House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer are hosting the Third Congressional Hackathon on Thursday, Nov. 30 from 2-6 pm in the U.S. Capitol Building. RSVP here.
The event will bring together a bipartisan group of Members of Congress, Congressional staff, Legislative Branch agency staff, open government and transparency advocates, civic hackers, and developers from digital companies to explore the role of digital platforms in the legislative process. Discussions will range from data transparency, constituent services, public correspondence, social media, committee hearings and the broader legislative process.
They ask everyone submit ideas to be covered in the Hackathon by 6pm Monday concerning (1) existing projects worth sharing (on stage), and (2) projects/problems worth hacking in breakout sessions. For existing projects, individuals will be invited on stage to give quick pitches on projects they’ve been working on that are Congress-related and technologically innovative. For problems worth hacking, participants will break out into groups to work through problems that people suggest in advance.
Once you RSVP, they’ll send more logistical information. There also will be a happy hour the day before co-hosted by Google, the OpenGov Foundation, the R Street Institute, and Demand Progress. RSVP here.
The hackathons are well worth attending and are an excellent example of bipartisan cooperation inside Congress focused on making it a better institution. Here are our write-ups of the first and second hackathons. Also notable was the Congressional hackathon hosted by the OpenGov Foundation and the 2016 legislative data and transparency conference. (I still have to write up my notes from the 2017 conference, but it was great.)
If you’re looking for a list of neat tools for opening up Congress, here’s a 2014 roundup up a congressional toolbox, a list of sources of structured data about Congress, a list of legislative tools, and a wishlist for new tools.
