear epr omot i

ngRal eighasacompl etelyopengl obalc ity.Wewantt o
find innovat ive wayst o pr omot e economi cgr owtht hrough t echnology
infrastruc t
ur e advancement , pr omoting yout h-bas ed t echnology
init
iatives,open knowl edge t hinking,and open sour c ei nnovat ion.We
wantt o edge outon ouradopt ion ofopen sour ce i nnovat i
on and be
knownasanear lyadopt ersint heopensour c es pacewi t
ht hehel pofour
pr i
vates ectorpar tners.Raleighi sr eadyf ort hiskindofi nnovat i
onand
wear eeagert orolloutourr oadmapi nast rategicall
yi nnovat ivefashion.
The f i
r stand s econd quar terof201 3 wi l
lr evealaddi tionali nnovati
ve
solutionsi nt hear eaofopensour ceand opendat ai ni
t i
at ivest hatare
citi
zen- facing.Weknow t hatt obeagl obalopensour cec i
t y,wehav eto
dr i
vei nnovat ionandchanget hecul tureinouror ganizat i
onaswel l
.

Ci
tyShape: A heal
thi
er communi
ty t
hrough
opendata
Oneoft hemosti nter esti
ngt opicsatCi tyCampRal eigh2012camef rom
the communi ty heal th scor et eam,now known as Ci t
yShape.They
presentedani ntr
igui ngconc eptar oundur banpl anningandaheal thier
communi ty.At-
LargeCi tyCounci l
orRussSt ephens onpi t
chedt heideaat
CityCamp Ral ei
gh.Headvoc ated foraheal t
hierRal eigh t
hrough ur ban
designandopendat a.Par tneredwi thRal ei
ghMayorNancyMc Farlane,a
group ofci ti
zensgat her ed ar ound theideaf ort hemaj orityoft heday
and f or
med a t eam ar ound t he conceptofpl anning abet tercityand
maki ng increment alimpr ov ement s by comput ing a communi t
y heal th
score.

The team presented t

hei
rconceptdur i
ng the fi
nalcompeti
tion.Even
though i
tdi dn’
tcome awaywi t
ht he grand pr
ize,the i
dea wasgood
enough t o enter i
n the Mayors Chal
lenge offer
ed by Bl oomberg
Phil
anthropi
es.

TheMayorsChall
enge115wasannouncedonJune13,
2012,and1,
300mayors
fr
om U.
S.cit
ieswithmor ethan30,000resi
dent
swer ei
nvitedtocompet
e.
1
15 htt
p:/
/www.mikebl
oomber
g.com/
index.
cfm?obj
ect
id=E6252953-
C29C-
7CA2-
FF1
B236C9B691A89

1
37
Thechall
enge i
sacompet it
ion to“i
nspireAmeri
can ci
ti
estogener
ate
i
nnovat
iveideasthatsol
vemajorchal
lengesandi
mprovecityl
if
e.”

Whilethetopi
cisverycompl ex,theideaist
oimprovet heoveral
lhealth
ofourcommuni t
yt hr
oughdesi gn,basedonopendat a.I
magineblendi
ng
exi
sti
ng inf
ormation l
ikeWalkScor eand BikeScoreand integr
ating i
t
wit
hGI Smappingt oc reat
easmar t
erwaytoi mprovethehealthofour
ci
ti
zens.

A SeeCl ic
kFix-s
t yl
ecommuni tysourci
ngf eaturewoul dallow indi
viduals
,
neighbor hoods,andci t
y-sponsoredpl anni
nggr oupst obuildadat abase
ofheal thfulcommuni t
ys trengthsandweakness es.Heatmapsandot her
vis
ualizationswoul dcombinet heGISandcommuni t
ydatai ntoacommon
vis
uall anguageusedbyci ti
zens,planners,andel ectedleaderstomake
inf
ormeddeci sionsaboutfut uredevelopment .

Thist ype of i nfor

mat i
on could help cit
y offici
als and dev elopers
determinewher et olocateand buil
d communi t
ycent ers,si
dewal ks,or
bike l
anes .Alternat
ivel
y,thi
scoul d al
solead tothingss uch asa bi ke
sharepr ogram. Andwhati fwecouplethatbikesharepr ogram wi
t hWal k
Ralei
ghwayf i
nding?Theposs i
bil
it
iesareendless.

