RFF stands for request for feedback. Last year, Will Colegrove and I outlined a program that would help modernize NYC’s community boards and help them enter the 21st century. This framework is a the core of the New York City Civic Innovation Fellows Program.
If you have a chance, check out this paper and provide us your feed back.
To wet your whistle, here is the abstract.
New York City’s fifty nine Community Boards are an important part of local oversight of municipal service delivery. However, because each one is run by two full time employees and volunteer representatives, they struggle to engage effectively with the demands of the digital landscape. This project offers a curriculum that is designed to enhance the basic digital literacy skills of Community Board Members. For a period of six months, twelve CUNY Service Corp Fellows, selected for competency in a variety of relevant skills, will be assigned and partnered with one of twelve participating Manhattan Community Boards. It is our objective to empower these boards to develop open data best practices appropriate for the local constituencies they serve. This program, a partnership between BetaNYC, the Manhattan Borough President, and Data & Society, is supported by the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics’ goal of making “Open Data for All.”