City of Bloomington Builds Upon Code for America Application

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 13, 2012

For more information, please contact:
Rick Dietz, Director of Information & Technology Services, City of Bloomington, 812-349-3485, dietzr@bloomington.in.gov

City of Bloomington Builds Upon Code for America Application

Bloomington, IN -- Building on its uReport and Bloomington/Georeporter Open311 systems, the City of Bloomington is pleased to announce it is an early adopter and test city for a new Code for America (CfA) application called Daily Brief. Daily Brief aggregates public information from the Open311 system and displays this information on an interactive map. Bloomington uses the Open311 platform to track service requests from residents.

This is a beta version of the Daily Brief system and many changes will be coming. The City of Bloomington is currently working with the Chicago CfA team to improve the tool in advance of its official launch later in the year. Director of Information & Technology Services Rick Dietz is particularly interested in insuring that tools built upon the Open311 platform scale down well to smaller cities like Bloomington and aren't only of use to large cities.

"Our goal isn't simply to provide data and advice to Code for America teams, it is to be a 2013 Code for America City and continue our civic technology leadership with a project based right here in Bloomington in 2013," said Dietz. "This partnership will add to our growing recognition as a technology center of innovation. The private, non-profit, university and government sectors all have a role to play in laying the foundation for a vibrant technology sector here in our community. Being a Code for America City in 2013 will help all of us."

http://311labs.org/
http://dailybrief.311labs.org/bloomington

The City of Bloomington is among the semifinalists to become a Code for America City in 2013. Innovations like Daily Brief are what Bloomington can expect from participating in the program.

City Partnerships

In order to participate in this rare opportunity, the City is seeking partners to help financially support the work to be done, both in the application process and in development, should the City be selected. Financial support from the local business community would be a significant asset in a successful application for a Code for America partnership, and would help to ensure that the City of Bloomington is a leader in harnessing technology to meet the needs of our residents. Interested businesses or community leaders should contact Rick Dietz, Director of Information & Technology Services for the City of Bloomington, for more information on contributing.

More information about Code for America can be found at http://codeforamerica.org/cities/.

Residents can report citizen service requests on the City's website at http://bloomington.in.gov/ureport as well as using mobile smartphone. For more information see http://bloomington.in.gov/mobile.

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