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Welcome to NYC School of Data — a community conference that demystifies the policies and practices around civic data, technology, and service design. This year’s conference kicks off NYC’s annual Open Data Week & features OVER 30 sessions organized by NYC’s civic technology, data, and design community! Our conversations & workshops will feed your mind and empower you to improve your neighborhood. Follow the conversation #nycSOdata on twitter and tune into our live stream (provided by the Internet Society of New York).
Saturday, March 2
 

9:00am EST

10:00am EST

Morning Keynote
Kickoff and introduction to the day! With Galvanize, John Paul Farmer from Microsoft Cities, NYC's Chief Technology Officer Alby Bocanegra, NYC's Chief Analytics Officer Kelly Jin, NYC City Council Member Ben Kallos, Chair of the Technology Committee & NYC City Council Member Peter Koo, and Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer.

Moderators
avatar for Noel Hidalgo

Noel Hidalgo

Executive Director, BetaNYC
avatar for Fatima Sarah Khalid

Fatima Sarah Khalid

Developer Evangelist, GitLab
Fatima is a Developer Evangelist at GitLab and the voice of the community. She loves coding challenges and storytelling. Before GitLab, she was a backend developer, Drupal core contributor, and mentoring lead. In 2018, she received the Women in Communications & Technology (WCT) Rising... Read More →

Speakers
avatar for City Council Member Peter Koo

City Council Member Peter Koo

New York City Council
avatar for Kelly Jin

Kelly Jin

Chief Analytics Officer, Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics (MODA)
avatar for NYC's Chief Technology Officer Alby Bocanegra

NYC's Chief Technology Officer Alby Bocanegra

Mayor's Office of the Chief Technology Officer
avatar for John Paul Farmer

John Paul Farmer

Microsoft Cities


Saturday March 2, 2019 10:00am - 11:15am EST
Plenary Room 303 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

11:30am EST

Office Hours with the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission
Are you curious about how to use taxi or for-hire vehicle data to answer questions about mobility in NYC? In this session, attendees can speak directly with members of the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) Data and Analytics team about the information we publish on NYC Open Data and how to get started using it. Please, bring us your questions!

Speakers
avatar for Elizabeth Major

Elizabeth Major

Geospatial Analyst, NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission
SS

Stephan Schmidt

NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission


Saturday March 2, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EST
Freeman Plaza 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

11:30am EST

Office Hours: An Overview of New York City's Comptroller Open Data Sets
A brief overview of aspects of the New York City Comptroller's Open Data Set submissions

Speakers
RB

Ronald Bliss

New York City Comptroller's Office


Saturday March 2, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EST
Prospect Park 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

11:30am EST

Building Anti-racist Solidarity Networks in Tech
*Building Anti-racist Solidarity Networks in Tech* introduces audiences to leading figures in the technical civil rights space. Panelists tell their origin story, describe their work and speak to how they are promoting racial justice in the New York City civic tech ecosystem. Come and hear from Kyla Massey (Center of Media Justice), Rigoberto Lara Guzmán (Data & Society), Jessie Daniels, (author of _Cyber Racism_ & Data & Society Fellow), Mutale Nkonde (Educator & Data & Society Fellow) and computer scientist, Natarajan Krishnaswami.

Speakers
KM

Kyla Massey

Center of Media Justice
JD

Jessie Daniels

author of _Cyber Racism_ & Data & Society Fellow
NK

Natarajan Krishnaswami

computer scientist
MN

Mutale Nkonde

Educator & Data & Society Fellow
avatar for rigoberto

rigoberto

Producer, Data & Society


Saturday March 2, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EST
Plenary Room 303 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

11:30am EST

A Survey of Unique Identifiers in NYC Open Data: Joins, Sorrows, and Surprises facilitated by Jonathan Pichot
This session will survey unique identifiers used in NYC Open Data to organize infrastructure, with a focus on buildings and streets. We'll explore the challenges of modeling New York City as data and give some examples of particularly difficult data problems. We'll demonstrate how these unique identifiers make their way between agencies, and how, as users of open data, you can piece together this data to gain insight. As a participant, you'll leave this session with a deeper understanding of how NYC Open Data fits together and a greater appreciation for the inherently imperfect nature of data when it tries to capture something as varied, complex, and changing as New York City.

Speakers
CN

Cindy Nicklin

Director of Data Governance, NYC Department of Buildings
JP

Jonathan Pichot

NYC Planning Labs


Saturday March 2, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EST
Radio City 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

11:30am EST

Digital transparency in the public realm workshop by Sidewalk Labs
In this session, you’ll be participating in a co-design session that will provide inputs into open-source design patterns and tools to imagine how we might increase digital transparency in the public realm.

