December – 2014 – Archive of Smart Chicago Collaborative Work

Lunch event with Ron Bouganim of the Govtech Fund

adminDecember 8, 2014

Ron Bouganim, managing partner at the Govtech Fund, will be in Chicago December 8th and will stop by Impact Engine for a lunch event at 12:30pm. Bouganim will talk about the Govtech fund and take part in a Q&A session moderated Christopher Whitaker.

The $23M Govtech Fund is the first-ever venture fund dedicated to government technology startups. The Govtech Fund harnesses the power of transformers, technology, and capital to help government become more efficient, responsive, and better able to serve society.

You might be familiar with at least one of the companies that the Govtech fund has invested in. MindMixer is an engagement platform being used by the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District.

You can register for the event here.

Launch of Chicago Health Atlas 3.0

adminDecember 8, 2014

Last week we launched our third major update to our Chicago Health Atlas project. This is the most robust version of the Atlas released since its debut in 2012. The Atlas is funded and receives significant thought leadership from the Otho S. A. Sprague Memorial Institute. Sprague, and their Executive Director Jim Alexander, has shepherded this program for years.

Chicago Health Atlas, along with all of our other health products like Foodborne Chicago and Smart Health Centers, is managed by Smart Chicago Director of Operations Kyla Williams with lots of help from Program Coordinator Sonja Marziano.

Chicago Health Atlas 1.0

The first version of the Atlas was a simple lookup tool for existing data. DataMade, a local firm that builds custom visualizations, deploys civic apps, and trains people to work with open data, has been an essential tech partner all the way through to this version. The site is based on the Derek Eder’s wildly influential and immensely useful Searchable Map Template. Derek was also important in helping me move from the Weave (Web-based Analysis and Visualization Environment) platform and set up a structure that met Smart Chicago’s vision for the site.

Last year we conducted a CUTgroup test on the Atlas and found that users were a little confused with the original navigation.

Continue reading →

Job Opportunity: Executive Assistant Regulatory Reform Position for the City of Chicago

adminDecember 5, 2014

Here’s a great position in the City of Chicago for someone looking to have an impact on regulatory reform. If interested, send cover letter and a resume to rosemary.krimbel@cityofchicago.org

Executive Assistant Regulatory Reform Position for the City of Chicago from Smart Chicago Collaborative

This is an archive.

adminDecember 1, 2014

This website contains all Smart Chicago posts from its inception to May 2016.

Smart Chicago was a civic organization devoted to improving lives in Chicago through technology. We worked on increasing access to the Internet, improving skills for using Internet, and developing meaningful products from data that measurably contribute to the quality of life of residents in our region and beyond.

We were a startup that was founded in part by our municipal government and nurtured by some of its most venerable institutions. Our founding partners are the City of Chicago, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and The Chicago Community Trust. As a funding collaborative, we help bring together municipal, philanthropic, and corporate investments in civic innovation.

Month: December 2014