ACORN

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The weekly civic tech hacknights bring together designers, coders, urban planners, government staff, mappers, policymakers, students, communications strategists, and all other Torontonians who share an interest in making Toronto more responsive, prosperous, sustainable and equitable, through tech and design. (Coders are welcome, but you don’t have to be a coder to contribute!)

Come and be part of it!

Agenda:

6:30-7: Welcome and intros 7-7:30: Presentation and Q&A/discussion with Judy Duncan (https://twitter.com/acornjude) from ACORN and Kate Collins (former Toronto Star) 7:30-9: Breakout groups (make something!)

For more info, visit civictech.ca (http://civictech.ca/).

Here’s our Code of Conduct (http://civictech.ca/about-us/).

More about our presentation this week:

An unlikely partnership uses civic tech to ‘hack the system’ for low-income housing

Co-presented by Judy Duncan (ACORN Canada), and Kate Collins (lead for this former Toronto Star lab project)

In 2014, the Toronto Star’s digital lab was obsessed with civic data. They had a hypothesis that the right data could act as a hub, drawing community partners, its audience and newsroom to relate differently to each other as they tackled social goals. David Eaves, an open government ‘visionary’, imagined how SeeClickFix’s 311 ticketing service could be pointed at more ambitious problems than Rob Ford’s potholes. ACORN Canada, a membership-led advocacy non for profit, wanted passionately for people to see and hear about the inequity of moldy walls, leaky taps, bug infestations, and other deplorable conditions in Toronto’s low-income housing. And the Atkinson Foundation saw an opportunity to go beyond being a funder. This is the story of what happened. It may not be the classic ‘civic tech’ project but it is the story of an unlikely and informal partnership, its ups, downs and its possibilities.

Fifty-second hacknight – 61 participants.

Presenters: Judy Duncan from ACORN and Kate Collins, formerly from The Toronto Star’s Digital Lab

{video to come}

Kate Collins and Judy Duncan’s slides from Civic Tech Toronto hacknight, Jul 26 2016 from **Civic Tech Toronto

Breakout groups:

• Civic Tech 101: Matthew
• Freedom of Information (FOI) help & sharing: Jessica {searching/planning}
• Philanthropy 101: Ada {next steps / designers, nonprofits}
• Section 37 funding transparency: Abdi {next steps / policy & planning}
• Policing Complaint Dialogue: Zakaria {setting goals}
• Mapping (healthcare) demand & supply: Oliver {mapping & data discovery}
• Toronto Meshnet: Curtis {info/chatting}
• Chat about data collection & housing: Judy & Kate
• Chat about Atkinson Decent Work Fund: Jenn

Thanks to the Atkinson Foundation for dinner and for hosting us!