As technology progresses, it provides new opportunities to help our public spaces become more comfortable, responsive, and efficient. But all technology in the public realm must be considered within the context of the people who live in those places.

By participating in this session, you’ll be contributing to an initial draft of open standards and design patterns aimed at bringing meaningful transparency to the many technologies that exist and are used in the public realm today.

Sidewalk Labs’ goal is to make these concepts publicly and freely available for others to adopt, use and build upon, so that we can advance digital literacy and help people understand digital infrastructure in the public realm.

Speakers
AK

Ariel Kennan

Sidewalk Labs
AP

Ananta Pandey

Sidewalk Labs
MB

Marie Buckingham

Sidewalk Labs
avatar for Jacqueline Lu

Jacqueline Lu

Sidewalk Labs


Saturday March 2, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EST
Hudson Square 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

11:30am EST

Follow The Money: Introduction to NYC Campaign Finance Data by the NYC Campaign Finance Data
Are you interested in running for NYC city office in 2021, but don’t know where to begin? How do you raise funds? What does a campaign spend money on? Find out during this introductory workshop to NYC Campaign Finance Board data! We will go through the data together and answer your questions about fundraising differences between incumbent vs challenger, city matching funds participant vs non-participant, or competitive vs non-competitive races. We’ll also go through campaign expenditure data to demystify the kinds of things campaigns spend money on and who they pay.

Speakers
JA

Jaime Anno

Senior Data Scientist, NYC Campaign Finance Board
AM

Amanda Melillo

NYC Campaign Finance Board


Saturday March 2, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EST
Sunset Park 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

11:30am EST

Introduction to NYC Open Data via Data Journeys and BetaNYC’s BoardStat
Many city agencies have created dashboards and tools to make their data more usable to the public. This session teaches these tools in theme-based "journeys", through which we gather and link information together to better understand municipal issues. The session emphasizes BetaNYC's BoardStat, a multi-page dashboard that breaks down and visualizes NYC 311 data at the Community Board and Borough levels.

Speakers
AT

Ahnaf Tazwar

BetaNYC & NYC College of Technology

Sponsors

Saturday March 2, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EST
Game Room 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

11:30am EST

Town hall with the NYC Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics & NYC Chief Analytics Officer

Join New York City’s Chief Analytics Officer Kelly Jin and Deputy Chief Analytics Officer Adrienne Schmoeker for a Town Hall conversation on the current and future State of NYC Data, moderated by Molly Dillon, Co-Author of the forthcoming Yes She Can: 10 Stories of Hope & Change from Young Female Staffers of the Obama White House.

Come filled with all of your questions! Hear us cover what day-to-day life is like in the Mayor's Office of Data Analytics supporting the largest city in the country, what we’ve learned through the years, what skills and experiences are keys to success working on a government analytics team, and what exciting plans we have for the months and years to come.

Codified in the New York City Charter in December 2018, the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics (MODA) helps City agencies use data to deliver services more equitably and effectively, and to increase operational transparency. MODA’s work, in partnership with agencies, touches on a wide variety of areas including: public safety, education, emergency management, transportation, physical infrastructure, and economic development. MODA is also responsible for implementing the New York City Open Data Law, the most ambitious and comprehensive open data legislation in the country. MODA partners with the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications to manage the City’s Open Data program, which has over 2,300 publicly available datasets and 30,000 weekly users, and achieve Open Data for All, the Mayor’s vision to maximize New Yorkers’ engagement with City data.


Moderators
avatar for Molly Dillon

Molly Dillon

Co-author, Yes She Can

Speakers
avatar for Kelly Jin

Kelly Jin

Chief Analytics Officer, Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics (MODA)
AS

Adrienne Schmoeker

NYC Mayor's Office of Data Analytics


Saturday March 2, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EST
Carnegie Hall 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

12:30pm EST

1:45pm EST

Neighborhood Challenge: Using Innovative Technology to Help Commercial Corridors Thrive with NYC Small Business Services
What challenges do our neighborhood small businesses and commercial districts face daily and what can we do to help? The NYC Department of Small Business Services took a creative approach: connect community-based organizations and technology start-ups to develop solutions that will tackle local challenges. Five different neighborhoods across NYC received a total of $500,000 to test various technologies that enhanced their commercial districts in a variety of creative ways. Join us to learn more about each project, lessons learned, and the growing civic tech community in NYC!

