The document outlines the progression of Oakland, CA towards utilizing open data for economic development, starting from a lack of data in 2011 to the establishment of data catalogs and the launch of new applications by 2012. It highlights community efforts, including hack days and the involvement of organizations like Code for America, to connect technology with local needs and job training. The document emphasizes the importance of continuing these initiatives to foster economic growth and improve job prospects in the city.

1. City
Hacks:
Data
Sets
&
Economic
Development
Oakland,
CA
Case
study
TechRaking
Susan
Mernit
April
12,
2012
MTV-­‐42-­‐3-­‐Valencia
#trpowerlocal
1

2. We
wanted
to
build
apps
for
underserved
communiSes
but
there
was
no
data
back
then…
Oakland,
CA
March
2011
• 390,000
people
• 159
year
old
city
• 170
languages
spoken
• NO
data
catalog
• No
Gov2.0
• No
#OpenData
How
do
we
hack?
2

3. April
2012:
It’s
ALL
changing
• Data
catalog:
61
APIs
&
Flat
files
from
City
of
Oakland
and
Alameda
County
• 3
new
apps
with
local
employment,
transportaHon
data
• 2
new
tech
incubators
launching
Q4
2012
• Planning
Code
for
Oakland
2
for
2012
• Holding
NewMe
Accelerator
mixer
April
20th
• Relaunched
2
Dot
Oakland
tech
umbrella
group
• Proposed
City
Council
Open
Data
ResoluSon
May
2012
So
what
happened
?
3

4. How
did
Oakland
shiQ?
• Code
for
Oakland
Hack
Day,
June
2011
• SubmiSng
3
apps
to
Knight/
FCC
compeHHon
from
CFO
• ONE
of
our
apps
won
3rd
prize-­‐-­‐$10,000
+
$5,000
for
best
SMS
• #1
winner
based
on
CFO
hack
day
concept-­‐$30,000
4

5. Code
for
America
involvement
• Open
Data/Gov
2.0
organizaSon
with
founders,
staff
living
in
Oakland
• Strong
support
of
Code
for
Oakland,
Urban
Strategies
data
projects
• Bridge
to
San
Francisco
innovaSons
5

6. Making
connecSons
between
$$
,
jobs,
data
&
tech
@City
Hall
• San
Francisco
• Oakland
– SFMade.org:
support
-­‐-­‐Occupy
Oakland
manufacturing
encampments
downtown
– SFCiS:
100+
tech
-­‐-­‐PercepHons
of
danger
vs.
companies
supporHng
Wired,
affordable
commercial
tech
job
training
real
estate
– Rising
costs
for
-­‐-­‐No
one
organized
tech/
commercial
real
estate,
innovaHon/business
org
SOMA
sold
out
– Twi_er,
Zynga,
Call
Oakland
is
starSng
to
get
Socket
expansions
it…
6

7. Momentum:
Q
2-­‐Q3
2012
• Data
• Economics
– Open
Data
ResoluHon:
– Proposing
Hack
the
Make
all
city
data
Hood
tech
economic
accessible
development
pilot
in
– New
open
releases
from
East
Oakland
w/
Oakland
Urban
Strategies
data
Local,
Youth
Uprising,
warehouse
CTN,
others
– Planning
Code
for
– Incubators
&
meet-­‐ups:
Oakland
#2,
Summer
HubOakland,
NewME,
2012
2DotOakland,
Tech
Liminal
Hack
Nights,
more….
7

8. The
View
from
here:
Oakland
needs
to
conSnue
to
evolve
to
parScipate
in
Open
Data/
Gov
2.0
movement
• Open
Data
leads
to
economic
development
• Economic
development
leads
to
jobs
• Tech
job
training
ensures
Oaklanders
are
trained
to
do
the
jobs
• Workforce
leads
to
companies
leads
to
jobs
leads
to
money
in
Oakland
Next
steps:
Apply
for
Code
for
America,
2013
More
tech
economic
soluSons
&
tools
based
on
open
local
data
More
tech
folk
who
can
work
where
they
live.
8

9. If
you’d
like
to
get
involved
with
tech
in
Oakland,
get
in
touch
with
folks
in
Oakland…
Susan
Mernit,
Oakland
Local,
susan@oaklandlocal.com,
@susanmernit
Steve
Spiker,
Urban
Strategies
Council,
steves@urbanstrategies.org,
@spjika
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