Philadelphia, July 28, 2010 – The City of Philadelphia is one of only five cities to be selected by Code for America for their inaugural, one-year Fellows program. Through a competitive application process, Code for America chose five cities that reflect a deep understanding of the potential that a citizen engagement web platform can deliver. The cities chosen for the first ever Code for America Fellows program cycle are Philadelphia, PA; Boston, MA; the District of Columbia; Seattle, WA; and Boulder, CO. Philadelphia was selected due to strong leadership, innovative concepts for more efficient, transparent and participatory web applications, and a willingness to invest in long-term change.
“Philadelphia looks forward to working with Code for America and these four bold, innovative cities over the next year and a half to develop a web platform that takes technological transparency and civic engagement to new heights,” said Mayor Michael A. Nutter.
During the summer, Code for America will conduct initial brainstorming sessions with each city. With oversight by Code for America, key stakeholders will meet with web industry innovators to further develop proposed conceptual projects. In February 2011, five web development Fellows will begin work in Philadelphia. Additionally, the Fellows program will facilitate sustained dialogue and partnership between the five selected cities. The five cities will be working collaboratively on distinct but related applications that can be shared at the end of the program.
Allan Frank, the City’s Chief Technology Officer and head of the Division of Technology, is excited about the high-level programming expertise that Code for America Fellows will bring. “We are talking Star Wars here; Philadelphia will have the benefit of a group of ‘Jedi Master’ technologists that will augment the Division’s existing web-development capacity, facilitating the creation of a powerful, interactive citizen engagement tool that will increase connectivity and the exchange of information between the City government, residents, and visitors.”
About Code for America
Code for America helps city governments increase transparency, become more efficient, and enhance citizen participation by connecting the talents of cutting-edge web developers with people who deliver city services and want to embrace the transformative power of the web to achieve more impact with less money. Inspired in part by Teach for America, CFA works with city officials and leading web development talent to identify and then develop web solutions that can then be shared and rolled out more broadly to cities across America. http://codeforamerica.org
Code for America is now accepting applications for its 2011 fellows program. If you’re a developer, designer, product manager, data wrangler or researcher who wants to make a difference, this is your opportunity to build a new generation of Gov 2.0 apps to make city governments work better.
Inside the tech industry and beyond, Code for America fellows will be known as part of a select group of individuals able to realize transformational change to government work better for us all.
Applications are due August 15th, 2010. Please see http://codeforamerica.org/fellows for details.
