2016

2016 Apr 12

Adding a Digital Layer to Our Centuries-Old Lawmaking Process: From Paper and Parchment to XML

4:00pm to 6:00pm

Location: 

Ash Center, 124 Mt. Auburn St., Suite 200-North, Cambridge, MA

Part of the Technology and Democracy Workshop Series

Kirsten Gullickson, Senior Systems Analyst, U.S. House of Representatives (Special Guest to the Technology and Democracy Fellowship)

Kirsten Gullickson will help participants understand how data analysts and software developers convert the paper and parchment of legislative documents and federal law into digital formats including text, XML, and PDF. What is the difference between data and documents, and why should you care? Participants will apply this new knowledge and more by encoding a legislative document...

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2016 Apr 05

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is King: Ruling the Universe of Open Government Data

4:00pm to 6:00pm

Location: 

Ash Center, 124 Mt. Auburn St., Suite 200-North, Cambridge, MA

Part of the Technology and Democracy Workshop Series

Solomon Kahn, Director of Analytics, Paperless Post

Many people think that civic work is all-or-nothing, and that working in the private sector means you cannot make an impact on the public sector. They are wrong! Solomon Kahn will tour participants around the massive universe of open government data--most of which lies in wait for a...

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2016 Mar 29

Building Civic Tech at the Middle of the Venn: Lessons Learned From a Co-founder and CEO

4:00pm to 6:00pm

Location: 

Ash Center, 124 Mt. Auburn St., Suite 200-North, Cambridge, MA

Part of the Technology and Democracy Workshop Series

Marci Harris, Co-founder and CEO, POPVOX

Marci Harris will share frank lessons from her experience launching and scaling one of the first civic tech startups. The workshop will examine the leadership and strategic challenges facing a mission-driven, for-profit enterprise, from comparing funding models to measuring impact. Participants will...

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2016 Apr 05

Hong Kong and Mainland China, Uneasy Bedfellows

6:00pm to 7:30pm

Location: 

Harvard Kennedy School Forum, 79 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

About the Speaker:

Anson Chan retired as the Chief Secretary for Administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government in 2001, after nearly forty years of service.  As Chief Secretary, she headed the 190,000-strong civil service.  She was the first woman and the first Chinese to hold the second-highest governmental position in Hong Kong.  During her career in the public service she was responsible, amongst other things, for development of Hong Kong’s economic infrastructure including the planning and construction of Hong Kong’s new international airport, which opened in July 1998, port expansion and deregulation of the telecommunications market.... Read more about Hong Kong and Mainland China, Uneasy Bedfellows

2016 Mar 22

Rebuilding The Cornerstone of American Democracy: Leveraging Digital Tools to Reach Today’s Voters

4:00pm to 6:00pm

Location: 

Ash Center, 124 Mt. Auburn St., Suite 200-North, Cambridge, MA

Part of the Technology and Democracy Workshop Series

Tiana Epps-Johnson, Founder and Executive Director, Center for Technology and Civic Life

Tiana Epps-Johnson will share her experience working on technology instruction and capacity building with the thousands of local government offices responsible for voting. Civic tech is at the frontier of the franchise: from ...

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Ash Brings Focus on Participatory Budgeting to Policymakers in Washington

Ash Brings Focus on Participatory Budgeting to Policymakers in Washington

March 8, 2016


The Ash Center, in partnership with the Democracy Fund and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, hosted a two-day convening on participatory budgeting in February in the nation’s capital. In attendance were nearly 75 elected officials and other municipal officials, academics, technologists, community members, and representatives from the federal government all with an interest in expanding and strengthening participatory budgeting programs across the US.... Read more about Ash Brings Focus on Participatory Budgeting to Policymakers in Washington

Preparing for the Next Disaster: HKS Hosts Conference on Disaster Recovery

Preparing for the Next Disaster: HKS Hosts Conference on Disaster Recovery

March 3, 2016

By: Maisie O'Brien, Communications Coordinator

On January 22, 2016, academics and practitioners from across the world traveled to Harvard University for a conference on disaster recovery.  Entitled “Accelerating Disaster Recovery: Strategies, Tensions, and Obstacles,” the event provided a singular opportunity for participants to discuss the complex challenges underlying recovery efforts and to explore ways to more effectively rebound from future disasters. 

“Recovery from major disasters is hugely important and a fundamental part of the human...

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2016 Mar 08

Learn to Be Your Own Lobbyist (And Love It!)

4:00pm to 6:00pm

Location: 

Ash Center, 124 Mt. Auburn St., Suite 200-North, Cambridge, MA

Part of the Technology and Democracy Workshop Series

With Seamus Kraft, Executive Director, The OpenGov Foundation

Seamus Kraft will teach participants the confidence and cutting-edge tools necessary to bring their First Amendment rights into the Internet Age--and learn how to help others do the same.  Despite the lobbying and influence-peddling that...

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