MayorMcFar l
aneof f
ici
all
ysigned upt heCityofRaleighfortheMayor s
Chall
enge i
nJ uly2012witht heCityShape proj
ect
.Whi leRal
eigh di
dn’t
make thefinalcut,theideacontinuest oevolvewithinthegroup that
gatheredatCityCampRaleighinJ
une201 2.

Ithi
nkt heCi t
yShapei deahaspot enti
altobeacandi datefort hefut
ur e
Code forAmer ica fell
owship.IfRaleigh waschosen t o be a Code for
Amer i
cac i
tywi tht hi
sconcept ,t
hef el
lows hi
pwoulddevel opthei deaas
anopens ourceappl i
cationanditcoul d beredepl
oyed incitiesaround
theUni t
ed States.Thi sideacould changet hewayourf utur
eci ti
esar e
devel
oped( physicall
y)andmakeci ti
zensheal t
hier
.Ci t
yShapecoul d get
bothourci ti
esandci tizensinshapewi thopendat a.Thisisonewayan
opens ourcecityl i
keRal eighcouldaffectthefutur
eandhaveaposi tive
i
mpac tonsoc iety.

1
38
An urbanf
arm wi
thopensourceroot
s
Onei ni
ti
ativet hathasal so begun t
o contri
but
et oaheal thierRal eigh
communi t
yi sthel ocalf
oodmovement .Ralei
ghCit
yFar m116 i
sl everaging
theli
ghtresour cemodelt oshr i
nktheprocessandtimei ttakesf orfresh
producetoar riveonyourdi nnerplate.Themodeli nvol
vesgr owi ngand
stor
ingfoodl ocall
yanddel i
veringi
ttomar ketsf
orlocalcons umpt i
on.

Ral
eigh City Farm is an urban farm startup and a soci
alent er
prise.
Offi
ciall
y a non-profi
t,is uses a hybri
d modelt o blend a for-
profit
mental i
tytof und the organizat
ion wit
houtdependi ng on grants and
donationsforfunding.Fundingwillcomef r
om thesaleofpr oduceaswel l
aswor kshopsoffer
edt othecommuni t
y.

Ralei
ghCi t
yFarmi sonel argepl
otofl andpl annedbyal eadf armerand
cared forby commi t
t ed volunt
eer s
.The f ar
m is1 .
3 acres l ocated in
downt ownRal
eigh.Itpr ovidesagreatr uralconnect
ionfort hosel ivingin
anur banenvi
ronment .Mor eimportantly,theyaregrowingf reshpr oduce
forthecommuni t
y.

Ryan Finch,gener almanageratRal eigh CityFar m,gaveaTedXRal ei

gh
tal
kinNov emberof201 2abouturbanf armi ng. Fi
11
7
nchi sexcit
edandver y
passionate aboutur ban farming and t he localf ood movement .She
str
es sedt hei
mpor t
anceofc ommuni ty–at opict hats tart
stof ocusonthe
component soft he open source way.“ Farmsar e notpr oduce,they’
re
peopl e,
”Finchstatedi nhert al
k.Sheat t
ributedRal eighCi t
yFar m’searl
y
successt opart
ner ships,vol
unteers,
andt hecommuni ty.

When t he f
arm was get t i
ng start
ed,a near by universi
ty helped wi th
storageandst i
llcutsthegr assont heoneac ref ar
m.A l ocalbikeshop
helpswithfooddel i
very.Near byrestaurantspurchasethef reshpr oduc e
grownont hefarm. Event hepopularf oodtruckmovementi snot ici
ngt he
demandf orfresh,local
lygr ownpr oduc e;t
heLoMoMar ketfoodt ruckis
somewhatofa' mobi l
ef armer '
smar ket'
,deli
veri
ngf reshgoods ,includi
ng
producefrom Ralei
ghCi tyFar m.

