Civic tech conference NC Open Pass Civic Camp is back for its eighth year

RALEIGH – Now in its eighth year, Civic Camp (formerly CityCamp NC), part of NC Open Pass, is proof that the civic tech and open government scene in the Triangle is alive and vibrant. Civic Camp is an annual civic tech event that brings citizens, government change agents, and businesses together to openly innovate and improve our communities.

Friday, September 21 programming includes keynote speakers from NC Department of Information Technology, Duke University, Fayetteville Fire Department and Wake County Public School System. In addition, there will be two panels focusing on the current state of open data and how civic technologists work with local governments. In the afternoon participants will create the agenda using an “unconference” format. The event continues Friday evening at 5:30 pm, with networking and 5-minute lightning talks at Artspace.

Saturday, September 22, brings Civic Camp to a close with a civic hackathon to innovate solutions to support our first responder community, exploring opportunities to use open data to help with affordable housing efforts, and other projects that are pitched during the event. The teams formed during the hackathon will have the opportunity to share their work in the afternoon and compete for a $1,000 cash prize. This hackathon officially kicks off the NC Open Pass DataPalooza open data competition.

Open Pass Civic Camp

Also on Saturday, Jeff Essic will be offering a QGIS training class from 9:30 am – 12:00 pm QGIS is a free and open source software for analyzing and visualizing your geo data, also known as GPS, georeferenced, geocoded, or GIS/Geographic Information System data. QGIS can be installed on multiple operating systems and has greater analytical capabilities than online mapping sites. Participants learn some GIS fundamentals, how QGIS compares with other GIS software, and how to get started using it.

O’Reilly, a gold partner, is offering 30 day access to their Safari Online Books platform for all Civic Camp participants.

Jason Hibbets, NC Open Pass co-chair, is excited about the diversity of speakers and topics that make up this year’s programming.

“Our keynote topics this year will focus on the intersection of where technology affects our community. We’ll hear how technology is impacting First Responders, how being digital is challenging our education system, and the talent swing in tech to work for state government,” said Hibbets. “I’m also excited about the start of the open data competition, DataPalooza, that starts on Saturday, September 22 and concludes in November with three teams competing for cash prizes.”

For more information and to register, go to http://ncopenpass.com/civic-camp

NC Open Pass Civic Camp 2018 Schedule

Friday, September 21

9:00am – 5:00pm at Red Hat Annex, Downtown Raleigh | Keynote speakers, panel discussions, and unconference sessions

5:15pm – 7:00pm at Artspace, Downtown Raleigh | Networking social and 5-minute lightning talks

Saturday, September 22

9:00am – 4:30pm at Red Hat Annex, Downtown Raleigh | Hackathon, NC Open Pass Datapalooza competition kickoff

Thank you to our partners

Civic Camp and NC Open Pass events would not be possible without our partners who help by sponsoring our efforts. Our partners also help to keep our registration costs low while we continue to provide high value for the price of our events. We’d like to recognize our partners:

Diamond partner: Innovate Raleigh

Platinum partners: HQ Raleigh, Innovate Carolina, Red Hat, WeWork
Gold Partners: O’Reilly, Raleigh 4U (Economic Development City of Raleigh)
Silver Partners: All Things Open (ATO), data.world
Bronze Partners: UserVoice, DevOpsDays Raleigh
Community partners: Raleigh MAIN Events