Moderators
LB

Lara Birnback

NYC Department of Small Business Services

Speakers
avatar for James Ellis

James Ellis

Senior Director, Economic & Community Development, Perch Advisors
I am a Texas transplant that has made home of NYC for the last 24 years. A CUNY Hunter College and Coro NY Neighborhood Leadership alum, I am fascinated with cities and their people, and enjoy exploring and supporting the intersection of people, places and the business community of... Read More →
ML

Melanie Lavelle

Benefit Kitchen
SC

Star Childs

Citiesense
AT

Alec Turnbull

Think!Chinatown
YM

Yin Mei

Think!Chinatown
SD

Sean Dennihy-Bailey

NYC Department of Small Business Services


Saturday March 2, 2019 1:45pm - 2:45pm EST
Carnegie Hall 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

1:45pm EST

Parole Denied: One Man's Fight Against COMPAS and Algorithmic Decision Making facilitated by Legal-Aid Society
Team: Glenn Rodriguez, Senior Case Manager at Center for Community Alternatives & Cynthia Conti-Cook, Data & Society fellow 2018-2019, Staff Attorney at the Special Litigation Unit of The Legal Aid Society (NYC)

The "Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions" or "COMPAS" risk assessment instruments used in Florida criminal sentencing hearings sparked a national debate in 2016 when ProPublica published Machine Bias. That debate centered on whether the algorithm was biased against people of color, who were more likely to be identified by the instrument as "high risk". COMPAS is also used in prisons across the country to determine whether someone should be eligible for release. One of the questions a prison counselor must answer on the COMPAS risk assessment is whether the person appears to have "notable disciplinary issues: yes, no or unsure." Within prisons where this instrument is used, Question 19 has become a notorious example among the men and women who are its subject of how risk assessment instruments in the criminal justice system get it wrong. Meet Glenn Rodriguez and learn about his struggle to get the state prison to change his answer from “yes” to “no” based on the many years he had gone without any discipline. Learn about the legal hurdles to challenging this question or even learning more about how it operates within the larger risk assessment tool. Discuss how this issue is an example of larger issues with how technology built on already unjust systems amplify, rather than address, systemic unfairness.


Speakers
CC

Cynthia Conti-Cook

Staff Attorney, Special Litigation Unit, Legal Aid Society
Cynthia Conti-Cook is a staff attorney in the Special Litigation Unit of The Legal Aid Society in NYC, where she supervises the Cop Accountability Database, leads impact litigation and law reform projects on policing, data collection, risk assessment instruments, and the criminal... Read More →
GR

Glenn Rodriguez

Senior Case Manager, Center for Community Alternatives


Saturday March 2, 2019 1:45pm - 2:45pm EST
Hudson Square 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

1:45pm EST

Office Hours: NYC Department of Environmental Protection Datasets
Availability for answering questions about datasets released by the NYC Department of Environmental Protection

Speakers

Saturday March 2, 2019 1:45pm - 2:45pm EST
Prospect Park 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

1:45pm EST

Smart city, public spaces: privacy and open data in the public realm
Our roundtable session will explore the ethics of aggregate, non-personally identifiable data collection on the movement and activity of people in public space—an increasingly relevant topic given the emergence of “smart cities” sensor technologies and new projects being piloted in NYC and elsewhere. Specifically, it will address how such data is recorded, shared, and acted upon—and, crucially, by whom. Participants will leave the session feeling empowered to engage in debates about what democratic, transparent, and accountable data collection looks like in the context of the public realm: streets, public parks, and other shared urban spaces.

Moderators
ST

Shin-pei Tsay

Gehl Institute

Speakers
GB

Georgia Bullen

Executive Director, Simply Secure
avatar for Stephen Larrick

Stephen Larrick

Head of City Partnerships, Stae
Stephen is an urban planner and open gov advocate who has spent his career working to democratize the way cities are experienced and made. He sees the city (and its data) as a commons: both a collective resource and a collective effort. He believes in radical trust and would love... Read More →


Saturday March 2, 2019 1:45pm - 2:45pm EST
Plenary Room 303 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

1:45pm EST

Data For Humanity Game, learn about open data though a board game facilitated by Meag Doherty
Learn about open data through a paper-based game

Speakers
MD

Meah Doherty

Designer, Agency CHIEF
inclusion - ux - data literacy - freelancing - Daybreaker
avatar for Kate Nicholson

Kate Nicholson

Director of Programs and Partnerships, BetaNYC


Saturday March 2, 2019 1:45pm - 2:45pm EST
Game Room 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