Col
labor
ati
oni
sanot
herkeyopensour
ceat
tri
but
ethatFi
nchi
sfoc
used

1
16 ht
tp:
//
ral
eighcit
yfar
m. com/
1
17 ht
tp:
//
www. yout
ube.com/watc
h?v=GL2f
268nM00

1
39
onwithRalei
ghCi t
yFarm. Theyar elookingforwayst ocollabor
atewith
other
s through local food projects, educati
onal events, speaki
ng
engagements,f
armt ours,andvolunteeroppor t
unit
ies.Theyalsoplanto
documentands haresomeoft hei
reducat i
onalendeavors.

I
nt heopensour cewor l
d,weof tent alkaboutt hepowerofcommuni ty.
Raleigh City Far
m i st aking an open sour ce approach to buil
ding a
communi t
y and becomi ng a communi ty hub. The f arm is even
contributi
ngt oredevel opmentef forts.A rest
aurant,bakery,and af ew
localarti
sansar el ookingt omovec losetot hefarmi ntoanempt yst ri
p
mal l
.Thepar tnershipsment i
onedaboveandt hes upportf r
om thel ocal
communi t
yandvol unteersar ehelpingt hi
stypeofc ommuni ty-
suppor t
ed
agricult
uregr owt onewhei ghts.

Thenew RFP:Requestf
orpart
nershi
p
I
fyou’ref amili
arwith anyt ypeofgover nmentpr ocurementpr ocess,i
t
usuall
yinvolvesanRFP–ar equestf orproposal
.Wi t
hdec l
ini
ngr evenues
and li
mited resour
ces,theappr oach t
o part
nershipsand get t
ing work
donemaychangei nthef uture.Ithinkthetradit
ionalRFPpr ocessmay
star
ttochangeandadaptt obecomear eques orpar
tf t
nershi
p.

Ienvis i
onaf uturewhereci t
y,town,andcount ygovernment swillstartto
poolt heirmoneyand r esourcesf orITpr ojects.Whybui ld anew dat a
por t
al,ERP platform,oranyot herpr ojectt hatiss peci
ficf orjustone
gover nmentent it
y?We’ rewast i
ngt axpayerdol larsbydupl i
cat
ingt hese
effortsbecaus eofpol i
ti
calboundar ies.And manyt imes,t heseprojects
havesi mi l
arrequirements.I
t’sallaboutcont rol,butasc i
tizens,weneed
tost artrecognizingthi
swas t
eandencour ageourgover nmentt os t
art
lookingf orpartnershi
psi nITrathert handupl i
cati
ngt hesamesys t
ems
overandover .

Opens ourceof f
ersagr eats olutiontot hisdupli
cation.Ifonecity,town,
orcountydepl oysanopens ourcesol ut
ion,thenot hert ownscanr euse
thatproject.Eventuall
y,we can have open s ource dev el
opmentand
supportcommuni ti
es ar ound t hese project
s.Look athow t he pr i
vate
sect
ordevel ops and us es open sour ce.Resour ces from a var i
ety of
companiesc reatepr oj
ect slikeLi nux.Noonec ompanyownsLi nux,but
thereis a strong communi ty ar ound i
t .Thereis no r eason why our
governmentshoul dn’treplicatet heopensour cepr ocessandbr eakdown

1
40
thetradi
ti
onalpol
it
icalbar
rier
sthatar
edr
ivi
ngupI
Tcos
tsf
ori
nnovat
ive
proj
ects.

Af utur
ewher eourgover nmentent i
ti
esarelookingtopar tnerwi thone
anotherwoul dnotonl ysavet axpayerdoll
ars,butitwoul dhelpenhanc e
theciti
zenexper i
enc e.Cit
iesandt ownswithlimitedITr esourc
escoul d
takeadvant ageofopensour ces ol
utionsalr
eadydepl oyed.Thisiswhat
the Code forAmer ica Brigade pr ogram islooki
ng t o accompli
sh wi th
cit
izen-
ledbr igades.Now,wej ustneedsomeofourel ectedoffi
cialsand
I
Tdepar t
ment stor eali
ze the advant ageoft henew RFP and di scover
thosepartnershipsthatwi llreshapet hegovernmentI Tlandscape.

