Tech programmers

Today’s tech event in Orlando aims to better aid residents

are using civic-hacking events, like the one today in Orlando, to try to solve city problems and such functions are helping the approach grow.

A map showing where food could be donated post-Irma and a streamlined fence-permit process for Orlando residents got their beginnings at local hackathons.

They illustrate tangible results created at civic-hacking events, in which tech programmers try to solve city problems — helping the approach grow.

“It has opened the door in City Hall to a new way of looking at a problem and how we do business in general,” said Natalie Bednarz, a web developer for Orlando who sometimes represents the city at hackathons. ”We needed to take a step back and look at a customer’s point of view. This helps solidify our relationship with residents.”

When Hurricane Irma ravaged Central Florida, Code for Orlando partnered with its Tampa Bay and Miami counterparts to quickly build an interactive map that showed flooded areas of the state. Their map also pinpointed locations people could go to donate food and water.

They’ll try to create more projects that can help improve disaster relief all day today, beginning at 8:30 a.m., as part of National Civic Day of Hacking activities.

“For me, it’s trying to put something good back out into the world,” said Andrew Kozlik, an organizer with Code for Orlando. “These hacks for a cause tie people together and they work together for a common good.”

The rise of civic hacking, through organized efforts such as Code for Orlando or more loosely integrated groups, has given governments more chances to crowd-source needed solutions.

Programmers can benefit during the hackathons by developing programming expertise, as some require work in specific languages.

Android developer John Li says he has been to about 20 events.

“I go into these hackathons with a desire to try something new and learn a new technology,” said Li, who will attend a hackathon for spacerelated apps this weekend. “It’s a playground to not only explore things within my skill sets, but to fulfill that desire to create

something.”

The nature of hackathons make them ideal for small problems governments face, said Gary Leavens, chairman of the University of Central Florida’s Department of Computer Science.

He said the more city and state leaders embrace these hackathons, the better.

“The government could learn to be more flexible on how they procure solutions to information technology problems,” Leavens said. “Open source and these kinds of hackathons are innovative ways to solve some problems. You can tap into the creativity of more people, too.”

Sports leagues and tech businesses regularly hold the events, hoping to build something that is useful and will last.

The National Day of Civic Hacking on Sept. 23 saw cities worldwide holdhackathons targeting government-based problems. Orlando’s version was moved to today because of Hurricane Irma’s aftermath.

Hackathon work on Orlando fence permits in 2016 helped city workers understand residents’ obstacles when seeking approval.

The resulting flow chart now sits on the wall of city offices, Bednarz said.

“It helps provide a sense of empathy from city hall to the customer because they realize what the customer is going through,” she

Code for America debuted the National Day of Civic Hacking in 2012.

said.

Code for America debuted the National Day of Civic Hacking in 2012. One year later, the White House expanded it by announcing that it would “liberate data for citizens across the U.S. to use to build tech that helps their communities.”

A Boston-based adopt-a-hydrant app that empowers residents to dig hydrants out after snow storms, making them accessible to fire departments, is among several useful results. Using the same basic code for that app, officials in Seattle created a way for residents to locate storm drains that might be clogged.

“We are looking at ideas that other brigades have built to see if we can incorporate them here,” Kozlik said.

Adding a civic element to the event usually happens when someone finds that some services might be missing, Li said.

“It starts with one person feeling a sense of need for something that isn’t there,” he said. “They look for like-minded people who are also interested in providing this need. That’s how it starts.”