1:45pm EST

FPWA's Federal Funds Tracker - An Open Data and Advocacy Tool for NYC
Following the 2016 election, FPWA member agencies expressed grave concern about the impact of federal fiscal policies on NYC’s social services budget and sector. Our members — many of whom have been fighting poverty on the frontlines for more than a century – rely on federal to provide care for older adults, children, people living with mental illness, persons with physical disabilities, the justice-involved, survivors of domestic violence, and more. In response, we created the FPWA Federal Funds Tracker. The Tracker is an interactive website that demystifies the federal budget by organizing federal budget data into accessible and interactive visualizations, brings the data to life with stories of New Yorkers whose quality of life was improved by federal support, and provides actionable information to encourage advocacy and engagement in the federal budget process, such as by defending against proposed federal budget cuts, and by supporting proposals to strengthen programs. During this session, FPWA will introduce the website and walk users through the open data features, using a Brooklyn-based nonprofit service provider as an example of the ways in which individuals and service providers can use the data to supplement their existing federal budget education and advocacy campaigns with actionable and compelling data.

Speakers
avatar for Derek Thomas

Derek Thomas

Senior Fiscal Policy Analyst, FPWA


Saturday March 2, 2019 1:45pm - 2:45pm EST
Sunset Park 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

1:45pm EST

Reported: Making it easy to report drivers blocking the bike lanes
Reported is an app that makes it easy to hold drivers accountable for dangerous behavior like blocking bike lanes and crosswalks. You can submit photos of any vehicle such as taxis, Ubers, trucks and buses in seconds and view submissions from the community. Reported submits these reports directly to NYC's 311 system and the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission (if appropriate). In 2018, submissions from Reported led to $380,000 in summonses through the TLC and represented 25% of all ""bike lane blocked"" complaints filed to 311. We want to make our streets safer by empowering the most vulnerable road users and delivering actionable data to city agencies.

Winner of the 2015 NYC Big Apps ""Vision Zero"" Big Idea Challenge

Speakers
avatar for Jeff Novich

Jeff Novich

Creator, Reported
I'm a product manager by day @ Classpass. I'm passionate about safe streets, urban design, bike lanes & cycling and pedestrianization. I have travelled extensively in Europe with my wife and 2 kids and plan to spend a month in Amsterdam this summer!
JF

Joseph Frazier

Senior Software Engineer, Care/of


Saturday March 2, 2019 1:45pm - 2:45pm EST
Freeman Plaza 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

1:45pm EST

Scaling Comprehensive Public Benefits Screening Via API facilitated by NYC Mayor's Office for Economic Opportunity
Millions of New Yorkers rely on Federal, State, and City public benefits to stay out of poverty and to feed and house their families. More than 20% of New York City’s 8.5 million people live in poverty, and more than 45 percent live in near poverty.

While enrollment in benefits reduces the poverty rate citywide, many New Yorkers are still not signing up for the benefits that they may be entitled to. Navigating all of the available options is often confusing and difficult due to the complex requirements regarding eligibility.

The Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity is developing the NYC Benefits Screening API, an open API (application programming interface) that enables anyone to create new types of benefits screening tools and to enable bulk, programmatic benefits screening with household composition information (household members, income, expenses, etc.)

Learn about how it works, how it can support benefits outreach work, and to imagine new ways to bridge the benefits enrollment gap.

Sign up for launch news and early access: 
https://bit.ly/screening_api

Speakers
avatar for Song Hia

Song Hia

product manager, NYC Opportunity
bridging the enrollment gap, making access and delivery of government services more efficient for the people who need them the most, what product thinking, prioritization, and iteration looks like in the public sector
avatar for Kimberly Peng

Kimberly Peng

NYC Mayor's Office for Economic Opportunity


Saturday March 2, 2019 1:45pm - 2:45pm EST
Radio City 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

1:45pm EST

Community Wireless Demo (Check out the tools to be featured in the Community Networks panel!)
This demonstration will provide participants with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with the tech and tools that underpin several community networks operating here in New York City, including The Things Network, Resilient Communities, and NYC Mesh. Participants are invited to visit the demonstration at any time to connect with community network operators and activists and to learn how to become involved in these exciting grassroots efforts.


Speakers
avatar for Greta Byrum

Greta Byrum

Co-Director, Digital Equity Lab
avatar for Terrill Moore

Terrill Moore

CEO, MCCI Corporation
Terry leads The Things Network New York, Inc., a 501(c)(3) community organization and public charity. The group is establishing a free, standards-based, and open-source network for remote sensing and smart city applications in New York. Team members are technologists and civic activists... Read More →
HS

Houman Saberi

Resilient Communities
AL

Anna Larsson

Senior Program Associate, Resilient Communities Initiative


Saturday March 2, 2019 1:45pm - 4:00pm EST
Union Square Reception Area 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

3:00pm EST

Using Data to Improve the Laws of New York City facilitated by New York City Council's Data Team
Learn how the New York City Council’s new Data Team uses a data-driven approach to improve the New York City Council’s policy making process. The New York Council Data Team answers policy questions and informs laws about everything from public housing residents’ heat, to school bus delays, and marijuana arrests. The Data Team also uses data to conduct oversight of City Agencies. We source datasets, create data analysis and models, maps, and dashboards to assist Council staff and Council Members to use data to make decisions. Our unique strength is in marrying data with public policy making. At School of Data, we'll talk about how the New York City Council Data Team uses data to make informed decisions and how you can too.