What
’snextf
orRal
eigh?
AsCityofRal ei
ghCIO Gai
lRopersaid,“Wearepromot i
ngRal ei
ghasa
completel
yopenglobalcit
y.”ThereareanumberofI Tinit
iat
ivesont ap
for2013andbeyond.Ithi
nkwe’ l
lseedramat
icadvancementt oRalei
gh’s
open data port
aland beginto see ci
vici
nnovat
ion f
r om the pri
vate
sect
or.

Therei st he potent i
altohostCi tyCamp Nor th Carol i
nai n Ral eigh.The
team from Ci tyCampRal ei
ghhasal readys tar
tedt heconver sationabout
whatt hiseventmi ghtlookl ike.Weenvi sionaneventt hatwoul dbet wo-
fol
d.First,wewoul dteacht heCi tyCampmodelt oattendeess ot hatthey
couldr eplicat
eanunconf erencei ntheircityort ownt ogener atei deas,
fost
er col laboration,and mot ivate cit
izens to get i nvolved i nt heir
government .Second,we coul d startt o addressst atewi de issueswi th
agenciesand depar tmentst hrough citizen-l
ed discus sions.Thi sisone
way the r equestf orpar tner ship conceptcoul ds t artt o break down
barri
ersandf or m opensour cecommuni tiesacrossthest ate.

Open datawi llplayabi ggerrol

e.A r egi onal'
data-
palooza'eventthat
stemsf r
om thef ederaldata.
govinit
iativei scomi
ngt oRaleighin2013.I
t
willbeinter
estingt oseehow thatpl aysoutatt helocallevel,buteven
mor eso,how citi
zensandcompani eswi lluseandadvanc ediff
erentdata
setsmadeavai labl
eundert hi
sini
tiat
ive.

I
twi l
lalsobeexci
ti
ngtoseeSPARKc on,MakerFai
re,Cit
yCamp,andother
eventsconti
nueand evolve.Opensourcehasplayed akeyroleinhow
those communiti
es of passi
on have come together t
os haretheir

1
41
knowl
edgeandcol
labor
atewi
thl
ike-
mindedpeopl
e.

Addi t
ionall
y,2013isanel ection yearf orRaleighCi t
yCounci l
.Whi l
ewe
don’tknow whowi l
lber unning f orr e-el
ection and whowi llwi nthos e
seats,onet hingiscer t
ain:int hef ut ure,ourCi tyCounci ls eatswillbe
fil
led withdiffer
entoffici
alsf r
om t hosewhower eatCi tyCamp Ral ei
gh
lastyear .Some oft hosei n elected posi t
ionswi l
lnotunder st
and the
benef i
tsofopen sour ce and maynoteven s uppor tmor eopennes si n
government .That ’
s why it’
si mpor tantf ormov ement sl ike thisto be
citi
zen-l
edandci ti
zen-
dr i
ven.Inor dert osurviveel ecti
oncyc les,ci
ti
zens
aret heoneswhomusts t
ep up and r eshapeourgov er
nment .Ifopen
governmentand open dat aar eimpor tanttoc reating a betterc i
tizen
exper i
ence,then weasci ti
zensmustt aket he reinsand notl etthes e
movement sfailwhent henextel ectionocc urs.It’
st heonl ywaywecan
makepr ogres
sf ormoreopenness .

Att hi
spoi nt,Ithi
nki t
’sfairtosayt hatRal ei
ghi sanopens ourceci
ty.
Lookingatt heculture,governmentpol i
cies,supportofus ergr oupsand
events,and economi c developmentef fort
s ,the foundation has come
together.Thepat htot heopensour ceci tybr and hasbeenbl azed,t
he
foundationestabli
shed,andt hef ut
uret obui l
dont hatfoundat ionasa
cit
yofi nnovationopened,maki ngRaleighal eaderinf os
ter i
ngt heopen
sourcewayandpr omot i
ngmor eopennessi ngover nment.

