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Category: City

Reminder: Lunch 2.0 with Portland’s Broadband Planners is Wednesday

I have to say I’m stunned that only 30-some people have RSVP’ed for Lunch 2.0 on Wednesday with the Office of Cable Communications & Franchise Management.

It must be the beautiful weather that’s distracting you or work or something else. No worries. That’s why a friendly reminder always precedes these events.

Consider yourself reminded.

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Have Lunch with the City of Portland’s Broadband Planners

Hot on the heels of the third Lunch 2.0 at WebTrends, I’m pleased to announce another three-time host will be joining the likes WebTrends and AboutUs, the City of Portland.

On June 29, the Office of Cable Communications & Franchise Management will join the Portland Development Commission and CivicApps as the third City organization to host a Lunch 2.0 and invite the community to an open dialog about City matters. Read More

Want to report municipal problems in the de facto hub of open source? There’s no better way than the City of Portland Android app

Introducing PDX Reporter, a new Android app designed to report problems directly to the city of Portland, Oregon, quickly and easily.

Portland has declared itself an open city. It has worked hard to champion open source, open its data, and look for new and interesting ways to get more involved in the open source software community.

But to report a problem to the City with a mobile app? Well, that took an iPhone—a notably proprietary system. That was, until now. Introducing PDX Reporter, a new Android app designed to report problems directly to the city, quickly and easily. Read More

Portland, open data, and CivicApps: 101 open datasets for your geeking pleasure

Enter CivicApps. A contest sponsored by the City of Portland designed to help stimulate and motivate the development community to mix and match all the awesome datasets

Remember back when the City of Portland opened up its data to developers? Sure you do. But you know what? All the accessible data in the world isn’t of much use unless someone is doing something with it. And that’s why the City is interested in getting people to come up with ideas for using the data—to improve the city and our way of life.

Enter CivicApps. A contest sponsored by the City of Portland designed to help stimulate and motivate the development community to mix and match all the awesome datasets—more than 100 different types—available from the City. Read More

City of Portland gets into the iPhone app development game with Citizen Reports

But now, the City of Portland is getting into the game with its own iPhone app. That’s right. Citizen Reports will now let any iPhone user file reports to the City of Portland.

[HTML2]Now, I’ll be the first to admit that Portland? The town seems to like the whole iPhone thing. I mean, we’ve got iPhone users, incredibly popular iPhone app developers, and iPhone infrastructure plays that send out millions of messages. I might dare say that Portland is the de facto hub for iPhone development. (Because I say those kinds of things all of the time.)

But now, the City of Portland is getting into the game with its own iPhone app. That’s right. Citizen Reports will now let any iPhone user file reports to the City of Portland—all from the comfort of his or her multitouch screen. Read More

Portland Web and graphic design community to the City: Spec work? Ur doin it wrong

In a classic case of one step forward, two steps back the City of Portland is now proposing a design contest to redesign PortlandOnline. And it’s spec work.

[HTML3]Sigh. And just when we thought things seemed to be going so well with the City of Portland. I mean, the City had committed to being more open, gone out for bid on fixing the PortlandOnline site, and just ratified the Portland Economic Development Strategy. Yet, now that string of victories risks being thoroughly undermined by a slap in the face to the Portland Web and graphic design community.

In a classic case of “one step forward, two steps back,” the City of Portland is now proposing a design contest to redesign PortlandOnline. And it’s spec work. Read More

Meeting at City Hall: Open Source, Mobile, Startups and the Portland Economic Development Strategy

open source folks, mobile developers, Web types, tech-heavy micro businesses, coworking spaces, and individual developers was more than a lot of political glad handing. It was all part of preparing the Portland Economic Development Strategy.

[HTML3]Remember when Portland Mayor Sam Adams met with a bunch of startup types a few months back? Remember when he claimed that he wanted Portland to be one of the most open cities in the world?

Well, all of those meetings with open source folks, mobile developers, Web types, tech-heavy micro businesses, coworking spaces, and individual developers was more than a lot of political glad handing. It was all part of preparing the Portland Economic Development Strategy—a joint effort between the City and the Portland Development Commission and the first effort of its kind since 1994.

And now, we’ve got a chance to see if that strategy will become a reality. Read More

REMINDER: Have you responded? City of Portland Web audit RFP closes June 25

So please, drop what you’re doing right now and go submit a response to the City of Portland RFP for Web Audit & Assessment Services.

[HTML2]I know. I know. You’ve been busy. I completely understand. But see, here’s the thing: you’re awesome at what you do. And Portland is lucky to have you. It seems only appropriate that the City of Portland takes advantage of your rockstar skills to improve its online presence.

In fact, I think they’ve been waiting for you. Because they’ve bumped back the their deadline until June 25 at 4:30 PM. So please, drop what you’re doing and go submit a response to the City of Portland RFP for Web Audit & Assessment Services. Read More