Speakers
AM

Alaa Moussawi

New York City Council
avatar for Julia Fredenburg

Julia Fredenburg

Data Visualization Specialist, New York City Council
I currently work for the New York City Council as a data visualization specialist, demystifying the inner workings of NYC’s legislative body. I believes in the power government to do good and in the strength of friendship. I have hosted a Sunday Dinner with my husband every week... Read More →
BF

Brook Frye

Senior Data Scientist, New York City Council
RM

Rose Martinez

Senior Data Scientist, New York City Council
IB

Irene Byhovsky

Attoney, New York City Council
YS

Yulin Shen

Full-stack Web Developer, New York City Council


Saturday March 2, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST
Carnegie Hall 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

3:00pm EST

CANCELED DUE TO ILLNESS - The Data Disparity: Using Data to Inform Public Policy with the NYC Dept of Health & Mental Hygiene
This workshop will highlight some of the different ways individuals in New York City can use data to identify potential root causes driving complex social issues, and create opportunities to address said issues in more informed ways, regardless of education level and technical knowledge. This workshop will be hands-on, and necessitate participant engagement. 

Speakers
AK

Alecia Kipping, MSW

NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene


Saturday March 2, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST
Prospect Park 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

3:00pm EST

Fighting Tenant Harassment with Open Data with JustFix.NYC, Mayor's Public Engagement Unit - Tenant Support Unit, ANHD, and CAMBA
Join JustFix.nyc, Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development, CAMBA, and the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit for a primer on what tenant harassment is, some of the work that is currently being done to fight it, and how you can join the fight.

Speakers
avatar for Dan Kass

Dan Kass

Co-founder and Executive Director, JustFix.nyc
Dan Kass is a technologist and advocate working at the intersection of housing justice and technology. He is the co-founder and Executive Director at JustFix.nyc, a tech nonprofit that serves tenants facing landlord harassment and displacement as a result of gentrification. The JustFix.nyc... Read More →
avatar for Carly Fleming

Carly Fleming

Director of Data and Analytics, Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit
Carly is the Director of the Data and Analytics division of the Mayor's Public Engagement Unit, but considers herself a data engineer above all else. She has managed city initiatives like the Tenant Support Unit and GetCovered NYC, leveraging her background in advertising and politics... Read More →


Saturday March 2, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST
Plenary Room 303 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

3:00pm EST

Getting started with ArcGIS and NYC's Open Data by ESRI
***PLEASE NOTE: This is a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) training session!***

Come learn how to build mapping apps fast!

ArcGIS is a complete mapping and analytics platform for developers, and ArcGIS DevLabs are a great way to get started building apps quickly. In this session, you will use the 'data, design, develop' pattern for creating well-designed maps and highly customized apps that deploy quickly and easily. We'll work through examples using data NYC Open Data.

Please create a *free* ArcGIS for Developers account at https://developers.arcgis.com.

View the presentation at https://slides.com/kgathers/arcgis-nyc-data/.

Check out more great ArcGIS DevLabs at https://developers.arcgis.com/labs/.

Speakers
avatar for Kerry Gathers

Kerry Gathers

Local Government Consultant, Esri


Saturday March 2, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST
Game Room 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

3:00pm EST

NYC Planning Labs - Showcasing In-house Progressive Government Tech
NYC Planning Labs has built an impressive portfolio of open source tools, for community engagement, data access, and improvement of inefficient agency practices. With over 10 apps deployed, and a growing team, we are setting a new standard for what right looks like when building government digital services. In this session, members of the team will demo selected apps and APIs, and show how they mix agile development, user-centered design, and open technology to build next-generation government tools.

