There was a time, when any discussion of open government and open data, would have been remiss if it ignored what was happening in Portland. But those times appeared to be in our distant past. We haven’t heard anything about us doing much in — let alone leading — open gov or open data in nearly a decade. But that’s all changing. Thanks to Hack Oregon.
There was a time—not so long ago—when the City of Portland was at the forefront of making civic data transparent and open. And while Portland has stumbled a bit in terms of leading the charge, we now have a very real opportunity to pick our open selves up, dust our data off, and get back in the running. Read More
Maybe today we’re a little introspective around here. Or maybe today is the day Silicon Florist is focused on Rose City’s age. Or maybe—just maybe—I couldn’t resist posting on this breathtaking visualization of the age of the buildings in Portland created by Justin Palmer. Read More
It’s no secret that the City of Portland has opened up some of its data to allow developers to hack around and build interesting things that use that data. But just hacking on that stuff all by your lonesome isn’t always that fun. That’s why there are regular hackathons to get people together to hack together on Portland’s open data. Read More
Google likes it some Portland. Apparently we have a test market that they like. And as such, they tend to test drive products here before they try them anywhere else.
Well, and this time, it doesn’t hurt that we’re home to one of the leading resources for open transit data. That’s why Google and TriMet have teamed up to provide real-time updates on transit via Google Maps. Read More
This is the story of Nike, open data, and Code for a Better World Fellowship. I’m telling it in hopes that more people—and hopefully better storytellers—will start talking about it.
Portland is an amazing place. A small town of sorts. Where interesting things manage to happen because of the connections, the openness, and the passion for collaboration that exists here. But that’s not always obvious. So I wanted to try to make it a little more obvious by sharing one such experience.
It’s a story about how some of the Portland tech community and sustainability community recently had the opportunity to collaborate with one of the largest businesses in the world and one of the most successful private advertising agencies in the world—all in the name of openness and open data. Read More
Here in Portland, we’re all about the open data. It’s all about sharing what’s available with the hopes that someone else may be able to do something useful with it, transforming it from pure data into useful information.
One of the earliest proponents of sharing data here in town was TriMet, our public transit system. And now Good has given us the opportunity to hear from some of the people who champion that open data mindset, every day. Read More
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
[HTML3][HTML2]Portland, Oregon, is now an open city.
Following in the footsteps of open cities like San Francisco, Chicago, and Vancouver, BC, Portland’s Mayor Sam Adams and the City Council today unanimously approved a resolution that directs the City of Portland to open data to outside developers and encourages adoption of open source solutions in technology procurement.
With the ratification of the Portland Economic Development strategy, the City officially recognized the value of the open source in Portland. Now, with the adoption of the open data and open source resolution, the City has prescribed specific objectives for the municipal government that will help Portland begin the transformation into a government that more willingly embraces open standards, transparency, and more collegial interaction with its open source community. Read More
[HTML2]You may remember a couple of months back—during the Open Source Bridge conference—that Portland Mayor Sam Adams made a commitment to turn Portland into a “hub for open source.”
But conversing about a topic, as they say, is relatively easy. Or to put it more bluntly: talk is cheap.
That’s why it’s incredibly heartening to see the City moving to get something on the books with a resolution that is designed to officially make Portland a more open city. And if you care about open source—even remotely—it would be great to see you at the City Council meeting this Wednesday during the testimony and voting on the resolution. Read More
