The foundation for an open source city By Jason Hibbets The foundation for an open source city www.theopensourcecity.com © Jason Hibbets 2013 ISBN: 978-1-300-92317-6 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ First edition Published by Lulu 3101 Hillsborough Street Raleigh, NC 27607 This book uses Junction, a humanist sans-serif font and the first open source type project started by The League of Moveable Type. http://www.theleagueofmoveabletype.com/junction/ For the open source, open government, and open data communities Table of Contents Introduction..................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: Defining an open source city.....................................................................3 What is open source?.....................................................................................................3 The secret ingredient in open source..................................................................4 What is open government?.........................................................................................8 What is open data?..........................................................................................................9 The beginning of my citizen involvement.........................................................10 What makes a city open source?...........................................................................16 The elements of an open source city...................................................................17 Chapter 2: Citizen participation and culture.........................................................20 Part 1: CityCamp–The beginning...........................................................................20 A CityCamp was born...................................................................................................23 Organizing CityCamp Raleigh..................................................................................27 Creating a citizen movement for open government.................................29 Changing the culture of government.................................................................33 Part 2: The culture of Raleigh..................................................................................35 A wiki finds its tribe......................................................................................................35 SPARKcon: Organizing creative talent with open source......................40 BarCamp: A technology-focused unconference..........................................44 Walk Your City: Open source wayfinding ........................................................45 There’s something in the culture..........................................................................50 Chapter 3: Open government and open data........................................................51 How to get your city to pass an open government policy.......................51 Raleigh’s open government resolution and roadmap.............................54 An open source city takes shape: online tools and data........................57 The impact of Open Raleigh ...................................................................................60 Open data: Meaningful, visual information.....................................................61 The influence and impact of SeeClickFix.........................................................63 An open platform for the future...........................................................................68 Chapter 4: Supporting user groups, conferences, and events..................69 Four ways Raleigh supports user groups........................................................69 A signature, open source technology conference......................................72 Hosting a FOSS fair the open source way........................................................73 Maker Faire and the DIY movement....................................................................74 A playbook for user groups......................................................................................75 A leader in open source..............................................................................................76 Chapter 5: A hub for innovation fueled by open source ...............................78 How open source disrupts traditional economic development.........79 Open source develops the future of downtown Raleigh........................80 Connecting the dots: Open source, government, and economic development.....................................................................................................................83 Hosting an innovation summit...............................................................................86 A year after the innovation summit....................................................................88 NC State feeds the innovative engine................................................................91 Open source: A pillar of an innovative brand................................................92 A hub of open source companies.........................................................................93 Chapter 6: The principles of being an open source city in action............96 Part 1: Code for America............................................................................................96 Hacking on code and culture: Failure as validated learning ...............97 What does open government mean to you?..................................................99 Send in the brigade.....................................................................................................101 Race for reuse gives open source projects a second wind..................101 Starting a Raleigh Code for America Brigade.............................................102 Raleigh Brigade presents at city council........................................................104 Race for Reuse results..............................................................................................105 Why engagement days matter.............................................................................106 Part 2: CityCamp tour and best practices......................................................108 CityCamp Colorado......................................................................................................108 CityCamp Honolulu.......................................................................................................113 CityCamp Kansas City.................................................................................................120 CityCamp and unconference best practices.................................................123 Part 3: Evolving CityCamp Raleigh......................................................................127 What government officials learned from doing it the open source way.........................................................................................................................................127 Transitioning to the future......................................................................................132 Chapter 7: The future for an open source city....................................................135 Raleigh: A completely open global city............................................................135 CityShape: A healthier community through open data..........................137 An urban farm with open source roots...........................................................139 The new RFP: Request for partnership...........................................................140 What’s next for Raleigh?...........................................................................................141 Acknowledgments...............................................................................................................143 About the editors.................................................................................................................147 About the author.................................................................................................................148 References...............................................................................................................................149 Reviews Andrew Krzmarzick, Director of Community Engagement, GovLoop Across the United States–and, indeed, around the world–there is a growing movement of citizens that are taking back their towns and cities. Powered by passion and propelled by innovative technology, "civic geeks" are combining good, old-fashioned in- person gatherings, with web-based tools to champion sustainable change initiatives. This book shares the personal journey of one such citizen and, at the same time, reveals the collective energy and experience of thousands of ordinary, engaged Americans who are realizing just how powerful they can be when they band together in an open, collaborative way. Packed with personal examples and practical steps, you'll discover both inspiration and information to launch the movement in your own city. Guy Martin, Managing Principal Architect, Red Hat We live in an age of tremendous technological progress, yet most government processes haven't kept up with the pace of those advances. However, an increasing number of citizens have begun to step up to the plate and work for positive change in government. The