https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3892-456X
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ABSTRACT
Civic technology is an emerging field that typically leverages open data—and sometimes open source software—to address challenges that may be invisible to or neglected by government in a collaborative, problem-centered way. This article describes the goals and values of civic technology, identifies its raw materials and products, and outlines its most visible modalities. We use key informant interviews with stakeholders in Chicago’s robust civic technology ecosystem and a brief discussion of the Array of Things (AoT) project to evaluate claims that civic technology can be an effective mechanism for democratizing the Smart City. We conclude with recommendations for urban planners interested in engaging with civic technology to enhance quality of life and further social equity.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Derek Eder, Adam Hecktman, and Tom Schenk for agreeing to be interviewed and for their candid responses. The authors would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers who provided constructive comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on Contributors
Bev Wilson is an associate professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is also vice-chair of the American Planning Association's Technology Division.
Arnab Chakraborty is a professor of urban and regional planning and the Dean’s Fellow at the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is also the vice-chair of the American Planning Association's Technology Division.
ORCID
Bev Wilson http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3892-456X
Arnab Chakraborty http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2899-7864
Notes
1 The federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) enacted in 1966 codifies this view and requires agencies to disclose requested information “unless it falls under one of nine exemptions which protect interests such as personal privacy, national security, and law enforcement” (US Department of Justice, Citation2017). Each state has its own Freedom of Information laws that govern which agencies and data are available to public and under what circumstances.
2 The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is an international non-profit organization comprised of government, commercial, academic, and non-profit organizations that has worked to establish and promote open standards specifically for geospatial data since 1994.
3 Universal Resource Locators (URLs) are a subset of URIs that include both the name of resources on the Internet as well as a method for accessing it, such as the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
4 Hack for LA organizes weekly hack night events and is an official Code for America brigade (http://www.hackforla.org/civic-hack-nights).
5 Smart Chicago has since migrated under the City Digital umbrella as its mission continues to evolve (A. Hecktman, personal communication, November 6, 2017) and City Digital has been rebranded City Tech.
6 These include “office and residential buildings, energy grids, natural resources, energy and water management, waste management, environment, transport, mobility and logistics” while “soft domains include areas such as education, culture, policies that foster entrepreneurship, innovation and social inclusion, as well as communication between local public administrations and the citizens” (Neirotti et al., Citation2014: 27).
7 The Knight Foundation subsequently updated its policies and now requires that intellectual property developed by grant recipients “be released to the public under the open-source license most appropriate for [the] project” (Knight Foundation, Citation2017b).
8 In December 2018, Chi Hack Night incorporated as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, giving it a more formalized and decentralized structure (Eder, Citation2018).
9 Specific examples include databases, the open data portal, business intelligence unit, and advanced analytics team.
10 The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) was instrumental in the Large Lots program, acting as both a funder and community outreach partner (D. Eder, personal communication, November 7, 2017).
11 There is a formal breakout group that has built a tool for tracking male dominance of the conversations at Chi Hack Night (Wiese, Citation2016).
12 Carroll and Rosson (Citation2007) provide a detailed account of the historical development of participatory design and its application the field of community informatics.
13 Defined here as “one of many unique federations of people who together are influenced or impressed upon by a specific set of conditions” and that “seek to address these conditions and their consequences” no matter if these conditions already exist or are anticipated to arise in the future (Le Dantec and DiSalvo, Citation2013: 243)
14 Defined as “forums created to source, analyze, visualize, and share information, expertise, and solutions to advance social causes and/or solve social and policy problems” (Desouza and Bhagwatwar, Citation2014: 26).
15 Coproduction refers to instances where “government treats the public not as customers but as partners” (Linders, Citation2012: 446).