Civic News

PhillyEcoCamp hackathon: 15 datasets released, 5 projects built

Hackers built tools for fighting litter and reporting problems in city parks. The event's goal: "promoting sustainability and the environment through technology," say its organizers.

As part of the PhillyEcoCamp hackathon, the City of Philadelphia released 15 environment-focused datasets. Five city agencies and two organizations released data that includes:

  • Code violation notices (these are tickets the Streets Department issues, like tickets for putting out your trash too early or for an overflowing dumpster)
  • Vacant lots that have been cleaned by the city
  • Street trees that have been removed by the city since 2002
Find all the data here

Hackers used the data to build projects at the hackathon, organized by Callowhill-based mapping firm Azavea. Here’s some of the tools they built, as reported by the city’s Managing Director’s Office blog:

  • Stormfighter, a project from Chris Nies that aims to help the Water Department fight sewer overflow during rainstorms by showing the places that flooding is most likely to occur.
  • LitterDexPHL, a project by Haverford College students that maps litter and demographics in hopes of helping the Streets Department better target its anti-litter campaigns.
  • MyPark, an app for Philadelphians to report problems in city parks.
Read about the projects here
Companies: Azavea / City of Philadelphia
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