First POST: Messiness
BY Micah L. Sifry | Monday, September 8 2014
The latest in NY Democratic gubernatorial primary politics; how the Internet Slowdown protest is gearing up; Reddit as a "new type of community"; and much much more. Read More
Civic Tech and Engagement: In Search of a Common Language
BY Micah L. Sifry | Friday, September 5 2014
Marten van Valkenborsch, Construction of the Tower of Babel (c. 1600)
We need much clearer language to describe civic tech. Too often, people working in this field struggle to put into words what it is they are striving for. It's not enough to assume that, like the Supreme Court and obscenity, we know good civic tech when we see it. And if we can't say why something is good (or even great), how can we know what to design for? Indeed, how do we even know if we're after the same design goals? Read More
First POST: Elevation
BY Micah L. Sifry | Friday, September 5 2014
The White House reshuffles its tech leadership team; why Twitter shouldn't adopt algorithmic curation; the tech industry money backing Tim Wu; and much, much more. Read More
First POST: Fireworks
BY Micah L. Sifry | Thursday, September 4 2014
Why business should defend "net neutrality"; the civic tech scene in Chicago; the tech money behind a Washington state gun control initiative; and much, much more. Read More
Philadelphia, Portland and Code For America work on building a better RFP
BY Miranda Neubauer | Thursday, September 4 2014
While Healthcare.gov is now often used as short-hand for government procurement challenges and questions are being raised about New York City's contracting process for a project to reinvent pay phones as Wi-Fi hot-spots, cities such as Philadelphia and Portland, along with Code for America, are among those working with city officials and companies to redefine and reinvent the Request for Proposals process. Read More
First POST: Government Clouds
BY Micah L. Sifry | Wednesday, September 3 2014
How almost no one wants the FCC to undo "net neutrality"; how Uber is losing its special status in Maryland; how one judge doesn't buy the government's arguments for the NSA's dragnet collection of phone records; and much, much more. Read More
First POST: Endorsed
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, September 2 2014
Why we're backing Zephyr Teachout and Tim Wu; Uber's controversial campaign against Lyft; White House CTO Todd Park's new role; and much, much more. Read More
A Competition to Make the City More Resilient
BY Susan Crawford | Tuesday, September 2 2014
New York City meets Hurricane Sandy (credit: John Chandler/flickr)
When Hurricane Sandy hit New York nearly two years ago, it left devastation in its wake. Homes and livelihoods were lost, and the storm caused $19 billion in estimated damage. Small businesses were particularly hard hit. ... Read More
Vote For Teachout-Wu
BY Micah L. Sifry and Andrew Rasiej | Tuesday, September 2 2014
Tim Wu and Zephyr Teachout, selfie-style
Today we are throwing our wholehearted support behind Zephyr Teachout and Tim Wu, who are challenging sitting governor Andrew Cuomo and his running mate Rep. Kathy Hochul in the Democratic primary next Tuesday September 9th. Here's why... Read More
In China, Local Governments Play Whac-a-Mole With Taxi Apps
BY Rebecca Chao | Friday, August 29 2014
Beijing yellow cabs from the 1980s (credit: This is Beijing!)
It seems these days that car-hailing apps exist only to give cities grief. In New York, car sharing start-ups like Lyft ignore labor, safety insurance laws and in China, the situation is no different except in one regard: taxi hailing apps in China are proliferating at a faster rate than in the U.S. In China, however, the taxi system is very much in its infancy and local Chinese governments are struggling to control the proliferation of new apps that flout the law. Read More