Iran’s Green Movement, Egypt’s successful regime change, and the always-controversial case of Wikileaks stand as evidence that the convergence of web-based technologies and politics is a powerful concoction.
With a world that’s increasing in its reliance on these technologies for bringing about political change and doing so in about the time it takes to load a Twitter alert, web development proves to be monumental.
A new nonprofit is making it easier for some of the nation’s brightest “hack”tivists, the emerging generation of technologically savvy activists who use web-based technologies to make themselves heard, to get involved and make palpable changes within city governments’ lacking technological institutions.
“We don’t want bright young technologists just criticizing government,” said Jennifer Pahlka, founder of Code for America, in an interview with fastcompany.com. “We want them to become interested in making it better.”
Code for America, modeled after the national program, Teach for America, awards recent college graduates a one-year fellowship, during which they work with city governments to develop web-based programs to meet the city’s needs and increase transparency.
The program is currently offering fellowships in Boston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Seattle. They are hoping to expand to different cities.
In Boston, Code for America fellows are working to develop a social network platform that allows students to “share their experiences, likes and dislikes, and comments about their education just like they do for everything else in their lives.”
The goal is to harness the power of social networks to allow students and teachers to share about their learning and teaching experiences, give book recommendations, and streamline the educational process. This project is especially fitting, especially at a time when the U.S. continues to suffer from continuously low comprehension scores.
Code For America fellows are chosen out of a competitive pool of recent college graduates, trained as coders, programmers, designers, researchers, developers, project managers, and business analysts. Both the cities and students will then have to go through a rigorous selection process in order to enter the program.
With a world that’s increasing in its reliance on these technologies for bringing about political change and doing so in about the time it takes to load a Twitter alert, web development proves to be monumental.
A new nonprofit is making it easier for some of the nation’s brightest “hack”tivists, the emerging generation of technologically savvy activists who use web-based technologies to make themselves heard, to get involved and make palpable changes within city governments’ lacking technological institutions.
“We don’t want bright young technologists just criticizing government,” said Jennifer Pahlka, founder of Code for America, in an interview with fastcompany.com. “We want them to become interested in making it better.”
Code for America, modeled after the national program, Teach for America, awards recent college graduates a one-year fellowship, during which they work with city governments to develop web-based programs to meet the city’s needs and increase transparency.
The program is currently offering fellowships in Boston, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Seattle. They are hoping to expand to different cities.
In Boston, Code for America fellows are working to develop a social network platform that allows students to “share their experiences, likes and dislikes, and comments about their education just like they do for everything else in their lives.”
The goal is to harness the power of social networks to allow students and teachers to share about their learning and teaching experiences, give book recommendations, and streamline the educational process. This project is especially fitting, especially at a time when the U.S. continues to suffer from continuously low comprehension scores.
Code For America fellows are chosen out of a competitive pool of recent college graduates, trained as coders, programmers, designers, researchers, developers, project managers, and business analysts. Both the cities and students will then have to go through a rigorous selection process in order to enter the program.
