Civic News

5 government data sets unleashed during DC’s National Day of Civic Hacking

On Saturday, government agencies equipped civic hackers with data sets and APIs, and asked them to make creative use of them. Here are some interesting new tools launched during D.C.'s National Day of Civic Hacking.

Held at Chief's Massachusetts Avenue offices in June, 2015, the National Day of Civic Hacking focused on data for small businesses. (Photo by Lalita Clozel)

On a sunny Saturday, dozens of civic activists crowded into a couple of deserted downtown D.C. offices. They were lured there by data. Lots and lots of data.
On this year’s National Day of Civic Hacking, federal agencies turned to technologists to foster ideas on how to make better use of publicly available data.
In the morning, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives asked developers to brainstorm ways to structure the agency’s data. And throughout the day, more than 70 data enthusiasts crowded into Chief’s Massachusetts Avenue offices, where they hacked new tools to help small business owners find and use publicly available data.
Here are some of the data sets and APIs the civic technologists dove into:
1. FireTOSS

  • To help investigators answer questions such as “Can a curling iron ignite gasoline?,” the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ research lab has conducted over 600 burn tests. But the data is still hard to sort through. “We can make it a lot more usable to the public, and/or fire researchers,” said ATF program manager Katanya Madison during ATF’s National Day of Civic Hacking meeting at Socrata’s D.C. office. Sixteen hackers, including many who viewed the presentation online, were hot to explore the data sets.

2. City SDK

  • Just in time for the yearly civic hacking spree, the U.S. Census Bureau has launched a “toolbox for civic hackers,” said Lilibeth Gangas, who worked on the project. The SDK contains GeoJSON-enabled data, APIs and modules that make it easy for hackers across the country to analyze data from their local community, coupled with national statistics. It’s also cleared up some of the cobwebs in this valuable trove of information. Knowing “the way they define these areas in their own language of statisticians” is no longer a must for a developer who wants to simply explore the data, said Gangas. To promote the new tool, Census has launched a two-month challenge for developers nationwide to make interesting use of the data.

3. BusinessUSA

  • The federal government has culled the business owner-focused resources, regulations and events from different agencies onto a single website. Business USA has also published a version of its Drupal CMS up on GitHub. The Department of Labor maintains an API and data set portal that is likewise open to the public.

4. Solar Datasets

  • “Solar right now is all about software,” said Bosco So, a Presidential Innovation Fellow at the Sunshot Initiative, the solar energy bureau of the Department of Energy. “We’re shooting for the sun.” His agency is working to minimize the soft (non hardware-related) costs of creating solar energy products. Solar programming ideas are also being compiled on the Sunshot Initiative’s website.

5. Survey of Business Owners

  • The Census Bureau also collects detailed demographic statistics on the nation’s business owners in this recurring survey.

For more data sets, APIs, or to learn about the different projects civic hackers advanced on Saturday, check out the event’s Hackpad.

Companies: CHIEF

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

The person charged in the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting had a ton of tech connections

From rejection to innovation: How I built a tool to beat AI hiring algorithms at their own game

Where are the country’s most vibrant tech and startup communities?

The looming TikTok ban doesn’t strike financial fear into the hearts of creators — it’s community they’re worried about

Technically Media