During a bumpy, hour-long motocab ride out of Iquitos, Peru, my iPhone popped out of my pocket, out of the loosely scaffolded vehicle, and onto the potholed and rocky street. By the time I realized it was gone, it was already dust.
Digital Democracy, Part I: Peru
Last month I joined Digital Democracy, an Oakland-based nonprofit that brings technology to indigenous communities in South America to protect their land rights and fight climate change. I’ve joined for a little while to advise them on how to grow their team. Yes, it is as cool as it sounds.
Microsites with the engine room
This past month, I lent a graphic hand to the good folks at the engine room to turn out two microsites.
UX Sprint with SpaceDog
Because it seems like there’s no shortage of terrible things to organize against, and only so much time to do it, I joined SpaceDog this week to build a microsite for Ultraviolet about anti-abortion terrorism.
TransportationCamp California
TransportationCamp organized an unconference day during CalACT’s (California Association for Coordinated Transportation) Fall Conference in Sonoma County. This was an exciting departure from TranspoCamp’s usual urban habitat, and revealed an off distinction around innovation.
Refugees Hackathon
This past week, I flew to Berlin to throw down with the Refugees Hackathon.
Civic Tech Procurements
I’m generally wary of the fanaticism around civic tech, but found myself nonetheless at the Code for America Summit in Oakland this week, genuinely impressed by Codeando Mexico‘s Retos Públicos open technology procurement platform.
A Hackathon That Isn’t Stupid and Isn’t Urban
Narrowly defined, hackathons invite a bunch of well-intentioned technologists to sit among themselves for a day to address our most intractable civic challenges.