There’
sonet hi
ngIwantyoutor ememberfrom t
hisc
oll
ect
ionofst
ori
es.
Opens ourceischangi
ngt
hewor l
d.Andifyouwanttobeapartofthat
change,al
lyouhavetodoispar
ticipat
e.

Whatwi
lly
oudot
otr
ansf
orm yourcommuni
tyi
ntoanopensour
cec
ity?

1
42
Acknowl
edgments
I
’vemetal otofawes omepeoplealongthisjourney,thepatht
ot heopen
sourceci
ty,asI
’vecomet ocalli
t.Andthefir
s tpersonIneedtorecogni
ze
ismywi f
e,MerriBeth,whom wit
houtherloveands uppor
t,mycommunity
invol
vementandwr itingthi
sbookwoul dnothavebeenpossi bl
e.Thank
you,Il
oveyou.

I
’dalsoli
ketot hankmymom,Deni seMill
er,whohasbeenani nspi
r ation
formy civi
c partici
pation.My chil
dren,Zanderand Kal ani–you’
ret he
reasonwhyIstaymot i
vated.Iwantyoutohaveabet terwor l
d.Myfat her-
in-
law,Ji
m Blackwell,who c an al
ways stri
ke up a conversat
ion about
government.And ofcour se,al
lthe res
tofmyf amily,thanksfory our
conti
nuedsuppor t
.

I
t’sonl
yappropriat
et hatIthankmyempl oyer
,RedHat ,I
nc.
,whot aught
meaboutopensour c
eandhaspr ovi
dedmewi thgr
eatopportunit
iesto
notonlyseethewor ld,buttoinf
luenceandchanget hisworl
dt hrough
thepoweroft heopensour ceway.Thankstot heenti
reRedHatf amil
y
andopensour
ce.com communi t
y.

Now,wher e do Ibegi n? I’l

lst artwi tht he amazing volunteersf r
om
CityCamp Raleigh.The pl anning commi t
tee,which hasgr own overt he
yearsandhasbeengr eatt owor kwi t
h:Jim Belt
,DamonCi r
costa,Stacy
Dost er,BonnerGaylord,Pat r
ickGr avi
nese,LauraHaml yn,Jason Hor ne,
JonathanMi nter,ManuelMonser rate,PhilPoe,Sc ot
tReston,Rei dSerozi,
HilaryStokes,LeoSuár ez,TraciTil
lis,WarrenZwei gart
,andever yoneelse
from theCityCampRal eighpl anningt eam, i
ncludi
ngvolunteers,speakers,
par t
ici
pants,and suppor ters.RGr eenwayt eam member sLor enaAki ns,
BradJ ohnson,EricMaj
ewi cz,andDavi dMat t
hews.

Ralei
ghMayorNancyMcFar laneand Cit
yCouncil
ors:MaryAnnBal dwin,
ThomasCrowder,BonnerGaylor
d( al
soaCityCampRalei
ghco-chai
r),J
ohn
Odom,Randy Stagner,Russ Stephenson,Eugene Weeks,and former
Ralei
ghMayorCharlesMeeker–thanksforallt
hesupportandforgetti
ng
ourOpenGovernmentDirecti
vepassed.

1
43
To my f riendsand col l
eagueswho took t
he time t
or evi
ew t
he earl
y
versionsoft hi
swor k.Thankyou Mel
anieCher nof
f,Pam Chest
ek,Luke
Fretwel l
,AndyKr zmar zi
ck,GuyMarti
n,and JenWikef oryourt
imeand
attentiont odetai
l.

Friends ,nei
ghbors,cont r
ibutors,i
nnovators,and suppor t
er si
n Ralei
gh
including Tabi
tha Gr oell
e,J eanne Inskeep,Mar y BellPat e,Anthony
Mc Leod,Mat tTomasul o,HayleyHughes ,JamesSaul s,Derri
ckMi nor,J
en
Boss er,David Di
az,Ryan Fi nch,Jason Aus t
in,Jon Danforth,and Bri
an
Ether i
dgealongwi t
htheLeader shi
pNor thCar ol
inastaf
f.

