3 projects from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association’s #opengov hackathon

Three projects emerged from the #OpenGov hack sprint event organized by the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association during Philly Tech Week presented by Comcast.

• TaxBackPHL.com uses open data to connect local tax collection to Philadelphia government spending. This project won $1,000.
• PORT (Pennsylvania Open Records Tracker) is a web app to help journalists and citizens track their Right to Know requests.
• TIF Tracker aims to increase economic development project transparency.

WebJunto cofounders Jedi Weller and Liz Brown and Center for Public Interest Journalism Director Jim MacMillan were among the participants.
The projects were judged by PNA President Teri Henning, Comcast’s Paul Wright and the Sunlight Foundation’s Bob Lannon.
PNA recapped the April 21 event, which gathered over 30 participants at the Market Street headquarters of Interstate General Media.

“We still face the issue of making government data easy to access and comprehend for both professionals and the public at large,” said Lannon. “Events like this are great because a diverse group of people come out – from lawyers to journalists to developers – and they all get to use their expertise to work towards the same overarching goal.”

 
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Teams at the @PNAnews #opengov hackathon sprinting toward the finish. #ptw15 pic.twitter.com/jh9HHRfNTE

— Zack Seward (@zackseward) April 21, 2015