Doing your civic duty today… or at least your Portland CivicApps duty

Hey you! Yes, you. You app developer type with an interest in Portland’s wide open pile of municipal data. How’s that CivicApps submission coming along?

Really? Oh. Oh, you don’t say? I see. That’s great. You know you have to get it submitted by 5 PM today, right?

Don’t fret. You can do it.

Question in the back? What’s CivicApps you say?

The aim is social change. The path is regional collaboration. The focus is local.

Technology is changing our relationship with government. Not so long ago government made decisions with little public input. Those days are gone. Today, information technology has redefined the structure and authority of government. The problems our communities face are beyond the capacity of government to resolve alone. Cooperation, collaboration and openness are no longer questions of opportunity; they are essential means of conducting our community’s business effectively. Every citizen can be an active participant in reshaping their world. WE are the government.

The CivicApps.org site aims to encourage every citizen to be an active participant by putting the data in their hands. The CivicApps.org site was developed to source, profile, and accelerate innovative ideas using Web and mobile technologies. The aim is social change. The path is regional collaboration. The focus is local.

And that’s where you come into the picture. You’re the one with the great ideas and the proclivity for building awesome apps. So why aren’t you participating?

Get on that. You’ve got until 5 PM Pacific Time today, October 11, 2010, to complete your CivicApps submission.

Published by Rick Turoczy

More than mildly obsessed with the Portland startup community. Founder and editor at Silicon Florist. Cofounder and general manager at PIE. Follow me on Twitter: @turoczy View all posts by Rick Turoczy