Speakers
CW

Chris Whong

NYC Planning Labs
avatar for Andy Cochran

Andy Cochran

Designer, NYC Planning Labs
Andy joined the founding team of Planning Labs in July, 2017 after implementing New York City Council’s plan for digital inclusion and open government. As Design & Creative Director at OpenPlans, he built collaborative mapping services and other civic engagement tools.
MG

Matt Gardner

NYC Planning Labs
HK

Hannah Kates

NYC Planning Labs
JP

Jonathan Pichot

NYC Planning Labs
TM

Taylor McGinnis

Developer, NYC Planning Labs
JH

Julia Hogan

NYC Planning Labs


Saturday March 2, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST
Hudson Square 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

3:00pm EST

Open data and beyond: charting the wide world of data access
At the ODI, we have been exploring how we can increase access to data while retaining trust. Increasing access to data held by private and public sector organizations will encourage innovation and improve services across a wide range of sectors, but we know that there are many barriers to data sharing.

In this session we'll be sharing our findings so far and presenting our 'data access map', which we've created to help people navigate the many models that are available. As well as asking for feedback for the map, we also want to hear about your experience of real-world data sharing arrangements and the pros and cons associated with them. 

Speakers
VH

Vicky Hallam

Delivery Manager, The Open Data Institute


Saturday March 2, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST
Radio City 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

3:00pm EST

Presenting MyGov.NYC: Data-Driven Profiles for NYC Government Agencies facilitated by Devin Balkind & Kate Nicholson
The MyGov.nyc Research Center combines nearly a dozen NYC datasets to create (probably?) the most complete data-driven directory of city agency information ever. Check out a government agency, see all their communication channels, capital projects, social services, operations budget, mentions in the charter, code and city rules - and more! What about electeds? We have their disclosure data and endorsements. What’s next? Contract data from Checkbook.nyc, lots more social services information, facility data? Tell us what you think, what you want, and how our volunteer-driven, nonprofit-backed team can improve the system and grow our team.

Speakers
DB

Devin Balkind

WeGov.NYC
Devin works at the intersection of the nonprofit sector, the free/libre/open-source (FLO) movement, and grassroots community organizing initiatives to help each benefit from the best practices of the others. He currently serves the president of the Sahana Software Foundation, a nonprofit... Read More →
avatar for Kate Nicholson

Kate Nicholson

Director of Programs and Partnerships, BetaNYC


Saturday March 2, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST
Sunset Park 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

3:00pm EST

Truth and Consequences: Data Quality and Data-Driven Street Parking in New York City
Although we have access to a large number of datasets at NYC OpenData, using them in practice can bring its own set of challenges, particularly with respect to data quality — the data may be incomplete, inconsistent or subject to error among other issues. But in spite of a dataset’s limitations, we can find ways to assess and improve data quality with an eye toward fit for purpose and user expectations.

As a framework for discussion, James will focus on data quality of Parking Regulation datasets while Tim will speak to data quality of the Open Parking and Camera Violations and Parking Violations Issued datasets.

Speakers
avatar for James Christie

James Christie

Founder, Small and Curious


Saturday March 2, 2019 3:00pm - 4:00pm EST
Freeman Plaza 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

4:15pm EST

Can open contracting hold smart cities accountable? With NYC Mayor's Office of Chief Technology Officer, Sunlight Foundation, & Reboot
City governments are increasingly looking to “smart city” technology, including urban sensors and artificial intelligence, to help solve local problems. This technology offers promise, yet many cities haven't prepared policy and best practices to address potential ethical concerns and privacy risks. At the same time, open contracting — the practice of publishing open information on government contracting — has been gaining momentum and offers major potential for public benefit through increasing transparency and accountability. Can open contracting be a tool for transparency around smart-city technology? How can we help the public keep an eye on government activity in this area, and ensure that community voices and concerns are heard? In this session, practitioners will share highlights from ongoing open-contracting and smart-cities initiatives, followed by panel discussion and audience Q&A.

Speakers
ZB

Zack Brisson

Principal, Reboot
Zack Brisson is a founder & principal at Reboot, a social enterprise dedicated to inclusive development and accountable governance. A practicing theorist, Zack has extensive experience bringing community-driven approaches to policymaking, program design, and implementation. At Reboot... Read More →
avatar for Katya Abazajian

Katya Abazajian

Open Cities Director, Sunlight Foundation
Katya directs the Sunlight Foundation's Open Cities team in sharing best practices on open data policy and practice across the What Works Cities network to bring the benefits of local government data to residents. As a primary author on Sunlight’s Tactical Data Engagement framework... Read More →
avatar for Paul Rothman

Paul Rothman

Senior Product Manager, NYC Mayor’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer
avatar for Greg Jordan-Detamore

Greg Jordan-Detamore

Sunlight Foundation


Saturday March 2, 2019 4:15pm - 5:15pm EST
Carnegie Hall 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

4:15pm EST

Community Networks in New York City: Data, Tech, and Organizing for Self-Determination with Manhattan Borough President, the Things Network, Digital Equity Lab, NYC Mesh, New America's Resilient Communities
This session will convene a range of perspectives and experiences with community networks to explore questions of self-determination, community ownership, access, privacy, and objectives. Audience members will be invited to participate in an interactive activity and have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with the technology and tools that underpin various community networks in New York City.