Tomyopensour cecommunit
yment orsJ
onathonOpp,Chri
sGrams,Davi
d
Burney,Tom Rabon,MattMuñoz,andtherestoft
heNew Kindcrew.Als
o
GregDeKoenigsberg,f
ormerRedHat t
er,nowatEucal
yptus

Al
yKhal
if
a,Sar
ahPower
s,andal
lSPARKconner
s.

Cit
yofRaleighstafft
hataresoni
cetowor kwithincl
udingMi tchel
lSi
lver,
GailRoper,ChadFoley,J
asonHare,Coll
eenShar pe,David Eatman,Mike
Kennon,LindsayPennell
,Eri
cLamb,J ayne Ki
rkpatr
ick,Raleigh'
sDigital
Connector
s,Ralei
ghCommuni t
yServi
cesDepar tment,andmanyot hers.

Myal
mamat er
,Nort
hCar oli
naStat
eUni
versi
ty,Tom Mi
ll
er,Ter
riLomax,
BenWat
son,
RupertNacoste,andmyWol
fpackfamil
y.

My Code f or Ameri
ca famil
yi nc
ludi
ng Kevin Curry,Jen Pahl
ka,Abhi
Nemani,JackMadans,Laur enDyson,Ti
m O'Reil
ly,DavidEaves,Eri
cRies
,
EugeneKi m,CydHar r
ell
,andt heentir
eCodef orAmer icast
aff,f
ell
ows
(past
,present,andf
uture),
andmyf ell
owbrigadecapt ai
ns.

MyextendedCityCampf ami
lyi
ncl
udingForestFr
izzel
l,Bur
tLum,Gordon
Bruc
e,Br i
an Gr yt
h,Scott Pr
imeau,Jason Lal
ly,Jase Wil
son,Adr i
al
Hampton,Steven Cli
ft,Mat
tMi s
zewski,and many otherCityCampers
ar
oundthewor l
d.

ThankstoLocal
Wikicr
eat
or,Phi
li
p Neust
rom,and SeeCl
ickFi
xCEO,Ben
Berkowi
tz.

1
44
I
’vehad alotofeditors,coll
aborators,and advi
cealongtheway .These
f
olksmakemyor igi
nalt houghtssoundsomuchbet t
erandmakes uremy
subj
ectsandverbsar ealwaysinagr eement:Basc haHarr
is,RuthSuehl
e,
Melani
eChernoff
,Mar kBohannon, J
effMackani c,
andCaseyBr own.

I
’dliketothankLul
u and Red HatfounderBob Young f
orprovi
ding a
greatopensour
cepubli
shi
ngplatfor
mt hatreal
lyaddstoRal
eigh’
sopen
sourcest
ory.

Thankstocoverart
istanddesignerDaveMaki
.Anddes
ignerLi
bbyLevi
forshar
ingherknowledgeaboutfont
s.

AnextendedthankyoutoPam Chestekforrevi
ewi
ngt hefir
stcopyofmy
work.Shereal
lyti
ghtenedthingsupandmadegr eatrecommendations
toi
mpr ovet
hisbook–it
’sbet
terbecauseofherawesomeski l
ls.

A specialthankyoutoJenWi kefordoingaf antasti

cjobwithtechnical
editi
ng.Chapterbychapterandsecti
onbysection,shegavethi
sbookt he
fi
nalt ouches.Itwas greatto col
labor
ate with you t
o getthis book
fi
nished.

Last
,butnotl
eas
t,t
hankyouforreading.Ihopet
hiscol
lect
ionofst
ori
es
hasins
pir
edyoutomakeadif
ference.

1
45
I
n Febr uar
y 2013,Ilaunched an I
ndieGogo crowdfunding campai
gn118
cal
ledOpensour ceallthecit
iestogener at
eawarenessforthebookand
to help raise money to get the first 500 copi
es pr i
nted.I was
overwhelmed byt heamountofsuppor tand wouldlike t
ot hankeach
contri
butorbyacknowledgingthem bel
ow.

ThankyouI
ndi
eGogocampai
gnsupport
ers!

