Omidyar Network
  • Our Strategy
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Our Approach
    • People
    • Values & Policies
    • Financials
    • Contact
  • Focus Areas
    • Reimagining Capitalism
    • Responsible Technology
    • Pluralism
  • Partners
  • News and Insights
    • Newsroom
    • Insights
    • Perspectives
Menu  
  • Our Strategy
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Our Approach
    • People
    • Values & Policies
    • Financials
    • Contact
  • Focus Areas
    • Reimagining Capitalism
    • Responsible Technology
    • Pluralism
  • Partners
  • News and Insights
    • Newsroom
    • Insights
    • Perspectives

Omidyar Network Grant Helps Code for America Connect City Governments to Web 2.0 Talent

Posted OnJune 4, 2010 byadmin

June 4, 2010, REDWOOD CITY and OAKLAND, Calif. — Omidyar Network today announced a $250,000 grant to Code for America to jumpstart the process of placing 23 top web professionals in five U.S. cities to help make government information more accessible and transparent. In tandem, Code for America announced a call for applications from web designers and developers who wish to serve their country as the Code for America 2011 Fellows.  Those selected will design and deploy open source, citizen-oriented municipal IT projects that can be shared by all U.S. cities.

Inspired by Teach for America, Code for America offers the brightest minds of the Web 2.0 generation the opportunity to spend a year applying their technical skills to bolster citizen engagement with local governments.  Working alongside city staff, the Code for America Fellows work in teams to develop open-source applications for municipal governments.  The five cities selected for the 2011 program are:  Boston, Boulder, Philadelphia, Seattle and Washington D.C.

“By connecting city governments with Web 2.0 talent, Code for America brings improved citizen access to information and government accountability to the local level,” said Stacy Donohue, director, investments at Omidyar Network. “The collaborative nature of the program and resulting open-source solutions allow the impact to be scaled across thousands of U.S. municipalities and eventually benefit millions of U.S. citizens.”

Projects will address a range of information-related services such as the ability to publish data the city collects in formats useful to developers and journalists, and to track how city resources are allocated and how effectively city services are being delivered to citizens.  Future projects might include fiscal tracking measures such as how Federal stimulus funds are spent locally.

“The recent fiscal crisis has intensified the need for cities to take smart, new, agile approaches to serving their constituencies,” said Jennifer Pahlka, executive director and founder of Code for America. “Omidyar Network’s support will enable us to help those city governments harness innovative technology solutions, lower the cost of delivering services and continue developing new talent in the government IT sector.”

Web developers and designers interested in joining the inaugural group of fellows and creating positive impact in local communities are encouraged to visit the Code for America website for further information about the application process. Applications are due on August 15, 2010 for the program beginning January 2011. More information is available at: http://codeforamerica.org/become-a-fellow/.

About Code for America
Code for America is a non-partisan, non-political organization that helps city governments become more transparent, connected and efficient by connecting city governments with the talents of cutting-edge web developers and designers. Code for America and its projects are funded by cities, foundations, and private individuals who believe in the power of the web to transform the way government and citizens engage with each other.  For more information, visit: http://codeforamerica.org/.

About Omidyar Network
Omidyar Network is a philanthropic investment firm dedicated to harnessing the power of markets to create opportunity for people to improve their lives. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, the organization invests in and helps scale innovative organizations to catalyze economic and social change. To date, Omidyar Network has committed more than $330 million to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations that foster economic advancement and encourage individual participation across multiple investment areas, including microfinance, property rights, government transparency, and social media. To learn more about Omidyar Network, please visit www.omidyar.com.
 

    • About
    • Focus Areas
    • Partners
    • News and Insights
    • Omidyar Network Jobs
    • Contact
  • Omidyar Network is a venture of The Omidyar Group.
  • Twitter Linkedin RSS
We use cookies for a number of reasons, such as keeping the site reliable and secure, analyzing how our site is used, and to improve your experience and support our mission. By using our site, you agree to our use of cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT