In Oregon, the Secretary of State's office manages Voting, Elections, and the Business Registry. Among other things, that means they capture and manage data to account for every dollar in Oregon's political campaigns and every vote cast across our state.

It's no secret that data is an increasingly integral part of 21st-century government. How is Oregon adapting to an evolving technology landscape when it comes to information and technology?

At a time that seems pivotal for transparency and citizen inclusion, let's talk about the opportunities and challenges of open data on our democratic process.

Fireside chat by: Cat Nikolovski

Larry Morgan is the Citizen Engagement and Inclusion Coordinator for Oregon Secretary of State, Dennis Richardson. He is also the youngest elected official in the City of Troutdale's history and the first person of color to serve on it's City Council.

Hack Oregon's Civic Lab is made up of Oregon's brightest coders, creatives, government leaders, and community members working together to discover the invisible stories of our civic life.

We're hosting three months of curated workshops, build sessions, and guest speakers all leading toward one goal: a radically new open data portal for the City of Portland. Built by the people, for the people.

Register for Civic Lab and it's sessions here: https://www.civiclabpdx.com

This session, by Nick Lambert, will explore the possibilities of turning visual data into a musical soundscape. How can this become something where a set of data points can be its own song? How would this be done and shown on a website? Some of this we will talk logistics and how it would function on the Hack Oregon website, and some of this we will actually try to create together. Join us, as we think of sounds, synth pads, instruments, beats, AND data that could make up an experience like never before.

Nick Lambert is the Design Lead for the Hack Oregon Homelessness Team and Community Director at Oregon Story Board.

Hack Oregon's Civic Lab is made up of Oregon's brightest coders, creatives, government leaders, and community members working together to discover the invisible stories of our civic life.

We're hosting three months of curated workshops, build sessions, and guest speakers all leading toward one goal: a radically new open data portal for the City of Portland. Built by the people, for the people.

Register for Civic Lab and it's sessions here: https://www.civiclabpdx.com

Addressing the complex spatial issues associated with cultural, racial, and ethnic inequality, Joy's work with Design + Culture Lab helps cities across the country design neighborhoods that work for everyone. Joy's work focuses on the intersection between identity and place, using comprehensive and collaborative methods to capture qualitative data to empower community members to participate in the positive transformation of their material environment.

We'll talk about what this means in the context of Portland neighborhoods, and how more infrastructure around shared information can build stronger relationships with at-risk communities and improve the quality of urban life.

Joy Alise Davis is Founding Partner and CEO of Design + Culture Lab.

Hack Oregon's Civic Lab is made up of Oregon's brightest coders, creatives, government leaders, and community members working together to discover the invisible stories of our civic life.

We're hosting three months of curated workshops, build sessions, and guest speakers all leading toward one goal: a radically new open data portal for the City of Portland. Built by the people, for the people.

Register for Civic Lab and it's sessions here: https://www.civiclabpdx.com

Donut Summit: Hack Oregon Project Season Kick-Off

....Pretty much your standard Sunday donuts and coffee with artists, developers, data scientists, government, and business owners casually design thinking a better Oregon.

Oh yeah, plus all the data. NBD

Hack Oregon opens its doors twice a year to assemble interdisciplinary focus teams of volunteers to build open-data resources on important themes in Oregon. At the Summit we'll introduce new themes for projects and assemble teams. We won't be coding this afternoon, but it's a exciting space for cross-pollination between disciplines while we take the afternoon to collaborate, plan, and constructively brainstorm. Some of you will get started hacking soon, and others we'll see later as the project cycle progresses. Everyone is welcome, and we can't wait to meet you!

Themes

• Housing
• Budget
• Transportation
• Homelessness
• Emergency Response

PS: Showing up to the Summit is not a commitment to volunteer, but fair warning, after you experience this you might just step through the looking glass and disappear into the data rabbit hole :)

By now, you've heard the news about the layoffs occurring at Intel, Oregon's largest employer. And now Jive, as well. Nearly 800 people from our community are now in the midst of searching for new jobs.

But you know what? In Portland, we have never been a community that shies away from making the best out of every situation. Or from supporting one another. And that's not going to change anytime soon. Especially now.

That's why a bunch of us are banding together to figure out ways to help those folks affected.

Why? Because we're a community. And this is what communities do.