Speakers
HS

Houman Saberi

Resilient Communities
avatar for Greta Byrum

Greta Byrum

Co-Director, Digital Equity Lab
avatar for Scott Rasmussen

Scott Rasmussen

NYC Mesh
Scott Rasmussen focuses on telecommunications policy as it intersects with questions of equity and access. After years of policy work on Capitol Hill, he is now working with NYC Mesh, an open, neutral, and resilient community network aiming to make a home or business internet connection... Read More →
avatar for Terrill Moore

Terrill Moore

CEO, MCCI Corporation
Terry leads The Things Network New York, Inc., a 501(c)(3) community organization and public charity. The group is establishing a free, standards-based, and open-source network for remote sensing and smart city applications in New York. Team members are technologists and civic activists... Read More →
DA

Daniel Alam

Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer


Saturday March 2, 2019 4:15pm - 5:15pm EST
Radio City 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

4:15pm EST

Office Hours: NYC Department of Transportation's Bike Program
In this session, we will introduce the City's bike network dataset and provide some examples of how the data are used within NYC DOT.  Then, we would like to open up a conversation to discuss our strategies for translating this data into Open Street Maps.

Please note: the topic of conversation is only data relating to the network of bicycle facilities (bike lanes, bike paths, greenways, etc.) in NYC.  Other datasets related to cycling, such as bike racks, CitiBike stations, or ridership data will not be covered in this session.

Speakers
AK

Amber Knee

Project Manager, Bicycle and Greenways Program, NYC Department of Transportation
avatar for Michael Pedron

Michael Pedron

NYC DOT
Michael Pedron is a Project Manager in NYCDOT's Bicycle & Greenway Program. He manages the City's bicycle network data set.


Saturday March 2, 2019 4:15pm - 5:15pm EST
Prospect Park 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

4:15pm EST

Teaching Civics through Open Data and Computer Science with NYC Department of Education's Computer Science for All & BetaNYC
If information technology is one of the greatest powers to manipulate public opinion, how do we build frameworks for the future to be better than today? Our three panelist will explore the importance of building educational frameworks that meld - civics with open data and computer science and where that is powerful and also detrimental. The old adage that with great power comes great responsibility, leads us to the most important question of all — how will we encourage the next generation to save us from ourselves?


Speakers
BW

Brooke Wallace

Generation Citizen
avatar for Elana Shneyer

Elana Shneyer

Special Programs Manager, BetaNYC
Social Change, Politics, Strategy, Parenting and Moving - and doing it all peacefully.Elana Shneyer works from a starting point of dignity and respect for all human beings, and believes that we make progress toward improving the world by practicing our values in all that we do. She... Read More →
AP

Aankit Patel

NYC Department of Education


Saturday March 2, 2019 4:15pm - 5:15pm EST
Plenary Room 303 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

4:15pm EST

Introduction to the Open Transit Data Toolkit by Ray Cha
*** Note this is a hands-on a workshop. If possible, please download R and RStudio to your laptop before the session.  ***
The Open Transit Data Toolkit is an online educational resource which teaches: where to find transit data, data wrangling and analysis strategies, and how to visualize your findings. Join us for a quick introduction on how to start using transit data.

Speakers
avatar for Raymond Cha

Raymond Cha

Product Manager, Open Transit Data Toolkit


Saturday March 2, 2019 4:15pm - 5:15pm EST
Freeman Plaza 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

4:15pm EST

Metadata for All Workshop
Join us for an interactive deep dive into NYC Open Data's data dictionaries. Learn how this resource can help you conduct smarter data analyses and create sharper visualizations. Then, share your ideas and help us make these data dictionaries more user-friendly for all New Yorkers. Please bring a laptop or tablet. No prior experience needed.

Speakers
JM

Julia Marden

Tiny Panther
JP

Jo Polanco

Data Librarian
avatar for sharon lintz

sharon lintz

CUNY Community College Instructor


Saturday March 2, 2019 4:15pm - 5:15pm EST
Hudson Square 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

4:15pm EST

Seeing Data: Visualization with NYC 311 Requests facilitated by TWO-N
This workshop will give participants a hands-on experience engaging in the creative, delightful, and sometimes messy work of data visualization. We will start with a brief introduction to the concept of “grammar of graphics” to understand the connection between data and visual elements. Then participants will dive into the NYC 311 data set and start brainstorming research questions that they will explore through visualization. Finally, participants will spend time creating their visualizations using their choice between a computer (bring your own) or paper (provided). Participants will leave with specific knowledge about the city that they have uncovered from 311 data, and visualization skills that will make them smarter makers and savvier consumers of data graphics!