El
izabet h Adams,DeLi sa Al exander ,Downt own Ral eigh Al l
ianc e,Kat ie
Alvar ado,Chr i
sAnder son,Mar y-Ann Bal dwi n,Lynne Bar bour ,Br yan G.
Behr ens haus en,Ti mot hy Bi elawa,Fr ank Bör ger ,Jenni ferBoss er ,St eve
Bur net t,Lor iBus h,Rober tCampbel l
,Mel ani eCher nof f,DamonCi rcosta,
Kevi n Col e,Gabr ielConner s,Kevi n M.Cur ry,Wes ton Davi s,Fr anç ois
Décher y,Ral ei
gh Economi cDevel opment ,Davi d Di az,Chad Di lls,Mar ia
DiMai o, Ni cholasDoi ron,Rober tDougl ass, Tour eDunnon, Nicol eC. Engar d,
Bil
lFar row,Gi na Fesmi re,Vance Fi t
zger ald,J ohn F lanagan,Bonner
Gayl or d,Sandr o Gi sl
er ,Juli
o Gonzal ez,Rober tGor ve,Iai n Gr ay ,Jus tin
Grimes,Laur aHaml yn,JasonHar e,Kei thHer rmann,J asonHor ne,Mi chel e
Hovet ,AmyHowar d,Denni sHunt er,Kiran Jai n,Li saJ ef f
ries ,Lesl ieJ ohn
Sox,WesJ ohns on, Kimber l
eyJ ones, Gar yJordan, AmiKams hlezi nger ,Janet
M.Kennedy ,AlyKhal i
fa,Kevi n Kirkman,Davi d Levi ne,Gi na Li ki ns,Bur t
Lum,J effMackani c,Br i
anE. Magee,Br ianMar ks ,GuyMar t
in, Davi dMason,
Brian McCul lough,Mar ia Mendoza,Mat tMi cene,J oe Mi laz zo I I,Manuel
Monser rate,Lui giMont anez,Robi n Mui l
wi j
k,Mat t
hew Muñoz,Phi lip
Neus trom,Mat tNowak,J onat hanOpp,J enni ferPahl ka,Mi talPat el ,Alison
Per kins,Phi l
ipPoe,Sc ot tPrimeau,Tom Rabon,Bi llRehm,Scot tResni ck,
Scot tRes ton,J esus Rodr iguez,Ti m Rosenber g,Car l
os Sant ana,J ames
Saul s,ShawnSel l
ec k,Rei d Ser ozi,Ryan Shel ley,J ohn- PaulSmi th,Chase
Sout har d,St eveSpi ker ,RussSt ephenson, Ji
m St r ong,LeoSuar ez ,Mi chael
Ti
emann,Rob Ti ll
er ,Mat t Tomasul o,Chr i
s t
opher Van Hoof ,J enni fer
Venabl e,J onat han Wal l
,Jenn Wi ke,J ason Wi ll
ef ord,J os h Wi lson,Ryan
Wol d, Lis aWol fe.

1
18 ht
tp:
//
igg.
me/
at/
opens
our
ceci
ty/
x/2452834

1
46
Abouttheedi
tors

PamelaChestekbecameabel i
everint heopensour c
ewaywhi l
ewor ki
ng
i
nt heLegaldepartmentatRedHat .Fighti
ngalawy er'
snaturali
ncl
inati
on
toworkopaquelyanddi scl
oseasl i
ttl
easpos si
ble,shelearnedthevalue
ofcoll
aborati
on,tr
ansparency,andreleasi
ngearlyandof ten.Shecarri
es
thatphil
osophyint
oherpr i
vatelegalpracti
ce.

• Websi
te:ht
tp:
//
chest
ekl
egal
.com
• Twi
tter
:@pchest
ek
• Emai
l:pamel
a@chest
ekl
egal
.com

J
enWi keisaneditorandcontentcurat
oratopensource.
com,wher eshe
l
earns more aboutthe open sour
ce way and how others pr
acti
ce i
t
ever
yday. She also blogs about l i
fe in downtown Ral eigh at
www.downtowndame.com andistheFounderofGoT oWr i
ter,aprovi
der
ofprof
essi
onalwrit
ingservi
ces.