Speakers
avatar for Alec Barrett

Alec Barrett

Democratic District Leader
Alec is the lead developer at TWO-N, a boutique data visualization studio. He is also a member of Manhattan Community Board 9 and regular student at trainings by BetaNYC and the Manhattan Borough President's Office. He is an alum of the Recurse Center.
avatar for Aucher Serr

Aucher Serr

Developer, TWO-N


Saturday March 2, 2019 4:15pm - 5:15pm EST
Game Room 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

4:15pm EST

Spreadsheets are Dead. Long Live DIY Databases! Facilitated by Sarapis
The days of running organizations off of a smattering of spreadsheets are over. Content management systems like WordPress made it possible for people to publish without having to code. Now DIY Databases like AirTable make it possible for people to build their own data-driven, API-accessible apps using basic spreadsheet skills.

We're going to demonstrate the power of DIY databases and how they can be used to create fast and effective solutions on the fly by tackling a specific, persistent problem. How can we help community boards track constituent issues?

We've got some anoynmizes community board data in the form of written paper pages and spreadsheets. We're going to demonstrate how to turn those types of materials into a pretty darn good AirTable CRM system right in front of you.  We'll start with some introductory data concepts so everyone will feel comfortable. We'll end by discussing what it means for everyone to be able to make databases.

And there will be fun. Join us!

Speakers
DB

Devin Balkind

WeGov.NYC
Devin works at the intersection of the nonprofit sector, the free/libre/open-source (FLO) movement, and grassroots community organizing initiatives to help each benefit from the best practices of the others. He currently serves the president of the Sahana Software Foundation, a nonprofit... Read More →


Saturday March 2, 2019 4:15pm - 5:15pm EST
Sunset Park 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013

5:30pm EST

Civic Pechakucha
Presenters include
  • Civic Tech Field Guide - Matt Stempeck
  • Bike Lanes' Digital Defense - Melissa De la Cruz
  • Solving the Resource Directory Data Silo Problem - Greg Bloom 
  • Start Open: Mapping and Making Better Cities - Wendy Brawer 
  • Data, Dormers, and Discovery: Mapping NYC History - Sam Addeo 
  • Building and sharing form-filling web apps without writing code - Michael Hassin 
  • Let’s Build a Data Bazaar! Storing, Versioning & Sharing Datasets with Qri - Brendan O'Brien 
  • New York Civic Engagement Table - Fryda Guedes

Moderators
avatar for Matt Stempeck

Matt Stempeck

Curator, Civic Tech Field Guide
Matt's Senior Researcher at Civic Hall, where he builds and curates the Civic Tech Field Guide. Matt has been researching and building civic technology since 2005. He has creatively contributed to electoral and social campaigns, national and city governments, and academia and journalism.In... Read More →

Speakers
avatar for Wendy E Brawer

Wendy E Brawer

Director, Green Map System
Born an artist, I started my eco-design career when planned obsolescence was still considered design excellence. Realizing that this mindset was driving us toward extinction, I opted out of the designosaur business and developed Green Map System, a product service system that’s... Read More →
GB

Greg Bloom

Founder, Open Referral
Greg Bloom is the founder of Open Referral, which is promoting open access to resource directory data (i.e. information about the health, human, and social services available to people in need). Previously, Greg directed communications for Bread for the City, the District of Columbia’s... Read More →
avatar for Brendan O'Brien

Brendan O'Brien

caretaker, Qri
Brendan is a leader in the open source software development community and open data movement. He founded Qri (pronounced “query”) to help bring the benefits of open source software to public data. He helped to launch DataTogether.org, a network of communities, data scientists... Read More →
avatar for Fryda Guedes

Fryda Guedes

Data Manager, New York Civic Engagement Table
Fryda Guedes is the Data Manager at the New York Civic Engagement Table, a strategic driver of social change and a laboratory for innovative collaborative work. She was most recently a Data Consultant for non-profit organizations throughout the country, helping them use data to drive... Read More →
avatar for Sam Addeo

Sam Addeo

Director of Community and Development, Urban Archive
Museums, archives, and location-technology!
MH

Michael Hassin

community.lawyer
avatar for Melissa De la Cruz

Melissa De la Cruz

bitsandatoms.net
ideas about improving nyc bike lanes? ping me - melissa@bitsandatoms.net


Saturday March 2, 2019 5:30pm - 6:30pm EST
Union Square Reception Area 302 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013
 
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