• Websi
te:ht
tp:
//
jen.
i
o
• Twi
tter
:@j
enwi
ke
• Emai
l:j
enn.
wike@gmai
l.
com

1
47
Abouttheauthor
Jas
onHi bbetsi
sapr ojectmanagerinCorpor
ateMar ket
ingatRedHat.
He
i
st helead administ
rator,cont
entcurat
or,and communitymanagerfor
opensource.
com andhasbeenwi t
hRedHatsince2003.

Hegr aduatedf r
om Nor t
hCar oli
naSt ateUni versit
y,andl i
vesi nRal eigh,
North Carol
inawher e he hasbeen appl ying open s ourc e pri
nc iplest o
neighborhoodor gani
zati
onsi nRal ei
ghf orsever alyears, hi
ghlight ingt he
i
mpor tanceoft r
ansparency, collaborati
on, andc ommuni t
ybui lding. Inhis
sparetime,heenj oyssurfing,gar dening,wat chingf ootball,participating
i
nhi slocalgovernment,bl oggi ngonsout hwest ral
eigh.
c om,andt raining
hisBorderColli
est obefrisbeeandagi l
it
ydogs .Heheadst othebeac hes
ofNor t
hCar ol
inaduringhur ricaneseas ont or i
det hewav es .

• Websi
te:ht
tp:
//
hibbet
s.net
/
• Twi
tter
:@j
hibbet
s
• Emai
l:j
ason@hi
bbet
s.net

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References
Iwanted toincl
udeal
istofpeopl
eand r
efer
encescoveri
ng theopen
gover
nmentandopendat amovement
stohelpgetyoustartedonyour
ownmi s
sion.

• DavidEavesi
sapublicpol
icyentrepreneur,opengover
nment
act
ivis
t,andnegot
iat
ionexpertadvisi
nggover nmentoff
ici
alson
opengovernmentandopendat a-ht t
p:/
/eaves.ca/
• LukeFr etwellistheCo-f
ounderofGovFres
h,whichf
eat
ures
publicservantinnovators
,ci
vicent
repr
eneursandthei
deasand
technologychangi ngthewaygovernmentworks-
http:
//govfresh.com/
• AlexHowar di st
heGover nment2.0WashingtonCorrespondent
forO'Reil
lyMediaandcover sopeninnovat
ion,opensource
software,opendata, andopengovernmenttechnol
ogy-
http:
//r
adar .
orei
ll
y.com/al
exh
• SteveRessl
eristheFounderandPr esi
dentofGov Loop,asoci
al
networkconnecti
ngover60,000federal,
stat
e, andlocal
governmentinnovat
ors-htt
p://
www. govl
oop.com/

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49
• CenterforEffect
iveGovernment(f
ormer
lyOMBWat
ch)-
htt
p://
www. f
or ef
fect
ivegov.
org/
• Ci
tyCamp-ht
tp:
//
cit
ycamp.
govf
resh.
com/
• Codef
orAmer
ica-ht
tp:
//
codef
oramer
ica.
org/
• Cr
eat
iveCommons-ht
tp:
//
creat
ivec
ommons
.or
g/
• Dat
a.gov-ht
tp:
//
www.
dat
a.gov/
• E-
Democr
acy.
org-ht
tp:
//
for
ums.
e-democr
acy.
org/
• GovLoop-ht
tp:
//
www.
govl
oop.
com/
• OpenDat
aHandbook-ht
tp:
//
opendat
ahandbook.
org/
• nment-ht
OpenGover tp:
//
opengover
nment
.or
g/
• OpenGover
nmentPar t
nershi
p-
ht
tp:
//
www.opengovpart
nershi
p.or
g/
• Opensour
ce.
com -ht
tp:
//
opensour
ce.
com/
• Sunl
ightFoundat
ion-ht
tp:
//
sunl
ight
foundat
ion.
com/
• TheOpenKnowl
edgeFoundat
ion-ht
tp:
//
okf
n.or
g/
• TheOpenSour
ceI
nit
iat
ive-ht
tp:
//
opens
our
ce.
org/
• Wet
hePeopl
e-ht
tps:
//
pet
iti
ons.
whi
tehouse.
gov/

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